To carry on feeding the birds even though rats have appeared in our garden?

[ahe2]

Not sure what to do about this.

We love feeding the birds. My DC have learned the names of so many birds because of this and while I don’t exactly believe robins are the souls of our loved ones … well … maybe I want to think it’s something to do with being watched over.

The problem is we now have rats. I’ve seen a baby one and an adult so I think there’s probably a nest.

Part of me thinks rats are everywhere. We live cruelly, it’s a big garden with a large hedge leading into open meadows and woodland so there will be rats. We had rabbits a couple of years ago which I loved and we have a squirrel which I’ve no problem with. So …

On the other hand the thought of rats on my children’s play equipment and possibly spreading disease is unpleasant.

What would you do? Is there any way we can continue feeding the birds but discourage the rats?

I’d never poison them but I have wondered about borrowing a cat!

I love the don't worry about rats around your house and garden attitude. No problem with incontinent rodents who carry a number of serious diseases pissing all over the outside play areas ir even on your work surfaces if they get in. There are reasons we have strong legal requirements to prevent rats and mice or not to create harbourage for them. They were identified as a public health issue 200 years ago. They still are.

You can just stop feeding the birds, no need to kill them.

There is a large Yemeni / Syrian community where we are (and our neighbours on the other side are a mosque!) so this makes sense!

My mum has the same problem. Honestly as long as the rats stay in the garden it wouldn't bother me. Realistically there are rats everywhere. They're smart and generally stay away from humans, that's why we don't see them.

@ahe2If you decide to kill them a jack russell terrier would be both more effective and more humane than a cat. My young, fit, lightning-fast cat has brought a rat into my flat completely unharmed. Cats bring prey back to their homes to "help" their poor ineffective humans learn to hunt.

Educate yourself
my old boss friend died from weils disease caught it work in manholes and the underground cable network

google weils disease

😆 great typo! Funnily enough there is no obligation to keep agricultural areas free from rodents so just shoo them under the hedge 🫢

It's so lovely getting to know your "locals" 🥰

I always used to be paranoid about Weils disease when drinking from glass bottles or cans!

I used to have a lot of bird feeders at my old address. Only one was a ground feeder.
There was a vacant house a couple of doors down and rats started breeding in the garden and they ended up coming into mine. They even tried climbing up the pole that had a feeder on top. I had a composter at the end of the garden and I was worried they would start nesting in that.
So I stopped feeding them. It broke my heart and I felt dreadful. We got the ratcatcher from the local council in to sort out the rats.

The pp who says birds don't need feeding at this time of year is incorrect. Because of various factors there isn't an abundance of natural food available even in the summer and the birds really need a helping hand. But OP I really think if you know you have rats I would definitely give the feeding a break for now. But it's really distressing having to do that.

No need to feed the birds in the spring or summer, take in feeders, empty, clean and disinfect them ready for late autumn/ winter redeploy. Rats are everywhere and also carry many diseases but without an easy food source(your bird feeders) may move on or if there is a nest you may need vermin control. If you leave doors open or have rat entry options, the rats will get into your house.

The birds need help this time of year, it’s silly to say they don’t. Insects and seeds are not readily available yet.

Rats are always around.

Myself and my two neighbours either side have all stopped feeding the birds since we had and solved a rat issue. As much as I loved it, the rats got into our houses and cost us all a fortune to sort (all period detached cottages so hard to seal the houses entirely and lots of places to hide!). We all agreed to stop. You'll definitely be happy you stopped if you avoid the few thousand pound bill I ended up with!

RSPB advice is feed the birds all year but adjust the type of food you give then in Soring and Summer.

I had exactly this, we had beautiful birds, even a woodpecker and I loved looking out the window at them - until all I could see was a couple of large rats underneath them.
We got rid of bird feeders.

I thought you don't really need to feed birds except over winter. In spring/summer there's enough worms, bugs, min beasts for them to eat.

There was a gorgeous little robin the other morning at daybreak just hopping from pot to pot, picking out a worm from each one! I wish I got a photo.

I would certainly stop doing anything that could encourage rats. I hope pest control can advise or do something.

Use bird feeders hanging from trees

Thanks. The robins come out and sit looking expectantly when they see me. They are so clever!

I’ve ordered some bird feeders which I hope might help.

The poster said it's "highly unlikely", and they are correct.

About as many people catch weils disease in the UK, per year, as are struck by lightning (and you're more likely to die from lightning).

Your boss's friend was the unlucky one-in-tens-of-millions.

Also, not all weils cases come from rats. A lot are due to exposure from livestock (and occasional cases where it's spread by a dog or other carrier). If you don't work with livestock, your risk is significantly lowered.

Robins love dried insects, which are pricey but worth the pleasure. Mine fly over hoping I have some.

We stopped feeding the birds because of rats. Next door feed them using bird feeders and I have watched a rat happily trot along the fence to get to a feeder. However it has got better now we have all stopped putting out food at low levels. Having had rats in the house and the expense of removing them and blocking entry points I'm not encouraging them back.

I'd stop, not worth it. Or get a jack Russell.

My sisters neighbour had many bird feeders and several birds tables (none ground feeders), also woods behind their houses. She was told by the council she had to stop feeding the birds as it was causing a rat issue.

If you have 1 rat and baby you can bet there are MANY more there.

I also agree with the pp about the weils disease. Rats pee as they move about, basically incontinent. It is known that coming into contact with their pee is extremely dangerous in vatious ways and weils disease can be fatal. A cousins ex was seriously ill after working on a building site and contracting it. He did survive. No way would I risk my kids health.

They will run inside your house if you leave the doors open. Ground floor windows too.

You can get squirrel proof bird feeders that only let small birds feed.

also, you can get “hot spicy” bird food which mammals like rats won’t eat. Birds can’t taste spicy chilli at all but rats hate it and won’t eat bird food with cayenne pepper or other chilli mixed in.

If you leave doors open or have rat entry options, the rats will get into your house

This