To ask for help with Rats

[Terminallysleepdeprived]

My parents live on a housing estate built in the last 10 to 15 years, lived there for about 7 years.

They have a neighbour who has a rat problem. He flatly refuses to do anything about it.

He did some building work on his garden during lockdown1 that disturbed the nests under his sheds and decking. The little bastards used my parents garden as a play area for their young during this but would retreat back to his when he down tools every night.

My parents spent a fortune on pest control services which neighbour never once offered to reimburse or share. Pest control officer confirmed the Nests are definitely in neighbours property. Lots of potion, traps etc and eventually it seemed the issue had been resolved.

Then 2 weeks ago the little fuckers are back, massive holes dug under the fence (owned and erected by neighbour) and into my parents garden. Dad has confronted the neighbour who refuses to see that the issue is because of the frankly disgusting state of their garden....there is rubbish everywhere although doesn't seem to be food waste, building materials everywhere, piles of dirt where he has dug out his garden. He has basically created a rat paradise and my parents are suffering as a result.

I have said to my parents they need to report the guy to environmental health but they are reluctant as despite my dad's less than friendly confrontation with their neighbour he doesn't want it to escalate too far as they still have to live next door.

What can I do? Can I report the idiot neighbour without it coming back on my parents?

Does anyone have any wise ways of getting rid of the vile creatures that doesn't involve a flame thrower or napalm?

Would definitely report to the council. Rats carry all kinds of nasty diseases.

We had a rat problem. I suspect it was our problem since we have chickens. We took down the chicken run and let the neighborhood cats solve it for us. Rats had gone in 48hrs. Not seen them since. Would a collection of feline hunters help you out?

@Jessicabrassica

We had a rat problem. I suspect it was our problem since we have chickens. We took down the chicken run and let the neighborhood cats solve it for us. Rats had gone in 48hrs. Not seen them since. Would a collection of feline hunters help you out?

I have offered my Jack Russell but to be honest she is a lazy old thing these days and would probably try and play with them.

There are honestly too many for cats to help I think and they are massive.

The neighbour tried to claim it wasn't coming from his garden and decoded to prove it by making dad go round. Backfired when my dad pointed out all the access runs around his garden and under his patio, decking, sheds etc. All the poop etc everywhere.

The pest control people last year out masses of poison down hoping the babies would take it back to the test but apparently these fuckers resisted it.

Any type of bait mixed with Vit D3, (oats, peanut butter the vit crushed & rolled into balls), it takes a while, but the vit d causes calcification, they don't get bait shy, can't taste or smell it.

We had a rat problem when an old derelict farm building was demolished near us, plus a spate of heavy snow.
We just bought rat traps, used peanut butter as bait. Caught rat after rat & we eventually won.
They don’t need to pay an expensive contractor, just keep up with the traps.

If your parents remain unwilling to report neighbour, they need to do what they can on their side. I’d have metal shuttering banged 3’ down against the boundary to stop the rats burrowing through. Can’t think of anything worse than living next door to rats’ nests.

@Murdoch1949

If your parents remain unwilling to report neighbour, they need to do what they can on their side. I’d have metal shuttering banged 3’ down against the boundary to stop the rats burrowing through. Can’t think of anything worse than living next door to rats’ nests.

Mum wants to but dad is reluctant at the moment. Although I suspect he will come round, especially when I remind him that dd is vulnerable and if she gets sick as a result then both him and the twat neighbour will have me to answer to.

Will suggest the metal sheeting but judging by the holes it will need full blown 6ft piling put in I think

The metal sheeting won't work, they will just chew through it. Your parents need to stop feeding the birds if t they are doing that and then use traps to catch and kill.

Please don't use poison, it is also toxic to anything that kills and eats the rats. Are there no cats near you that might lend a hand?

If there’s no possibility of the problem being eradicated from next door then the only thing they can do is make their garden completely pointless for the rats to be in. They need to remove all food sources - bird feed, fallen fruit/veg if they grow any, compost heap garden waste only-no food waste whatsoever, all bins completely sealed. Remove water sources - no water butts, bird bath, dripping outdoor tap. Remove any shelter - extreme tidy of garden - wood piles, any rubbish, over grown shrubs and bushes-particularly right next to the edges of the garden where the rats may have established a ‘run’, they like to be able to use their runs unobserved so clearing a path all around the fence edges is good. And rats don’t like new things or new experiences-makes them wary, so regularly move stuff around in the garden like the garden furniture, walk around all parts including any corners regularly, make noise and make yourself seen and heard. Putting rat poison or traps down only deals with them as they come, and they will keep on coming, inexhaustibly, if they’re breeding freely next door. Making your garden completely useless to them is the only way you’ll be free of them, they’ll find somewhere more productive for them.

No food sources in my parents garden. No water etc. Very minimal in that sense just tons of pita and flowers that they seem to like to play around.

There is no choice but to poison. It is illegal to capture and release elsewhere.

My mum will ultimately get the pest control people from the council round again and fork out the £££ again. Just pisses me off that the twat neighbour is allowing it and then not having to pay to sort it.

We had rats come into our factory due to some construction being done nearby.
I used these traps, and they worked very well.
(Never a suffering live one caught in the trap.)
I set six of them around each night, and we were totally rid after a couple of weeks.
I used a piece of dry dog food with peanut butter for the bait.

I didn't want to use poison since we had birds, cats, badgers and racoons in the area. Plus I didn't want a rat dying inside a wall, with the resulting stench.
These traps were great.

www.amazon.co.uk/GERAWOO-Instantly-Indoors-Outdoors-Squirrel/dp/B08HVLMFQ7/ref=sr_1_26?dchild=1&keywords=rat+trap&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1635686471&sr=8-26

Contact the council. They'll get environmental health out. They'll give notice to the neighbour, if the neighbour fails to act then the council will deal with it and put a charge on the neighbours property (assuming they own it).

@OldTinHat

Contact the council. They'll get environmental health out. They'll give notice to the neighbour, if the neighbour fails to act then the council will deal with it and put a charge on the neighbours property (assuming they own it).

This is what I am pushing my parents to do but they are resistant to the idea.

I am.hoping to change their minds

Long shot but any chance there are foxes in the local area? If you know for sure there are and can lure them into the garden they will solve the problem for you.

Environmental Health is the only real option. And I'd speak with the neighbours the other side of the problem house might be helpful to go to the council together.

Sod environmentally friendly traps, let the professionals in and use poison, rats carry diseases, and can do tons of damage to property.

We are in the middle of a rat problem …. Been a mystery where they are coming from. We have a pest control contractor and have now involved the council (it’s Housing Standards that come out)

The council is doing a good job … we have to first “prove” that out property is not the origin (we had a drain survey done),. Unlike you out neighbours garden is very tidy.

Council did a wider inspection this week . We have a very old house, the house next door being built a number of year later … when this building was done a “void” was left - so we have some more rat proofing to do, and then we will see where they are.

The council can insist that the neighbour deals with the rats, and can bring legal proceedings against them …. Rats are horrible, and although ours aren’t in our living space (in the attic) and I rarely hear them, it’s still horrible.

Honesty, please go to the council …

Buy a cat or get the ferret man round. This is the quickest and kindest way. Poison is dangerous for pets and wildlife.

I'm an Environmental Health Officer. I deal with this all the time. Ring them.

@Northernsoullover

I'm an Environmental Health Officer. I deal with this all the time. Ring them.

Thank you @Northernsoullover

Can I report on my parents behalf or does it need to come from them please?

Damn — as a pet rat owner (in the past) I was gonna come on and share pet rat tips… can see now that that's not going to be very useful to you! All I can do is echo TyrannysaurusXXrightshoarder in saying that you need to make the garden as unwelcoming as possible — nowhere to hide, frequent layout changes, no food — and continue reporting to the EHO in the hopes that the problem can be sorted at source.

@Terminallysleepdeprived you can report on their behalf. At least where I work you can.

I'll tell you what the council will do.. fuck all.

The man living behind us has all kind of vermin in his house.
He also shouts profanities out of his bedroom window, usually starting around 4.30am in nice weather.

We've contacted the police, environmental health and pest control. Absolutely no action has been taken.

Pest control said they could put poison down in our garden, but we'd have to pay. I said I wasn't prepared to do that as it wasn't dealing with the source. He agreed but said that because it is a private house there is nothing anyone can do.

My husband went round to his one night and opened the outer porch door in order to knock (he never answers though). My husband said there was a pile of rubbish in the porch actually moving up and down.

I regret ever moving here. All the other houses are lovely but he's allowed to live in squalor which affects everyone else.