Rats in the garden

[Appleofmyeye05]

Can’t find a rodent/pest category so AIBU it is.

I’ve seen 4 rats in my garden and they seem to have taken shelter in between some sleeper logs that form a couple of steps in my garden, see photo.

I have been told they WILL without a doubt make their way into the house when the weather turns colder is this true?

I don’t have any openings apart from a plastic pipe that is the drain for my kitchen sink and washing machine and I’d say it’s about 2 inch wide and about 40 cm long but it has an angle in the pipe if you understand what I mean. Can they crawl up there?

I’ve put some poison down this afternoon, let my landlord know and also the council has been made aware but another neighbour.

Can I be doing anything else? Also I don’t have any food waste in my garden, all household waste is taken to the front of the house and put in the wheelie bin with the lid closed every single time. Next door has decking and the side has pretty long grass with a heap of bin bags at the top.

Lots of bait boxes refilled regularly around the area and the perimeter of the garden.
Absolutely no food waste composting.
Mesh over outlet, to stop entry. Use a filter to stop small food waste bits going down outlet.
Ghastly things multiply rapidly. You’ve not got a neighbour rat infestation have you?

I’d say that there are probably lots more under your neighbours’ decking, perhaps attracted by the contents of the bin bags if they contain household rubbish. They should be laying poison too.

I’m not sure. I only noticed them earlier this week. I’ve lived here for just over a year.

The neighbours to the right tend to have rubbish piling up nearer bin bag and I’ve seen them bring out bags upon bags of bin liners the night before stuffed with old take away boxes and wrappers so I know they aren’t helping the problem. I knocked on and let them know and she rung an exterminator and they told her to keep an eye on it and if it gets worse then she will pay for someone to come out.

The neighbours to the left occasionally have bin liners and rubbish in their garden too albeit it doesn’t stay for long as a family member removes it but they also have decking. I can see behind the decking from the top of my garden and it’s full of empty bottle and wrappers.

I don’t have anything in mine like that. I recycle where I can to avoid my bin overflowing and all recycle boxes and bags are to the front for ease of access when it is bin day. I didn’t think about the food waste going down the sink though, o will get something for that.

at an old house we had a problem
You need bait boxes with solid bait not seeds (rats preferred the bait & it seemed to work well)
it also protects other animals from eating the bait by accident
note I said boxes near to runs & at other points in garden (like near you neighbours)

We have rats in the garden and sometimes in the shed (we have chickens so I think it pretty much goes with the territory). They've NEVER ventured into the house so I don't think it's inevitable.

It sounds like neighbors both sides will contribute to the problem through providing food and shelter (decking).

You really can't have rubbish in bin liners outside. It all needs to go it bins with tight lids.

Any poison you put down needs to be in proper bait boxes so that other wildlife isn't affected. You will need quite a few. And you will likely need to deal with the remains of any that die in the garden ☹️.

My inlaws get them in the garden sometimes (old orchard with a stream running through it). They've never had them in the house. Fil shoots them out of the scullery window.

If any of you feed the birds, that encourages them too.

I read rats are opportunistic, so I’m really cautious about having my back door open.

I was also reading of natural ways to kill them and apparently onions are toxic to them so was tempted to throw a couple down but I don’t want to be feeding them if it doesn’t work

Well I did have a nerf gun ready to shoot at one in the hope they would think it was a real gun and move on somewhere else 😂 but obviously it doesn’t work like that 🤣

Onions aren't toxic to them. My boys eat oniony foods constantly.

Consider snap traps please instead of poison, poison is a slow painful death for the rat and any opportunistic predator who eats the corpse including foxes and owls.

the bait we used & the boxes were called big cheese (strange name but they worked) the bait fixes onto little poles inside so the creatures chew inside & don't carry it off to kill pets or birds

We live in the country. Lived here 8 years, loads of rats in the garden. Only once have we had one in the house. I don't bother killing them. They don't bother me and I don't bother them.

When you poison the rates are you ok with the fact that they will die from internal bleeding into their lungs and joint cavities in long drawn out agony? That any animal, potentially a local dog or cat that eats a rat that has been poisoned will suffer the same fate??

We have rats - or we did, we blocked their entrance and they appear to have taken the hint.

Use a kill trap, or a humane trap and ehack them against the wall if you want to kid yoursrlf that they wont be replaced pretty damn quick. But PLEASE don't use poison.

Oh I didn’t realise it was slow and painful I thought it would send it dozy and it would die as if it was falling asleep. Will go get some snap traps tomorrow. Do they have the same appetite as mice as I had mice in my old house (gaining access through a hole in the cavity wall) and I was told To put peanut butter on to entice it.

I'm a pest control qualified technician
The bait you can buy is basically sweets to the rats- the stuff we buy is toxic poison and we have to be qualified and registered with the British pest control association.
My advice is to get it sorted ASAP- rats can breed incredibly quickly- a rat can become sexually mature at 8 weeks and gestation is 19-21 days which means very quickly a couple of rats in your garden turns into many.
Don't go for the Big companies especially one beginning with R- they are so much more expensive then your local independents.
Another tip to try to prevent rats is do not feed the birds and if you must clear it away each day. Rats love lots of wood piles and a garden that has a lot of dense planting. They love a cluttered shed and hedges.
Hope this helps

Agree with some other posters - please don't use poison. It really is an awful, painful death and it will kill the animals who eat their body too.

We have had rats in our garden since we moved in, in 2011, and they've never found their way into the house.

But if you must kill them, do it humanely.

We don't tend to trap rats as they are not pet and child safe. We use secure bait boxes with an active ingredient called Bromodiolone wax blocks, we also use loose bait but only where there is no pets, I like to avoid trapping as much as I can as it can kill hedgehogs etc.
Rats nibble the bait as they are naturally curious and then go off and die.

Just been advised to use peanut butter as bait. Apparently they prefer crunchy and the cheaper the better as they like the sugar and additives.

Peanut butter is the key i think

It wasn’t that long ago I went out and weeded the garden and I didn’t see anything. I have realised that there is a rat hole from my garden to next doors. I never gave it much thought until I saw the rat using it.

Am I correct in saying rats do not hibernate during the winter either?

Rats are considered a pest and cause damage and spread nasty diseases. If they get into your property and they will- they can crawl up walls get in extractor fan holes you have a massive issue- I've seen infestations which are really dreadful
I appreciate people don't like toxic poison but it is the only way to get rid of them. Equally I do everything I can to not put down any more bait boxes then is required and put them in boxes that are safe.

@Appleofmyeye05 no they don't and if anything love winter in fact we call summer wasp season and winter is rat season

kathrynjanewaykicksass Speaks good sense. Be kind to the rats if you don’t mind a colony growing in your garden. These are disease spreading vermin not sweet little pets.

Peanut butter is effective in traps. However again it is an inhumane way to die. And dangerous to pets and children.
I really only use traps under floorboards if bait hasn't been successful and this in combination with a loose bait

Sorry it's me again I also meant to add if you see rat holes ie under fencing then block it off