help rats in my garden

[sweetmonkey]

i have a bird table half way down my garden which has a fence with bushes on it next to it. usually i have a lot of birds and a couple of squirrels which i love watching since i lost my dog last year. i find it very calming. anyway i came down the other day to find 2 (wasnt sure if they were mice or rats) on the bird table.

after watching them i discovered they thenjumped into the bushes and appeared again throughout the day. i have noticed during this time the squirrel sitting on the back fence quite wary of coming down.

i dont want to kill anything as i do like animals but i would much rather have the squirrels then some rats (i know squirrels are rats with furry tails before anyone says anything)

is there anything i can put out which wont harm the squirrels or birds but would frighten the rats off

tia

anyone?

You should contact the local pest control agency that your council should run.

You may not want to kill animals but rats carry diseases severe enough to put people into hospital. Weils disease for one

We had rats in the garden, and called pest control, and the first thing they noticed was the bird feeder, and said it was best not to have food out, as it would just attract them. Not sure if anyone can suggest any way of feeding birds that the rats couldn't get at (including no bits dropping onto the floor, which they could get).

Ring your local council now. Its something like a one off payment of £10 and then they deal with it however long it takes and however many visits they need to make.

Stop using the bird table immediately. Use a hanging feeder they can peck at instead.

I may be that one of your neighbours has the main infestation and they are just starting to explore your garden too. Deal with it now or it will be a nightmare later

will do thanks. they dont seem to be on the floor or anything just on the table. then jump back into the bush. i have hanging feeders but just put a few nuts out for the squirrels to stop him going for the feeders as he has taken 3 from my garden

have phoned the council and he said it would be easier to get rid of them myself as they charge 50 pounds to come out so i shall have to go to the garden centre later and get some.

Unfortunately you do need to suspend your 'live and let live' principles for rats. If they are prancing around in full view then there may be lots more you can't see (there are millions around) and they do spread disease. it's so warm this winter they are probably breeding like flies.

You can get a rat trap, but then you have to kill the rats or set them free somewhere miles away. ugh.

Unfortunately you will probably ahve to resort to rat poison, which you can get anywhere. Take care with it, and only use it for a few days - don't leave it around as a habit as other animals will eat it.

Dont' put birdfood on teh ground - you can get a bird-proof squirrel feeder to keep the squirrels off the bird feeders, but I find just using squirrel-proof bird feeders is best. (you may need to read that twice ). Get them from somewhere like CJ Wildbird food (on the internet) - you need the ones with the cage around them.

You can also get a table that's rat proof - you can get ones that hang from trees, or you can get cages that have big enough holes for birds to get through that go over bird tables.

I HATE rats