Rats in garden

[Moonbun]

Found evidence of rat holes in the garden. Both of our neighbours have chickens which I think encourages them. How would you deal with it? DH is really against using poison. I just want them gone

We always have a bad Rat problem in the winter
I have livestock and live on a farm
We have lots of wild animals around we put bait traps around and use something called Ratx bait it don't harm or kill other animals if it gets ingested or if a owl gets a dead rat that been poisoned it will be ok.
The way it works it dehydrates the rats it not nice but works.
We also use air rifles to kill rats too once the infestation is under control.
The worst time for us is around January when there is hardly any food around and they start coming into warm barns for the feed that we feed the livestock.

Snap traps. Avoid poison, its horrible for them. And what someone else said, every landowner needs to keep their property free from rats, of not the council can carry out the action and bill your neighbour. Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949.

Yeah. Rats are everywhere, which is all well and fine. They do become a problem when there are too many. So need culling a bit. Liie deer, boars etc.

My sister use to have rats around their chickens and all food had to be taken out at night. They no longer have the chickens but still get occasionally rats (rural).

She use to use human traps that got taken away to be humanely killed and they also had a pest guy with a gun over night a couple of times.

It's cruel and painful, and poisons the food chain.

Rats are as intelligent as dogs. Would you poison other sentient animals?

Deter with peppermint oil.

I've said this before on here but one of my neighbours used poison and the rat died in my back garden. Then a family of hedgehogs came and ate the remains and ALL died in the garden too. It was so sad to see half a dozen hedgehog bodies on the grass, and no fun to clear up.

In the winter I fed squirrels in my garden plus the birds. I bought peanuts and we loved watching the wildlife feeding every day.
In was only a matter of time before we had rats joining in with the rest and digging holes everywhere. I discovered a large hole next to the drain below my kitchen window and it scared me as I did not know if they were coming in.
I do not have a problem with rats as such but there were more and more of them appearing and I have grandchildren who play in the garden, so I had to stop feeding the birds.
My cat killed a few young rats also. After a time they stopped coming round. I now know I can't feed the birds any more which is a shame

Sorry but the peppermint oil made me chuckle. I think all my rats had covid nad lost smell because the twats don't even flinch at these things.
Tbh simlar can be said about local cats when I was trying to use certain plants to deter them from pooping here. Saw one shitting with her face IN the fucking lavender 😂

@Bunty55 You can get or make feeders where birds can't throw food on the ground. I put a plastic deeper plate at the bottom of mine and it solved the issue well. Except that wood pigeons started trying to land on these 😂

We have just moved from our old rural house where we were plagued with rats and mice, despite no chickens/no bird food. I guess we were just a target as surrounded by fields with no other shelter. Vile things - if they stay outside then fine, let them go about their business, but when they come into my home, causing damage to do so, and spreading disease, then they are poisoned. It's great not to have to worry about the filthy things anymore (in my new build house).

I honestly think it's most humane way of despatching them, tbh. A good Jack Russell will grab a rat and kill it with one shake, then move on to the next one.

A friend filmed a pack ratting JRs working at the stables where she had her horse, in about 5 minutes they killed about 100 rats.