As well as the rats, we also have a weasel (my cleaner spotted it) - what do they do? I don't know a thing about them.
We live in a sort of countryside location (well its not urban or suburban, we have a farm as one of our neighbours), and it's on a ruddy great A Road (A36) so not quite a rural idyll.
I am thinking because of the farmers field, and perhaps the stagnant natural pond at the bottom of our garden (well away from house as garden is quite long) rats may be an inevitability. Are rats inevitable in the country? I'm a city girl by breeding, so ignorant of such things.
We had them in the cavity walls a few weeks ago but I think we managed to deal with that (no more noises lately - we put poison down and blocked off the entrance that they had burrowed into).
However the little fecks (can I say 'fecks' or will it cause a few of our more delicate members to feel faint - used to like it when we could swear - grrrr!) are everywhere in the garden.
Our council doesn't provide wheely bins so we were keeping the rubbish bags behind the garage. They were chewing these, so we starting keeping them inside our garage between rubbish collections, but I have just noticed that the rats have chewed the rubber trim about the bottom of the garage door - obviously trying to create a 2 inch gap to get in.
Have also seen the rats as casual as you like take a Sunday afternoon stroll through our front garden (spotted 3 times now via french windows), and have found more evidence of chewing - of a ventilation grill in an exterior wall.
Am panicking. What do I do. Don't tell me to get a cat because (a) I don't like them (b) I am physically allergic to them developing hythes and hayfever symptoms on contact and (c) the A36 would see them squished under the tyres of an articulated lorry within weeks.
I'm thinking of a jack russell terrier.
Anything else we can do. Poison does present practical difficulties with a 1 year old and 2.10 year old.
Getting bit hyper about it (must breath deeply)
HELP!!!!