Rat in garden

[MariaAngustias]

I saw a rat scuttle across patio and run behind a raised bed this morning. My dog has been sniffing around that area and a woodstore so suspect a nest, also we put food for birds so thats possibly attracted rats. I am an animal lover and feel really torn about what to do - do i need to get rid of them and if so how? I read humane catchers are cruel cos most relocated rats and mice die. RSPCA recommend a trap to squash their head... Would never use poison. Anyone got any kinder suggestions ? 😥

There are no kinder suggestions, I’m afraid. You could stop feeding the birds and completely rearrange the garden (clear out wood store and restack etc) to interrupt the rat run in the hope it will move on, but if you give it chance it will bed in and breed.
Hate poison myself - found a rat in the garden once suffering the effects and it was hideous. We use old fashioned traps if needed, but clearing routes and potential nest sites along with no food source is the best thing.

our neighbour shot one with a pellet gun - at the time I was horrified to find out a) that he had the gun and b) that was his instant reaction to shoot something... but in hindsight i've ended up thinking it was quick and instant... I guess it only worked because we didn't have a major problem and maybe the rat was old/diseased hence out in open in daylight - no other rats seen and no evidence of them even though I suspect being in a suburban area there must be more around.
if you really feel that you need to be 'kind' then the only option will be to do it yourself with humane traps - because I suspect any firm in pest control is pretty hardened and even if they 'quote' they are 'humane' and will answer your questions 'correctly' in practice they will not give a stuff about a rat... its an item that needs to be disposed of and thats what they get paid to do...

If your bird feed is loose (on a table feeder?) get rid abs just use fat ball hangers. It worked for me!

It's kinder to kill that one than a whole colony if you let it establish so you have to kill its babies too! I'd be doing poison and traps and clear out anywhere they could be nesting.

Really, I'd say get a grip before your house is full of them. We've just had one in the house, it was not at all nice. They carry disease and can chew through wires to set fires. If you get an infestation it can take weeks to clear.

@MirandaMarple yes we have fat balls and a table with bread and seed - will stop putting food on the bird table.

@CustomerRelations thanks - just tried to make my garden wildlife friendly but didn't envisage rats - last thing i want is more of them 😬

I've been told (by pest control people) that fat balls/fat generally is a big attractant to rats so to get rid of it (and that seed is less of an issue, but should be in feeders that cannot leave mess, or to put out a small amount of seed in the morning only so it gets eaten within a few hours

also watch out for rotten fruit (like windfall apples)

clear the garden as much as possible so no ground cover (like ivy) or shelter generally. Unfortunately wildlife friendly tends to equal rat friendly so you have to choose: I did & decided to remove as much cover as possible which helped get rid of my problem

You need to stop feeding the birds for quite a while, although you are likely to get rats back when you resume anyway. Rats like to run along fences etc, but like to be unseen, so clear any places where they can run and hide at the same time. If you have any compost heaps or bins you should also get rid of those - they love nesting in the warmth. Basically they love piles of any stuff they can hide in.
We always used to use our jack russell for rats (and so did other people as he was such a brilliant killing machine - instant death), but the last time I used poison in bait boxes, seeing our terrier is no longer with us. If you use the council that is what they will use as well, so it's cheaper to buy the stuff yourself. Bait boxes keeps the poison away from other wildlife.
Rats are filthy and carry Weils disease (leptospirosis), which they expell in their urine - and they pee on everything. Wear gloves and wash your hands if you are touching anything they may have touched. They are not really as pest to gnore if they are sharing your garden.
I like feeding the birds, but I now only put out a small amount of feed on a bird table, which will be cleared quite quickly by the birds. I don't leave full feeders hanging up because I used to get rats swinging from them.

We've had a family of rats that visit in the garden for years because of the bird feeders. They've never ever caused the slightest problem. I do have a dog and, until last week, a cat which might put them off coming in the house, but honestly they don't come within 20 feet of the door. We live by an overgrown railway cutting so all sorts of wildlife wander past. Have to say it's never crossed my mind to nuke them.

Rats are everywhere. People who think they don’t get a rat in their garden have probably just not spotted one yet .
Get a seed feeder with a tray, you want to minimise what falls on the ground, if you feed blackbirds then they are ground feeders but you can put put small amounts at a time.
Please do not use the big snappy traps as they can get hedgehogs and other animals, not just rats.

Move house?

Must be rats somewhere near us as the cat has brought in the odd small rat from time to time.
It is the case that rats are everywhere . You can discourage them by not leaving food out, storing things properly, and reducing spaces to hide. Rats hate being disturbed so one way of dissuading them from staying in your garden is to move things about often. Outbuildings that are left undisturbed will be attractive to them.
Aside from that I won't be poisoning rats etc and hope the cat will deter them from ever coming in the house. He's a good hunter!