To move home because of this

[Charltonstrek]

Maybe im overreacting but been in new place 2 months and we have issue with rats coming into the garden so far tried natural deterrents without success im adverse to poison and to be honest its a battle I could do without help please im petrified to even use my garden so upset.

No on mortgage

In that case you can’t possibly sell up 8 weeks post moving in

you need to pay to address the problem

Just poison them. You're never more than 10ft away from a rat wherever you live.

You'd be ridiculous to move because of it.

Stop feeding the birds and if you are seeing them regularly or more than one, get pest control out.

I got well into the birds as well bought a couple of bird baths now have to get rid of them was enjoying them so much im gutted

Im scared witless of them getting into the house

Poison. Rats need to be controlled.

Ive even bought peppermint plants but they've absolutely nothing to deter them

If you poison them you’ll be poisoning other animals too, some birds are at risk, for example. We have chickens and I would never risk poison again. We are currently dealing with rats which is a fact of life in the country with fields all round but you really just have to remove food sources, make your garden open so they feel unsafe there, and disrupt their runs and nests if there are any in your garden. They soon realise they can have a better life elsewhere.

If you don't want to use poison, try traps. Maybe you can still feed the birds if you're careful to clean up around the feeders regularly and choose feeders that minimise spills and waste.

Just pack your bird baths and feeders away for a while.
Any holes in the fence block. If you have the patience dig down at the fence line and bury fine wire netting to stop them tunnelling through.
Older Rats are often trap and poison shy and can be very difficult to get. There are people (usually men) who will shoot them with an air rifle, usually at night. It is the most effective way I have found to control rats.

Natural deterrents won't help, I have pet rats and they love things like peppermint and fresh herbs. They don't like strong artificial scents but unless you can figure out how to put vape smoke everywhere that's not much help.

As people have said the best thing you can do is remove any food sources. They'll move on and you won't have to resort to potentially killing predators like cats and foxes by poisoning rats.

Don't use poison as it gets into the food chain and kills other wildlife, very slowly and very painfully. Anything that eats meat will be affected including other birds.

Keep the bird baths.

Feed early morning on feeders with a tray underneath to catch any loose food and remove the feeders in the afternoon. Sorry for long link, it's for the type of feeder I was talking about.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Catcher-Attachment-Hanging-Platform-Outdoors/dp/B0GJDDMB11/ref=sxin_15_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.bde47d63-772e-4fcb-800b-406a03c16054%3Aamzn1.sym.bde47d63-772e-4fcb-800b-406a03c16054&cv_ct_cx=bird+feeder+with+tray+underneath&keywords=bird+feeder+with+tray+underneath&pd_rd_i=B0GJDDMB11&pd_rd_r=69f91ca6-cd72-4013-98d5-ab05c7e9f0ce&pd_rd_w=5po01&pd_rd_wg=MuxIz&pf_rd_p=bde47d63-772e-4fcb-800b-406a03c16054&pf_rd_r=CW8P54ARW2GVFNQADZ39&qid=1778274347&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sr=1-1-b2d3fbe7-f696-4cb8-80da-e088d7b1f0ab-spons&aref=rd3mOXBURO&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&psc=1

Check to see if there are any drain covers nearby as they can sometimes come up from there if the hatch or brickwork is damaged. Definitely get rid of all the bird feeding paraphernalia for the time being.
rats are clever - they are only there because there’s a good source. .
edited to add: definitely get a professional pest controller out - but deal with the bird food first.

What’s on the other side of the fence? Are their drains or piles of rubbish or anything you can actually deal with.

When I was a kid you could get a man to come around with a ferret. Is that still a thing? Can you borrow a terrier?

You don't need to feed the birds over the summer anyway. Get rid of all the bird feeding stuff for now, block up all the fence holes, and make sure there is no food waste lying around. Rats are smart. If there's nothing for them to eat, they'll go elsewhere.

We are a ground floor maisonette with sole use of our own garden however upstairs maisonettes have no garden so there is a area at back where they can hang washing on this area backs onto shops. I have been onto this patch and cleared a tiny amount of rubbish but I wouldn't say its a ongoing problem with rubbish been put there

The shops at back consist of a sweet shop, barbers electric training centre and a beauty parlour plus a postoffice

You shouldn't feed the birds this time of year anyway, but the seed/ nuts will attract the rats so that is your problem.

Ive peeped into next doors garden and think there may be a old sofa there

Your local council will come and set bait up and they will be gone very quickly. Our council charged us about £100 in total and put out several poison stations and came back twice to check and collect the equipment. I can understand that you don't want to use poison but rats carry diseases, bite through wires and cause lots of trouble. I'm sorry you're dealing with this. We stopped feeding birds and it was a neighbours compost that also attracted them.

I hope thats the sole problem because that will be easy to solve by stopping and putting feeders away despite the fact I was getting so much pleasure from watching the birds im so upset

Contact your local council..if it's rats they usually deal with it.

If you are now a home owner you need to take responsibility and stop hiding inside.

This was obviously a issue with previous owner as we found 2 bait stations under the conifers

That's my intention do you think with my property been a leasehold they will not charge