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?

Yabu. I can’t imagine your neighbours will be happy for you to continue.

Rats are not sweet. They are filthy, disgusting creatures, who carry a whole raft of really nasty diseases. I agree that they are cunning and intelligent. I would not want them anywhere near my garden, especially with young children. They bite and go for the throat - enough to kill a child.

@ahe2, l would stop feeding the birds at this time of year, get pest control to deal with the existing rats and plant lavender bushes as these are supposed to deter rats.

No, it wouldn't.

Rats (like most mammals) do not really like cayenne or other spicy peppers, but it won't deter them. If you gave a rat two piles of bird feed, one with cayenne and one without, they would likely eat the one without cayenne first, then the one with cayenne.

Well that's sorted then. We can stop spending the hundreds of millions of pounds we spend on rodent control a year.
Lets see. Local authorities spend millions on preventative baiting. Nothing else for them to spend the money on, is there, so why do they do it. We have public health legislation to force people to take actions on there own land to control them, why would we do that with an English Man's Castle and all that. We have pest control sections employing hundreds of people across the Country, is it just a job creation scheme. Environmental Health Officers inspecting to ensure they are not there, loads of food and other safety legislation specifically to control them.
If you think the risk from rats is just a small risk from leptospirosis then you are very much misinformed.

They are intelligent creatures who have done a lot for humankind from medical research to land mine detection.

People who think it’s ok to treat them cruelly have something deeply wrong with them.

Rats in a garden are a complete non issue, they are the same as squirrels (but more intelligent) as far as I am concerned.
If they come into the house maybe reconsider but if they aren't causing a problem why stop feeding the birds? I have seen rats in our garden and in the woods behind, in fact we have fed the rats in the woods before. They hold bit sof bread in their little paws to eat it, very cute

We had the same problem a couple of months ago. Only saw one rat, but it had climbed up a tree and was feeding on the fat balls we hung out for the birds. I was horrified and called our local council. The 'rat man' came, and put down some traps, but we didn't see it again. He said it's ok to feed the birds, but to bring feeders, etc, inside at night. We haven't done this (yet) as it was a sunny afternoon when we spotted the rat the first time!

I've just had to spend quite a bit of money on getting rid of rats from my attic. It needed professional pest control. I won't be doing anything that might attract them onto my property having had the mess and expense of dealing with them.

Rat hater and bird lover here and I like most of my neighbours too. I made a contraption out of an old plastic planter held up by 'fashioned' coat hangers on top of a washing line pole with a cast iron bird feeder hanger thrust through the middle - basically any bird feeder overspill falls into the old planter up high and none for the ratty bastards. It works.

It is unhealthy for the birds, they are not toys

Rats breed quickly. One of two might be ok. 20 won't be and it affects your neighbours too. We have blue tits, blackbirds, pigeons, robins, rooks, sparrows, doves and put no food out at all.

Have rat numbers increased this year? I've been putting food out for the birds for years. Only seen a rat this year. Then, same week, saw another on a path in the village.

Are rats more unhygienic than squirrels or birds? They are all over the garden and no one minds. I thought the rat we saw was very cute but DH was not impressed.

it might be better to try more natural ways of encouraging your wildlife.

You could get add a pond, a bit of wild area, a vegetable patch (which will be full of tasty caterpillars), a log pile, and lots of bird boxes.

If you do all that, then the bird life should come without the rats.

If you would like to know more about it, there is a good book called "no nettles required". It's really good if you want to know about how to make things zing in the garden.

Also if you're found to have nests of rats in your garden and the neighbours complain to the council, you will be liable to pay for pest control which can run into hundreds, maybe thousands.

They are intelligent, no doubt about that. They climb and swim and have routines and behavioural patterns. They carry disease and bacteria like salmonella due to where they live, they are incontinent so urinate as they move around, so wherever they have been their urine is there. Running across your food prep area at night pissing on it, for example. This includes in water which is the issue with leptospirosis. They cause millions of pounds worth of damage to cables by noring them. Then there's the rep from their fleas and killing 40 percent of humans in Europe, which wasn't really their fault but they get the blame for it.
They really don't jump for your throat though. They will jump past you if cornered, but they are not going for you, just trying to escape. They mostly like to keep out of the way.

@WinterFoxes nope I don't think rats have increased this year but 2-3 years ago were big rat years.

Another helpful thing is having a Jack Russell - she chases them away, but that's not always a good thing as a night time activity as it upsets the neighbours but if it weren't for my dear little JT I might not have known the severity of the rats 2-3 years ago.

It's true that rats have better breeding years than others (about every 7) but that doesn't help the good people of Birmingham right now I'm sure.

You need to take away the bird food or the rats will continue to come in your garden because you are feeding them.....

Completely agree that if you have a problem with rats then getting a Jack Russel will solve that problem. All the other problems a JR will cause you are another matter though. I gave a family member who has 3. 2 have anti social behaviour orders out against them.

For goodness sake, I'm not arguing for the abolition of pest control. Rats, like most wild animals, carry potentially harmful diseases.

The reason that rats and mice are indeed pests, is because of their tendency to find their way into human spaces. It is generally a health risk to have wild animals in your home, or in eateries, or wherever else. Happily, foxes, badgers, hedgehogs, birds and alike are not likely to find their way into your home and take up residence. Rats and mice, on the other hand, will and are not easily removed, hence they need to be controlled.

Uncontrolled, the rate of exposure would increase massively - as would building damage (and resulting fires from damaged electrics).

In terms of seeing one in the garden, occasionally, the risk is not substantially different vs seeing the occasional badger, hedgehog, squirrel or fox passing through.

I love animals with attitude and self confidence. I breed goats. But Jack Russels are on another level😂

They aren't incontinent, they just pee a lot (particularly the males). Something like 50-100 times per day.

But yeah, a very good reason not to want wild ones in your house - and it can be a bit of a problem with some male pet ones, too (in my experience, most are fine, but I've encountered a couple of enthusiastic pissers).

But the whole issue is that the bird food is attracting them to a human habitation and supporting their breeding. If you saw one in the garden passing by then no issue. That's not the case here. The activity of providing a food source is supporting their breeding and survival and that us an issue.

agree with this….dont
inf the rats and keep feeding the birds.

We had decking and were feeding the birds. Rats came, got under the decking and gnawed through the house foundations into our cavity walls and ran amok in them every night.
It cost us thousands of pounds to dig up the decking, put down poison and eventually concrete the whole patio and use slabs.We still feed the birds but if I see 1 rat I'll stop.I'm more careful now and only use the feeders, put down smaller amounts and avoid fat balls.

We had mice round our low hung feeders so I stopped for a while then got an RSPB high pole feeder they can’t climb and just put out a small amount at a time. I ensure the water supply is kept clean.