Right I've had enough of pigeon shit and bloody rats on my property due to my neighbour feeding the birds...

[anotherdayyetanothernickame]

My neighbour feeds the birds using an open bird table. Bits fall on the floor and I've seen rats scooting around under it picking it up (yes I admit I've nosied over a few times as you can see her garden from my upstairs window).

I have more and more pigeon shit over my back garden, the sides of the house etc. The pigeons might be here anyway in small numbers who knows, but they clearly perch on her house, my house and nearby trees and swoop into her garden to get the food from her table thing.

I have already paid over £100 to have a pest control guy get rid of the rats about 2 months ago but saw one again yesterday.

I have been incredibly patient. I have asked her to stop feeding them, spoken to her daughter (the lady herself is quite elderly and by her daughter and gardeners admission isn't that rational - I am not linking the two before anyone accuses me of being ageist).

She hasn't stopped.

I spoke to the council at the time of getting the pest control man in for the rats - they said that the neighbour probably is causing the problem to a degree and that if I wanted to make a complaint they'd send an environmental officer round to talk to her about it.

Does that seem fair? She's quite fragile and will probably go a bit mad over it and I'm a bit worried about that but I am sick of dodging pigeon poo (not nice for my ds especially) and worrying about the rats and I don't see why I should put up with this anymore when clearly if she just stopped feeding the birds on an open feeder or at all it would help a lot.

What can I do now?
(sorry for ranting!)

[anotherdayyetanothernickame]

[docket]

Can you talk to her daughter again and say that you would prefer not to talk to council again but feel you can't go on like this and can she try and convince her mum to stop?

[Lauriefairycake]

perhaps you could find out a bit more about birds and encourage her to only put food out that encourages rarer birds rather than pigeons or to do it only in winter when the birds are hungry and need it and they are smaller in number

[anotherdayyetanothernickame]

I've read some stuff online already about the fact that actually most of the year birds don't need feeding and that it can do more harm than good. I could print this off for her but I just don't think she will 'get it' as she is very irrational.

I think you're right re talking to the daughter again in a gentle/ friendly way but still ultimately saying this is the last chance before I call the council in.

[CoffeeCrazedMama]

Really sympathise.We had a barking old dear a few doors up who used to feed the birds bread OUT IN THE STREET. We all felt she was to blame for the mouse plague we had here. Once tried to tell her this politely, but she said, oh no, bread wont bring mice! From then on she'd shuffle off shiftily (with her bag of bread) if she saw me, and scatter her crumbs further up the street.

Wish I'd known environmental health would do something - our only respite came when she was taken into a home.

I used to look at those piles of breadcrumbs and wish I could lace them with warfarin!

[anotherdayyetanothernickame]

I think that lady must have moved next door to me!
She is so irrational that once when there'd been a spate of burglaries locally she said "oh well I'm not worried as when they burgled x next door they came through my garden and decided not to burgle me" like all burglars have the same mindset and just because one had moved on and not bothered they all would?!

[anotherdayyetanothernickame]

Have to say I can't imagine she can manage living there alone for much longer anyway (which is sad and I honestly would be sorry to see her have to go in a home as she's not all bad) but in the meantime I have to solve this problem now as it's so disgusting.

[Megglevache]

Could you send her an [ahem] official looking letter. I had to do that years ago. My old next door neighbour used to think my cats were terribly unfed and so she would throw whole cooked chickens over into my garden It was gross. She stopped after the death threats letter.

[GrinningGorilla]

Aren't you always only 6ft from a rat wherever you are in Britain? They are probably in the vicinity anyway and its just you are seeing them in the daytime because they have got easy pickings.

Although I can understand your point of view my mum used to feed birds in her garden, until her neighbours made her life a misery about it because of the rats. It really made my mum depressed. There are alternative feeders your neighbour could use instead of the bird table. have you looked on the RSPB website - it may persuade her if there was an alternative rather than her not being able to feed them at all.

[anotherdayyetanothernickame]

Yuk that's horrid - what was she thinking of?!

That's a good idea - I think first though I will try and have one more go via the daughter as I always think it's nicer to try and solve things amicably and at least I will have been seen to make an effort in that way. But after that I might go with an official looking letter + council bloke going round.

[LittleBella]

It is so odd, this phenomenon of old people feeding vermin isn't it?

tbh I doubt if her dd will have any influence.

Get the council in.