What to do about rats?

[Questioningconstantly]

Got rats in the garden, what do you do? Very brazenly chilling under the patio furniture and roaming around frequently. Where do they come from? How do I go about it? I know nothing about this as I haven't had rats in my garden like this before.

Do they have access to any food in your garden? If so the first step is to sort that. If they are coming for food and you get rid of that, they might move on.
Otherwise you may need to put poison down. Or invite someone with a small yappy dog round....

Contact your local council, they should be able to advise.

Do they have any access to your drains? We had to replace the manhole cover and recover the broken cover on the vent in the front garden. I doubt we’ll ever entirely get rid (London) but it discourages them from hanging around.

Knit them little hats

No no food, just slides and kids toys. Our neighbours store their bins behind our fence so could they be popping in from there?

Shoot them with air rifle

They dislike change, so move pots about, rearrange things, trim undergrowth and so on.

Is it daytime? Is it definitely rats?

Yes daytime, definitely rats snapped pics, was so docile and confident. Right up to patio doors and wasn't bothered we were there at all

Give them little names

That sounds insane. I have a fair amount of wildlife in my country garden, including rats, but i only rarely see rodents of any sort so the number you must have has to be really really high. I would call someone from pest control to have a look, but if the source is a neighbour’s garden it will be very difficult to resolve on your own. I put bait stations near likely entry points inside and out to control the population immediately around my house, and go all out if I see signs inside the house. I live in a rural area and have no hope of being totally rodent free on my property. I don’t really mind if they are in the garden, but definitely not okay with them in the house or hanging out on garden furniture.

Do you have decking? That’s frequently the problem, it makes a lovely home for them.

No but our neighbours do next to our fence :/

Would you be bothered if they were birds, squirrels, foxes or badgers?
They’re not doing any harm.

I noticed a rat in my garden, it was also very confident and casual, strolling around in the day. The council pest control person advised that they are very wary by nature & usually nocturnal so if they are out and about in the day it often means that there are a lot around and about and they have become at ease. She suggested removing all food and water sources, such as bird feeders and also removing overgrown foliage around the edges of the house and garden as they like to use these for cover and habitually run along fences and walls to move around, rather than across open ground. She also said that decking, gaps under sheds and compost heaps and bins are favoured nest sites. She also said that they do not like change so to move things around.
Apparently they are not bothered by dogs and cats as long as they have their rat runs and can move around under cover.
She suggested lockable bait boxes and placing them alongside a fence or structure, which may be used as a rat run and then leaving it alone until they become used to it..

It is very important to carry out a survey of your property to make sure that there are no gaps in the brickwork, door and window frames or roof that they can use to enter your home. Apparently they just need a hole the size of a pound coin. They are looking for food, water and shelter like most animals. If they are inside your house, it is most likely that they are entering through the sewers and drains, according to the pest control person.

Only thr disease aspect as a child my friends dad got a liver disease from working in his garage and cutting his hand where a rat was, and my nans dog died from a disease from one. But I don't know how common it is they carry that.
Given the kids are playing in the garden I don't want to risk their health.
No I'm not as bothered by them as they aren't in my garden on their toys and it would be considerably harder to catch anything due to their nature and the risk is less

I forgot to say that I didn't resort to bait boxes because I don't like the idea of poison and the risk of secondary poisoning but I did follow all the other advice and have not seen any since.

Ive got visiting rats from
the house next door. House next door is an HMO and council are now trying to
enforce the landlord to sort out. The rats climb the six foot wall into my garden which means they visit but don’t live here. It also means you can’t leave any doors or windows open ( rats have now got into neighbours house). Make sure your rats are only visiting, check everywhere for any nesting places they can hide. If you decide to use a bait box be very careful if you have animals. My rats took out the bait and stored it behind a shed my dogs could have eaten it. I’ve sprinkled peppermint oil around which made no difference. If they are only visiting make it uncomfortable , move pots around, don’t have anything they can hide under ( they love sheds and anywhere they can shelter ) cut down all overgrown plants. If you’ve seen more than the odd rat they are now finding your garden too comfortable. They must be nesting somewhere, they always have a base

bird feeders are a terrible draw for them
we live in front of woods so have a continual battle with them coming from there
if there are ponds dustbins etc this could be a problem
contact the council hopefully they will send someone to assess the situation and if needs be speak to next door

I think I have the same problem and I think it’s the neighbour’s decking.

And it’s a confident little one that helps itself to bird food. I’m going to have to rethink how I feed the birds.

It’s fawn coloured though, I rather thought they were dark brown.

That's what my DH did. That and getting rid of the bird feeders 😔
They were nesting in next door's compost bin and coming into our garden to hang out.