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Original poster

Rats in next doors garden

69 replies

Lorddenning1 · 23/07/2021 14:49

We are currently having building work at the moment so we don't live at our new house, I was looking out the window from the new extension and saw a massive rat in next doors garden, she has a lot of dogs (she breeds them) so my heart was in my mouth thinking her dogs were going to get injured, as they are only small dogs, but luckily the rat vanished when they came outside. I mentioned this to the builder and he said he has seen loads of them next door and he went to speak to her. Turns out, she knows she has them and has had them for a while, she calls them her pets and doesn't want to get a pest controller in as she doesn't want to harm any animals Confused
I don't want to move into my new house with lots of rats living next door as I have children and also a dog myself. I spoke to my local council who said it's not their problem and I need to speak to citizens advice as it's a legal problem and I will need to take her to court for an enforcement order. Surely this isn't right, isn't it an environmental problem, any advice on what to do?

OP posts:
Original poster
Lorddenning1 · 23/07/2021 21:25

Ok so what I'm hearing from Mumsnet is no to poison which is fair enough, I don't want to harm the wildlife, and yes to another dog Grin
We said once we moved to quieter area we will get a cat, we lost our last one as he got run over, our new house is quieter with hardly any cars passing through and it has lots of fields behind. My OH said if England won the semi finals we could get 2 cats, and I have never had more than 1 cat before. Do you think the dog, 2 cats, 3 children would be enough of a deterrent to keep them away?

OP posts:
Sarjest · 23/07/2021 21:41

We had pest control out recently for some rats. He told us they had moved out from the town centre as the restaurants and kebab shops had closed and they were seeking a better life in the suburbs. Said he used to have one case a week like ours (we recorded two on a motion sensor) but he’s getting ten a week. It’s a good time to be a rat man. Hopefully they’ll migrate back soon (not the ones we saw, I hope they were poisoned for the price we paid).

Sarjest · 23/07/2021 21:47

Oh, and pest control left the poisoned food in boxes with a small hole to enter. A friend told me they had something similar but the rats in her garden were too fat to get through the hole. My lovely but useless cat is not up to the job.

Powertothepetal · 23/07/2021 21:51

My OH said if England won the semi finals we could get 2 cats, and I have never had more than 1 cat before. Do you think the dog, 2 cats, 3 children would be enough of a deterrent to keep them away?
Even without all that, you are unlikely to see much of them.
Rats are shy, they don’t like loud noises, pets etc.

As a PP said, neat and tidy garden, no food source, no water source, no places to hide like compost piles or decking and you are unlikely to see any.

musicalfrog · 23/07/2021 22:06

Not all cats will hunt rats so don't put any pressure on your new kitties, they might prefer a quiet life! Grin Best they leave them well alone tbh as rats (and squirrels for that matter) can give really nasty nips.

WaitinginVain · 23/07/2021 22:20

OP, as an animal lover, I was one of those people who didn't want to kill the rat when it was spotted in our garden. When it moved into our (outside) utility room, I wasn't too happy but not inclined to trap/poison it. By the time it was running across my bedroom floor (actually chewing and scratching under the bed), I was so terrified I had to go and sleep in the car for a couple of nights until pest control could come out. I too have a dog who was more scared than eager to catch it. It proved elusive and must have found it's way back out somehow but I'd say nip this in the bud now before you have a much bigger problem. You really DO NOT want them in the house.

LizB62A · 23/07/2021 22:39

Check whether your local council requires dog breeders to be licensed - ours does.
That might reduce the problem if she is prevented from breeding.

Powertothepetal · 23/07/2021 22:46

OP, as an animal lover, I was one of those people who didn't want to kill the rat when it was spotted in our garden. When it moved into our (outside) utility room, I wasn't too happy but not inclined to trap/poison it. By the time it was running across my bedroom floor (actually chewing and scratching under the bed), I was so terrified I had to go and sleep in the car for a couple of nights until pest control could come out. I too have a dog who was more scared than eager to catch it. It proved elusive and must have found it's way back out somehow but I'd say nip this in the bud now before you have a much bigger problem. You really DO NOT want them in the house
You said yourself it found it’s way back out.
So you never had a ‘problem’, just one lone rat that gone in and left!

We’ve only ever had a rat in the house once and it turned out to be due to a broken drain.

They are definitely around, I know because we once spotted a baby rat poking it’s head out quickly then disappearing in the garden.
But that is the only time we have ever seen one in the garden.
They are very unlikely to bother you OP.

Titsywoo · 23/07/2021 22:47

We had a rat problem last year after a few people cleared their overgrown gardens on the street. My neighbours on both sides didn't want to hurt the rats (one kept using humane traps and taking them to a local nature reserve). I got fed up of it so got some rat boxes with poison inside - rat problem solved within a month. Maybe I am heartless but they are so full of disease I don't want them running amok in my garden.

Titsywoo · 23/07/2021 22:47

Oh and they had gotten into my loft too and I could hear them scurrying around

Mollymalone123 · 23/07/2021 22:50

We had a jack russell- she took care of rats-no problem as they’re made and bred for ratting-our shelties take care of the rats where we live now-it’s a part of life I’m afraid-please don’t put poison down-much more likely to kill off other people’s pets if they get hold of a rat full of poison

Sharonthecat · 23/07/2021 22:54

We have the same issue. Ultimately I had to pay for a council pest control person to come out. They confirmed that the rats appear to be coming from next door, and arranged for environmental health to write to the owner of the property next door.
They also left a covered bait box in our garden and will be back to check it in a few weeks.
We have a cat - she sits on the fence and watches them Hmm

Purplecatlover · 23/07/2021 22:58

I got environmental health involved when I realised how badly invested my next door neighbours house was. Her garden was such a mess and she leaves her back door wide open so she practically invited them to move in. She’s had to clean her garden up somewhat but isn’t interested in putting poison down. My council don’t do pest control at all anymore, so I’ve had to buy and put down poison in my garden, it’s very slowly being nibbled at. I’m living in dread that they’ll decide to eat through our joining wall and come into my house too. Checking every speck of wall that I can get sight on for holes millstone days. They have had a go at my bricks on the back wall, taking advantage of a weathered patch and making that into a bigger hole, I spotted it before they got through though thankfully.

aliloandabanana · 23/07/2021 23:04

I'm amazed at the people saying there's nothing to worry about and why would you want to do anything about the rats, it's all part of rural life! The occasional rat in the garden, when you live rurally or semi- rurally, is to be expected but large numbers that could get into your home are definitely a problem. Report to Environmental Health and take any action you can to discourage them from your property. Rats spread disease and can bite, passing on serious diseases. Why anyone would think you should just live with them is beyond me. I say that as someone whose property backs onto fields and whose cats occasionally kill a rat, not as a town dweller who thinks all animals are cute and it's mean to hurt them.

WaitinginVain · 24/07/2021 10:16

@Powertothepetal It's a problem. We have water and fields close by and an unoccupied, overgrown rat run next door. Also a deck, adjoining the house, which they apparently love. Rats spread disease via their urine. Pest control advised that if you have one, there are very likely more and it/they have chewed huge chunks off very heavy, old doors - apparently for the purposes of nest building. Small toys belonging to the DC have also been moved, probably for the same purpose. Our house is old and we have previously had them under floor boards but never in the house. They can jump and scale considerable heights and the DC have not wanted to open windows/doors in the recent heat. We have also had mice, so they are getting in somewhere. They can chew through wires and presumably you would think that would be a problem. I was not happy to risk an infestation and nor should the OP be.

TheFeistyFeminist · 25/07/2021 09:54

We have a school behind us with a large playing field and we get rats in our garden. They definitely run along the fences, but some cheeky ones did try to get up the bird feeder. We have a dome structure on the pole now that stops them (and squirrels) from climbing up. Husband plans to put a chicken wire base on the bottom of the compost heap so they can't get in there either. Without poison it's really about being vigilant as described up thread, to make your garden the least interesting place for a rat to be. Our dearly beloved girl cat was a hunter and she used to bring dead rats in for us, I miss her but not the presents!

Amijustagrump · 25/07/2021 10:03

Our neighbours had rats and sealing up all entry and exit points and regularly moving stuff around the garden seems to help! We also had a nest of rats in our chickens (around the back of a set of garages- not near the houses which we got after the rats had already shown up) which we had to deal with. We did that, the neighbours cleared their rubbish and since then no sign at all!

They might be grim but they are everywhere..

MrsSkylerWhite · 25/07/2021 10:06

There are rats everywhere, they just usually stay out of sight. The building work will be disturbing them. Wouldn’t worry about the dogs, many small breeds were bred specifically to hunt rats.
It will all settle once the construction is finished.

SealingRose · 25/07/2021 10:11

Also when rats are dying of poison they gets crazed with thirst and will chew through pipes etc. We had a very expensive repair bill due to someone putting rat poison down and the dying Rat chewing through the pipe in the bathroom

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