To ask my neighbour to stop feeding the birds...

[scarletlilybug]

My neighbour loves birds and prepares a minin feast for them each day... nuts, fat ball, chopped up fruit. She scatters said food on the lawn to the side of her house. Thing is, twice now I have seen rats eating the food provided and, tbh, I'm really annoyed about it.

Dh says she will be offended if I ask/suggest that she stops feeding the birds. Maybe so. Yet I'm bl**dy annoyed and offended that rats are being enticed into our neighbourhood.

So, question is, is it unreasonable to ask her to stop?

Why not just talk to her about having seen the rats, maybe she hasn't seen them?? Then perhaphs, if she doesn't suggest it, you could suggest that she gets a bird feeder rather than scatter the food on the lawn and only puts out a little at a time.

I would just mention to her that you have seen rats eating the food and that maybe she should put the food where the rats can't get it. She might be horrified herself at the thoughts of rats in her garden.

I'd definitely talk to her about it. Its not unreasonable to suggest that she gets a bird table or hangs feeders from fence, trees etc instead. She doesn't have to stop feeding them, just find a way that doesn't attract rats! If she gets snippy about it then just call Environmental Health.

Agree with the others, tell her you have seen rats eating the food and suggest she uses a bird table, this is the best thing to use rather than hanging feeders, as the food doesnt tend to spill onto the ground.

SOme useful info here whic you coudl print off and show her
www.gardenadvice.co.uk/howto/wildflowers/wildbirdfood/index.html

You cant ask her to stop feeding the birds totally though, that would be unreasonable.

Big no no to leave food outside like that - sure to attract rats.

My mum loves feeding the birds outside her window, but makes sure that the food is not on the ground and has never attracted rats.

Since it would be perfectly possible for your neighbour to do the same thing, and still have the enjoyment of feeding, and watching the birds, you are not being at all unreasonable to ask her to stop putting the food on the ground because you don't want rats attracted to the area.

We had this problem with neighbours and it was a nightmare, they would not listen to reason. It was part of their religious (Hindu) belief to feed the birds. In the end the Council had to be involved because the problem had got so bad, pigeons would be sitting on all our window ledges and we couldn't open them.

Thanks for the input.

OK, well I guess I'll have to look for an opportunity to mention the rats sighting to her and sugest a table-feeder. Maybe a total ban on bird food would be a bit extreme. (I'm embarassed to say that I don't know my neighbour very well, despite having lived here for 3 years now.)

I wouldn't wait to look for an opportunity tbh. I would knock on her door. You can be nice and friendly but just ask if she is aware that there are rats eating the food. If she gets shirty then you can call Environmental Health but she may not know and she might be fine.

I think food left on the ground isn't meant to be good for birds either because it can get mouldy or something? Maybe she'd care more about that?