I think we have a rats nest

[Sully90]

Every time I go in the garden I see a rat run through it, I am literally terrified of them so cannot put poison down to remove them, I think they might be under the garage, next door breed dogs too so I am wondering if they are attracted to the food/dog shit. I don’t k ow what to do about this can somebody please help.

Maybe get a humane trap and then you can release them somewhere far away from your house?

I honestly can’t bare the thought of being near them, I need another way. We have a kitten that apparently should scare them away but he is only 7 months and will not go outside.

Call the council pest control.

You have to spend money on it. You have to get an exterminator. They will find out where they are coming from

You do have to deal with the rats but you don’t have to do it yourself. If the council can’t help you, they usually have a list of private companies who will come and deal with it. Don’t send a kitten out. Rats can bite and carry diseases. Don’t overthink the poison. Humane traps don’t work for a whole nest and you need to move the rats somewhere else. They travel a long way back to established nests.

You can buy plastic snap traps that kill the rats instantly and allow no touch rodent disposal. Bait with peanut butter. Poisons spread through the ecosystem. Raptors, foxes, and stoats eat sick rats, then die of the poison themselves. If that doesn’t work, get an exterminator.

I feel really bad giving them a painful death (as much as I hate them) I would hate for them to be In pain.

Get in touch with pest control via your local council. It is free in my area. Had a similar situation a couple of years ago, they were living under next doors shed but a few of them found their way into my out building They did loads of damage including chewing through the electrics. The rat man came and sorted it out and haven't been troubled since. The problem won't go away on its own unfortunately.

I agree re pest control.

If it's any reassurance, @Sully90 we had loads of rats in our garden from under next door's decking. They came to ours as we had a water source (slightly dripping outdoor tap).

The pest controllers poisoned them, they take the poison back to their den, stockpile it, and eat it there. We never saw a dead rat. The rats just stopped coming.

I agree with PP re poison entering the ecosystem, and that did concern me. Next time I'd consider traps. But at the time, I just wanted them gone from our tiny garden.

Well you can't have it both ways, can you?

You will either have to put up with the rats, or pay someone to get rid of them.

Asking them nicely if they wouldn't mind perhaps moving somewhere else is not going to work. Catching and releasing is just moving the issue into someone else's back garden.

We had them in our house last year. A true low point for me. They were coming up through the drains.

A rat man came and dealt with them very efficiently- though it was expensive and could probably have done it ourselves if we’d investigated it.

If you can afford professional help get it.