Gardener found a dead rat outside.

[MumTeapot5]

Hi everyone.
I need someone to calm me down or something 🤷🏼‍♀️
As the title says my gardener has been around for my monthly maintenance visit and while deweeding my raised flower bed and pulling off the ivory on the garden wall growing over from next doors garden he has found a dead rat in there. Looks like it may have been poisoned as it was intact 🤢 I’ve spoken to both my neighbours who we are friendly with to ask if they know of any issues on the street and both have said none that they are aware of, I guess I’m just freaked out where it’s came from and now I’m walking around my house checking for any entry points and hoping if they are about that they can’t actually get into my house!
Rats are my biggest fear and the thought of them has me freaking out.
Please help and put my mind at ease!

Rats are always about you just dont usually see them! Sorry if that doesnt help.

Have any neighbours around got chickens? As you can get rat problems with chicken feed put down. Possibly they put poison down to control them.

No chickens about, I can put the poison down in the front garden I just worry about anything rats as I’m petrified

Finding a rat isn't a big deal - they're everywhere. I'd be more worried that it's dead as it's probably been poisoned.

Do you have pets? If so, it might be worth asking your neighbours if they have put poison down incase it's somewhere that you pets could accidentally eat it.

I wouldnt worry unless you see any live rats. Then you know you have a problem. I suspect someone had put poison down after they noticed rats eating food outside. Might even be guinea pig food etc they noticed was being taken. They probably put poison down hence the dead rat turning up at yours.

We have had chickens before and if you can see any pathways (tunnels under fences etc) or live rats then you need to act. One dead rat and i wouldnt worry yet just keep vigilant for any other signs.

I have a dog but our back garden is enclosed and it’s not fences at the back it’s walls so I’m pretty sure he is safe and wouldn’t get to any poison if they had put it down. He doesn’t go into the front garden unless we are out there or walking down the path to go on his walk

And as cariad says there is probably poison been put down somewhere locally. It should be in rat boxes that pets wouldnt be able to access but if you dont know who put it down you cant say for sure.

Hahaha. Rats are everywhere.

I was walking the dogs the other day and on the edge of the housing development we live was a seagull. I hate the things and i cannot fathom the current phase of people trying to help them and their young survive. They are vermin. Anyhow what i witnessed made me chuckle. It was attacking a rat that had scurried from the nearby weed/wildlife overgrown garden area. The seagull killed it then swallowed this huge rat whole. It was fucking disgusting.

Vermin eating vermin. You will have rats in your garden almost every night. Sorry to say its just a fact of life.

Our cat occasionally kills rats but he leaves their corpses on our lawn rather than bringing them in the house. He plays with the corpses until we consign them to the dustbin. We’re in quite a nice area, it goes to show that rats are everywhere. The rats he kills don’t usually have any obvious signs of injury.

Rats are everywhere. Don’t put poison around freely, it’ll kill other animals that aren’t rats.

It would be obvious if you actually had a rat problem.

This is so bonkers OP. Rats can scale walls and squeeze through anywhere. And the live and dig in holes. They are everywhere. That one was poisoned probably which means someone is aware of their presence. Do you really think your garden is impenetrable?

I’m sorry I shouldn’t freak you out but at the same time you’re an adult and someone needs to tell you stuff.

Fully aware they can get anywhere but the question about any poison put down in their gardens and my dog being able to get to it was what I was answering to and both my neighbours haven’t been aware of any such rats to have to take action

Rats are definitely a lot closer than you might imagine! Maybe a cat killed it. My cat does this and then just leaves it. He doesn't eat it.

I live near a river and some woods and my cat sometimes brings in dead rats she has caught. They look intact with not even blood on them sometimes. It could be something like that

The real issue arises if a cat or dog eats a poisoned rat. My friend lost her little cat that way. She rushed her to the veterinary hospital but it was too late. They said it was fairly common unfortunately.

Poison is usually put in rat boxes. When once you have seen a rat box then you will notice that they have been put down in loads of places. Rats are everywhere.

Best advice I ever heard about poisoning rats was from a pest controller, he said 'rats breed at such a rate that poisoning them is only freeing up rail estate for the next generation', it also puts other animals and birds at risk. We live rurally and undoubtedly there are rats around so all we do it make sure no food is left accessible, no suitable nesting spaces near the house but never put down poison.

Ewww I've seen a seagull eat a rat too! It did seem very very gross/horrifying. I can't bear either animal!!!

PLEASE don't put poison down!!! It's one rat. There are rats everywhere. If nature is in balance in your area, you will have rats, in the same way you'll have squirrels, mice, frogs etc etc. But if you lay down poison raptors / owls end up eating slow moving and dying animals.

Rats have a bad rap. They are naturally very hygienic animals.

Echoing a few other PPs - please don’t put poison down. Imagine your dog ate a poisoned rat and died. You would be devastated so please think of other pet owners in the same vein

Aww that’s such a shame. Hopefully this isn’t the case

This.
Don’t risk poisoning wildlife, there is no reason at all to put poison down for one small corpse.

I’ve read that they can carry a disease that can be transmitted via urine, very unlikely but it got me worried

I love rats. Leave them alone and they won’t bother you OP. If you start messing with them, they will scale your drainpipe, climb through your bedroom window and chew through your jugular vein as you sleep. Google it, it’s true. They are very smart so be warned and leave them be.

I hate rats, I am terrified of them actually but I wouldn't bat an eyelid at finding one dead one in the garden, its just one of those things.