Saw a rat in my back garden - what's next?

[gchalix]

I am so totally freaking out right now! Was doing the washing up and looking out of the window when I saw it.

Rats are my worst nightmare and I've never seen one in such close proximity. My back garden is really small as well and I'm terrified they're going to find their way in my house.

What do I do now?

Is there like a path running behind a row of houses behind the gardens?

Now try not to worry. We are literally surrounded by rats all the time and normally don't notice. It would be rare for them to enter a house that was occupied.

I mean did you see it running in a line/path behind the gardens?

If so it could be a 'rat run' which is essentially impossible to remove and may have been there for a very long time. They don't normally deviate off the path unless you have eg chicken feed in your garden or other tasty rubbish. Which I am sure you do not.

Rats and mice are everywhere, seeing them outdoors doesn’t mean they’re going to come into the house. Just keep a watch out for seeing them more regularly and make sure you block up any holes in sheds or outbuildings, if you feed the birds then use a high bird table not the floor and sweep up any spilled seeds daily.

There are inquisitive and will search for food, so if there's a way into your house they will have already found it.

Eugh my worst nightmare. I have an extreme fear and unfortunately have seen a few out and about over the past couple of years.

I live in the countryside and we lay poison every year, more often if we’ve seen one.

There is a back street behind my house yes. But it was in my garden on my DC's swing! I'm so scared now. Where would they enter in my house?

They tend not to.
They go up drainpipes.
A cat could be your friend.
Could your child have dropped biscuits or crusts there?

We have cats and our house backs onto a huge woods, so we often have wildlife around. One of our cats is an absolute demon for killing massive rats and leaving them on our drive - she's a tiny scrap of a thing so I have no idea how she does it, in my head I like to think she and her cat daughter are over the fence like the Chuckle Brothers "to me, to you" with a giant rat corpse.

Our neighbour looked after the cats one year while we were on holiday and had to use a carrier bag to pick up the 'gift' rat the feral bugger had left her - she said it took two hands to carry it, it was so big.

I think it's probably normal to see the odd rat around a garden, especially if you've got decking.

A cat could be your friend.

Or a Jack Russell.

You've never got just the one rat op, sorry

Make sure there are no food sources for them in your garden. Make sure any waste is kept in a close bin if left outside (lid should close on wheelie bin not be proped open), make sure your garden is not over grown or there is any harbouage like piles of cut grass. Make sure any composting facilities are completely sealed with a fitted lid if kept outside and include and food composting. Seal all gaps where pipes enter your house up to first floor level or if there are broken air bricks etc. Do all this and they will go somewhere else and not bother you at all. They are everywhere but tend to keep themselves to themselves and look for food sources. If you want natural control then Jack Russells are the way to go but they come with the responsibility of dog ownership. Poison is not really an option as it won't deal with the problem permanently and causes issues for other mammals. Remove food and harbouage and if you see him again it will only be in passing as he goes to somewhere else.

Someone told me just yesterday they are coming out of the cities because there's not as much food for them with no takeaways etc and they're starving. Yuk!!!

We have a rat who lives under our decking. I have called him Roland. We started feeding the birds on a table so we don't end up with hundreds, but for over a year it is just him. He has half his tail missing, so is very recognisable. He is welcome to stay! We are in rural North Yorkshire and he clearly isn't a sewer rat.

The poster above who lives in the countryside and puts down rat poison ought to be ashamed of themselves. Traps are one thing, but introducing poison to a rural ecosystem (or any other to be fair) is (a) unnecessary and (b) extremely harmful to any other wildlife or domestic animal that could potentially eat a dead poisoned rat.

We called out pest control and haven't seen one since... I googled like mad.
Just ensure that you have nothing around your garden they might enjoy eating (compost heap, bird food) and clear overgrowth. I also did that Pinterest thing of boxing decanting everything into jars, so at least I got a lovely looking food cupboard out of it! (I didn't want to have open boxes around). I think you'd know from droppings if they get it. I've heard they're scared of humans so hopefully they will stay away. Good luck

Check round the house for any small holes in the wall and get them blocked. If they get in the house, you'll probably notice the smell. Droppings are like black rice grains.

I had rats in the garden. I got bait boxes and put them down - they emptied out the first couple of weeks, but I don't need to refill now. Rats like to run alongside things, so against the wall, if you know where the runs are.

I live rurally and a rat in the garden is not an uncommon sight. Its an unpleasant thought that they're so close to the house, but they're there whether you see them or not.

We have them in the garden occasionally. It doesn't bother me if they stay outside. They have only come in the house (attic) once and were quickly dealt with using giant mouse traps.

We also get them left dead on the garden path by a neighbour's cat.

It's just an animal, don't freak out too much! I wouldn't worry unless they come into the house - make sure there's no e.g. bird food on the floor near the house.

They're actually pretty cute if you get a chance to observe them. Just squirrels without the fluffy tails really, and people like squirrels in their gardens...

Rats are just wildlife like squirrels and pigeons. As long as theyre not nesting in your house then dw about it

Rats get a bad press but whilst they are vectors for some disease and are incontinent so their urine drips on worksurfaces they run across, they are no worse then plenty of other wild mammals.

Grey Squirrels must have the best image consultants in the mammal kingdom as they are vicious distructive vectors of disease that everyone loves.

Rats didn't employ image consultants and look where they are now. They were in a crisis management situation after their association with the plague and didn't invest in the right advice.

We now know it was the fleas that transmitted the plague but the rats failed to control the narrative and didn't implent cancel culture when people used rattist terms like, 'ratting on you' or I couldn't give a 'rats arse' and plenty more.

The consequences of poor decision making in the middle ages is still with them.

Mice get pissed off they are lumped in with them and need their own PA advice as a matter of urgency.

@ClareBlue brilliant!

I quite like rats; but when they got under the garage we trapped them and took them out to deserted countryside (not like my dad who used to release them at the houses of people who wouldn't pay their bills).

If you live in a very urban area then maybe you need to do something if they approach your house. But if there are green spaces around you (countryside, large park, many huge established gardens) then just leave them be.

Maybe research brown rats (introduced from Asia in the 1700s) as I found learning about spiders has made me much less phobic about them and I can just about tolerate them living on the same planet as me now

it is unsettling op, i can understand that but they are more scared of us and we need to keep them that way.

@elfycat

I quite like rats; but when they got under the garage we trapped them and took them out to deserted countryside (not like my dad who used to release them at the houses of people who wouldn't pay their bills).

If you live in a very urban area then maybe you need to do something if they approach your house. But if there are green spaces around you (countryside, large park, many huge established gardens) then just leave them be.

Maybe research brown rats (introduced from Asia in the 1700s) as I found learning about spiders has made me much less phobic about them and I can just about tolerate them living on the same planet as me now

this but i'm curious about the not paying bills bit.

@ClareBlue

Rats get a bad press but whilst they are vectors for some disease and are incontinent so their urine drips on worksurfaces they run across, they are no worse then plenty of other wild mammals.

Grey Squirrels must have the best image consultants in the mammal kingdom as they are vicious distructive vectors of disease that everyone loves.

Rats didn't employ image consultants and look where they are now. They were in a crisis management situation after their association with the plague and didn't invest in the right advice.

We now know it was the fleas that transmitted the plague but the rats failed to control the narrative and didn't implent cancel culture when people used rattist terms like, 'ratting on you' or I couldn't give a 'rats arse' and plenty more.

The consequences of poor decision making in the middle ages is still with them.

Mice get pissed off they are lumped in with them and need their own PA advice as a matter of urgency.

love it !