Neighbour’s bird food causing rats

[Toooldforthisbollocks]

A neighbour feeds the birds on an industrial scale. Bird feeders everywhere.
A year ago we had rats in our garden to the point that they were running about in plain sight and I actually saw one try to eat a poor blackbird whilst he was pecking for worms on our lawn.

Several other houses were seeing rats in their gardens, all of which back on to the bird feeder’s house.

One neighbour went to speak to Mrs Bird Feeder and asked if she had seen rats and she replied that she had a huge infestation the previous year and had employed pest control for numerous visits at great expense and eventually they eradicated the nests which were under her sheds.

She said had been advised to stop feeding the birds, which she did.

Unbelievably she then went on to say that once the rats were gone she started feeding again and she had subsequently seen multiple rats in her garden but hadn’t thought they might go on to neighbours property.

She agreed to remove her bird feeders again and did so. The rats then left.

Fast forward to last weekend and we notice rat holes at the back of our garden closest to Mrs Bird Feeder and could see over the fence that all the bird feeders are back again. Then later we saw a rat running along our garden towards our house. There is nothing to attract them on our property, all bins and drains secure.

AIBU to report to environmental health instead of approaching her again?

It seems that speaking to Mrs BF directly is not communicating the need to change her ways if she keeps getting over run with rats due to the bird food and only stops temporarily.

Btw, Mrs BF is not elderly/ disabled/ ND. I think she just likes feeding the birds.

I do understand that it is nice to feed the birds but Mrs BF has approximately 20 feeders, literally food everywhere, and rats are a hazard to health and property.

We could pay for pest control ourselves for our own garden but have been advised that it is pointless if there is a large food source so close by.

You could get a hawk kite like MacDs and fly it near her garden - but try the environmental health route first.

When we had our problem, it was Housing Standards rather than Environmental Health.

They will ask if you have checked with your neighbors, and they will make sure (or ask you to prove), that the issue isn’t coming from your property. The guy we had was great, did a walk round of the area, told people to tidy gardens up, baited the public drains etc. They can serve notice on people who don’t tidy like they ask.

If she removes her sheds she won't have such an issue with rats they need more than a food source to settle in an area

Yes report and it is not healthy for birds anyway

20 bird feeders in one garden!
I wonder how she stores the food. It might not just be the feeders themselves, but how she stores the food in her shed ie just in cardboard / open packets etc.

That's awful for you. I hope I can never even imagine seeing rats running around my garden. I would be beyond having yet another chat with her and would find out who to go to ie Environmental Health.

20 bird feeders is a lot unless you have acres of land and can feed them well away from houses!

Do you know if the house is council, rented or owned by her? If it's a council house or she has a landlord, you may have more luck as they will have a vested interest in ensuring their property is maintained. If it's owned by Mrs BF I think the only route you can go down is Environmental Health, if you don't want to approach her again.

You have my sympathies, my neighbours has a 6 foot high mountain of rubbish and weeds/overgrown hedges and it's a rat paradise. Each year, when the weather turns cold, we always get some coming into the house. Thankfully we've managed to avoid an infestation, but it stresses me out trying to get rid of them.

Definitely report it but, kindly, you have no idea if she is disabled/ND unless you are very close and she’s told you - not all disabilities are visible.

Yes definitely report it. We had this issue a couple of years ago with out neighbours. They had feeders and plates everywhere. They were living under their decking and our shed. Neighbours also have a pond. It was awful.

https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20006/environment/1168/pest-control-and-welfare/3

this might be helpful, OP. I would say your first step is to have a polite conversation with your neighbour about what measures they can take to minimise the opportunities for rats - so that means storing all food securely, not putting out bird food for now and later only putting out minimal amounts. Also minimising nesting opportunities in undergrowth, compost heaps and unsecured sheds. I expect they will be unwilling to take action - which they have a legal responsibility to do. In which case, you need to report them to the council. Obviously also make sure that your property is not rat-friendly too.

She's taking the piss. She's causing the rat problems and she knows it. I'd have very firm words, insist that she gets rid of the feeders for good or state you'll have no choice but to go to environmental health.

You could also threaten to take her to small claims court for the cost of property damage and pest control but that might get her back up.

Edit - make sure to get photos beforehand

That is grim. We had similar, the rat dude came out and told our neighbour, who took note and the problem has now been dealt with. I think you need to tell her it is impacting on your enjoyment of the garden / mental health or whatever and she needs to stop feeding the birds and pay for a rat man to come out and deal with the problem. If she doesn't, get onto Environmental Health but I would give her the opportunity to do the right thing first.

We had a neighbour who composts and had the same issue. Awful! They are a phobia of mine. Dh and I invited her over (plenty of tea and cake). And she was very lovely and receptive. We have been very lucky with neighbours. You have my sympathy!

Can you feed birds without attracting rats?

I was thinking of getting one as we have A LOT of birds in our garden. But I couldn’t stand it if it attracted anything less desirable?

Our neighbour does the same and now there’s rats on our property too! It’s infuriating! His gardens just full of pigeons all the time - get 2/3 cats and let nature sort it out. Or get one of those air rifle/pellet things; I’m sure you’d only need to show it rather than use it and she’ll quickly stop feeding them x

What? What bearing does any disability have on things?

And using "kindly" when posting is just patronising. I threw out a bird table we inherited when we bought our house when I eyeballed a huge rat eating bird seed on it at the back of our kitchen.

We feed the birds and get rats in our garden.

They don’t bother us as they never come up to the house. Our next door neighbour practises his shooting on them.

Fucking hell Cletus…
How’s the roadkill stew this evening?

And bird tables are the worst for sharing bird flu, too. We have one because it's cute but haven't put any food on it for a few years, since the bird flu outbreaks.

I feed the birds but haven’t seen a rat in years. There are plenty of cats in the neighbourhood so that may be why. I find the ground feeding birds and the squirrels hoover up all the food the birds drop.

The law is on your side (Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949).

You report her to the Council. The Council serve her notice. If she fails to act the council can do it on her behalf and recover their costs. If the Council fail to do their part you can then report the Council.

My neighbour is horrendous. Took absolute umbridge at being told her bird feeding was attracting rats. They were in the walls and ceilings and she still didn’t care. Absolute vile woman. Some people just don’t care. Tell her it’s a health hazard and you are going to have to get environmental health involved. I was too nice for too long.

Dealing with this issue at my dad's bungalow at the moment, I've just spent a small fortune on Pest Control due to rats infesting my dad's loft and garden. Two of my dad's neighbours are also dealing with same issue. All due to one neighbour, her garden backs onto my dad's and his next door neighbour. She has a dozen bird feeders, and also just throws random food onto of her shed which backs onto my dad's garden! My dad initially tried talking to her no luck, he then tried talking to her husband over the fence, his response was "the wife likes feeding them, what do you want me to do"!. Extremely frustrating, attracts other wildlife as well, has caused my dad and one of his other elderly neighbours so much stress (both of them very proud gardener's), and my dad calling upset at 2am having fallen out of his loft when he was hearing rats in the loft.
Some people are just selfish.