Should I sell reindeer food at my upcoming Xmas Market.

[LauraSaidIShouldBeNicer]

I have a Xmas Market coming up on the 20th Nov selling homemade pet things and natural treats (I have all official stuff, insurances and bits sorted) am wondering should I make some reindeer food bags up? Would they look out of place with the dog and cat treats?

My first market is in a specialist school.

feeeeed the rats tuppence a bag.....

Laughing at the suggestion that bird seed will attract more rats. Like that what they are scrounging around for.

Anyway, the reindeer food we got (oats and gasp! edible glitter) was set out in a bowl and set next to the whisky and shortbread because of course Santa will take it and feed it to the reindeer, they are hardly going to be grazing on the pavement.

@godmum56

feeeeed the rats tuppence a bag.....

That's what crossed my mind. I mean the birds might get there first but the rats will be all over it if not.

Isn't the carrot for the reindeer?

If you have hedgehogs in your local area package up some hedgehog food. Ark wildlife foods sell a good hoggy food. Otherwise just some chicken flavour cat biscuits. Sell it as Reindeer food and the local hedgehogs will get a meal! With temperatures getting milder lots of hedgehogs aren’t hibernating or wake up for a snack. Birds also have been known to eat my leftover hog food. Help your local hogs!

Oh for goodness sake please don't! Glitter etc being chucked all over paths being blown everywhere and wildlife & pets suffering a painful death just for a few seconds of "Aaaaaah" Those who use porridge and/or rice is even worse! They swell in birds & animal stomachs, it's truly horrific.
My local vet puts out a warning against it every year. Even 'edible glitter' is hugely dangerous to animals.

@BoredZelda

Laughing at the suggestion that bird seed will attract more rats. Like that what they are scrounging around for.

Anyway, the reindeer food we got (oats and gasp! edible glitter) was set out in a bowl and set next to the whisky and shortbread because of course Santa will take it and feed it to the reindeer, they are hardly going to be grazing on the pavement.

You can laugh but it happens. If you have a bird feeder or a small furry animal in a hutch then the rats will come and eat the stuff that drops onto the floor underneath.

You can laugh but it happens. If you have a bird feeder or a small furry animal in a hutch then the rats will come and eat the stuff that drops onto the floor underneath.

I have half a dozen of them. We are not rat infested. I mean, sure, rats might come in to the garden and I don’t see them, but the suggestion they will suddenly emerge to hoover up a few bird seeds on Christmas Eve is laughable. If we’re not to put out reindeer food because of it, does that mean we shouldn’t have bird feeders in winter either?

Oh for goodness sake please don't! Glitter etc being chucked all over paths being blown everywhere and wildlife & pets suffering a painful death just for a few seconds of "Aaaaaah" Those who use porridge and/or rice is even worse! They swell in birds & animal stomachs, it's truly horrific.

Did you miss the bit where OP said she was going to use bird food?

Love this thread.
No good deed goes unpunished, OP!
Not risk assessing reindeer food is perilous territory , for sure.
Are you trying to murder Dancer and Prancer or what ? Ruin Christmas?

Following to check back later to make some! 🦌

@Almostmenopausal

Oh for goodness sake please don't! Glitter etc being chucked all over paths being blown everywhere and wildlife & pets suffering a painful death just for a few seconds of "Aaaaaah" Those who use porridge and/or rice is even worse! They swell in birds & animal stomachs, it's truly horrific. My local vet puts out a warning against it every year. Even 'edible glitter' is hugely dangerous to animals.

Did you know that edible glitter isn't digestible or compostable? It passes through the eater and out the other end unchanged then sits in the environment unchanged.

@BoredZelda

You can laugh but it happens. If you have a bird feeder or a small furry animal in a hutch then the rats will come and eat the stuff that drops onto the floor underneath.

I have half a dozen of them. We are not rat infested. I mean, sure, rats might come in to the garden and I don’t see them, but the suggestion they will suddenly emerge to hoover up a few bird seeds on Christmas Eve is laughable. If we’re not to put out reindeer food because of it, does that mean we shouldn’t have bird feeders in winter either?

It means you have to be careful. My feeders are all close to the house, like 5 feet from the door and I put food out bit at a time several times a day. I do my best to leave none in overnight. If I don't I actually see the rats visit for leftovers. A few years ago rats decided that my garage was a great place to live. No food stored in there except in the freezer but I have to admit it was a bit full of stuff. The final straw came when it started to smell in there and I found half a dead snake and a chewed lobster head behind the freezer. not envy. I am now much more careful and take the rat thing seriously

I have half a dozen of them. We are not rat infested. I mean, sure, rats might come in to the garden and I don’t see them, but the suggestion they will suddenly emerge to hoover up a few bird seeds on Christmas Eve is laughable. If we’re not to put out reindeer food because of it, does that mean we shouldn’t have bird feeders in winter either?

It all depends how desperate the rats are for food in any particular area I assume.They might suddenly appear if they aren't having much luck so not sure what's laughable there.
I have a bird feeder close to the house and make sure that anything dropping underneath is swept up asap. That said, I have a cat too, and I won't be leaving any sort of reindeer food out any time soon.

@BoredZelda

You can laugh but it happens. If you have a bird feeder or a small furry animal in a hutch then the rats will come and eat the stuff that drops onto the floor underneath.

I have half a dozen of them. We are not rat infested. I mean, sure, rats might come in to the garden and I don’t see them, but the suggestion they will suddenly emerge to hoover up a few bird seeds on Christmas Eve is laughable. If we’re not to put out reindeer food because of it, does that mean we shouldn’t have bird feeders in winter either?

This is true. We have guineapigs, chickens, a bird feeder, an aviary and rats. We can't get rid of the rats. We wired all the enclosures to get rid of the feckers, but they have tunnelled under the guineapigs' enclosure - even though the base was wired too, they've now managed to break through that too (initially it was mice, now it's rats) so I'm off to buy a new one tomorrow, re-wire it, cement down the rat warren holes, but in reality it's really hard to get rid of them out the garden.