Unwelcome visitors

[yakdiver]

I had one in my kitchen

[pwa]

all the people here guility of raticism should get done to as they do to others

The rats took one of the legs of my tortoise, so I had to choose between the rats and the tortoise. The rats had to go. I tried the live catch traps first and they didn't work. About £60 wasted on that.

If the idiots who let their bird food get on the floor were a bit more careful we wouldn't have the recurring rat problem here. Bird food on the floor is rat food.

The rat control at the moment consists partly of an electric trap in the shed (where the tortoise resides in a vivarium at this time of year) and if the rats are not where they shouldn't be they don't get zapped. Nothing has been zapped for about a year. Other control measures are mainly physical barriers that are inspected regularly.

[661-Pete]

If the idiots who let their bird food get on the floor were a bit more careful we wouldn't have the recurring rat problem here. Bird food on the floor is rat food.

Er ... well, mea culpa then. I'd like to know how we can feed the birds without food dropping to the ground. Starlings are the worst offenders - messy eaters! But the food on the ground tends to attract pigeons (both wood pigeons and feral) - as well as smaller birds like dunnock - so it doesn't all end up in Ratty's stomach! We don't care much for the feral pigeons (who does?) but they're less of a problem than rats - they can't gnaw their way into places they shouldn't be!

Anyway, I've sometimes seen a rat shin up the thin metal pole which supports the bird feeders, to get at the feeders. Excellent climbers, these rats are!

There was a time when we debated whether to stop feeding the birds altogether. But we like to see birds visiting our garden. It's a trade-off: if the rats get too persistent, we stop putting bird food out for a while.

[mercalia]

If the idiots who let their bird food get on the floor were a bit more careful we wouldn't have the recurring rat problem here. Bird food on the floor is rat food.

Er ... well, mea culpa then. I'd like to know how we can feed the birds without food dropping to the ground. Starlings are the worst offenders - messy eaters! But the food on the ground tends to attract pigeons (both wood pigeons and feral) - as well as smaller birds like dunnock - so it doesn't all end up in Ratty's stomach! We don't care much for the feral pigeons (who does?) but they're less of a problem than rats - they can't gnaw their way into places they shouldn't be!

Anyway, I've sometimes seen a rat shin up the thin metal pole which supports the bird feeders, to get at the feeders. Excellent climbers, these rats are!

There was a time when we debated whether to stop feeding the birds altogether. But we like to see birds visiting our garden. It's a trade-off: if the rats get too persistent, we stop putting bird food out for a while.

I think the soln to rats ( and squirrels ) is an inverted cone underneath the feeder on a pole? ( or possibly a large disc?

[fullupandslowingdown]

whenever someone gives me the opportunity I love telling this genuinely true furry tail story.
I bought some of those sonic rodent repellers from wikos, and a box of poison laced wheat bait.
I put one of the sonic repellers in a socket which was at head height. I put the box, minus one packet, of poison on top of a tall cupboard. The sonic repeller was literally 30cm from the box. I put some bait down between the wall and the cupboard as recommended.
A week later I took the box down to spread more bait.
The damn rodent had nibbled through the box and into the plastic bag of bait and ate most of the bait.
Conclusion, it was a super intelligent rodent that knew how to wear ear defenders, and took antidote for the poisoned bait.

[pwa]

If the idiots who let their bird food get on the floor were a bit more careful we wouldn't have the recurring rat problem here. Bird food on the floor is rat food.

Er ... well, mea culpa then. I'd like to know how we can feed the birds without food dropping to the ground. Starlings are the worst offenders - messy eaters! But the food on the ground tends to attract pigeons (both wood pigeons and feral) - as well as smaller birds like dunnock - so it doesn't all end up in Ratty's stomach! We don't care much for the feral pigeons (who does?) but they're less of a problem than rats - they can't gnaw their way into places they shouldn't be!

Anyway, I've sometimes seen a rat shin up the thin metal pole which supports the bird feeders, to get at the feeders. Excellent climbers, these rats are!

There was a time when we debated whether to stop feeding the birds altogether. But we like to see birds visiting our garden. It's a trade-off: if the rats get too persistent, we stop putting bird food out for a while.

We had the Council rat man round a few years back and he laid the blame for an outbreak at the copious bird feeding by a couple of our neighbours. He said he could reduce the population by poisoning, which he did, but that rats will always flourish where someone is feeding them. Our neighbours took steps to reduce the bird food on the ground and the problem of rats has been less since. Our next door neighbour started using a wider table with the feeder in the middle, and the table catches a lot of the mess. Not all, obviously, but enough to make a difference.

[colin146]

We had a small invasion after the field next door had been “combined”. Using traditional traps catching about 7 . After resetting one trap in a kitchen cupboard and gently closing the door it went off again, must have been there for all of two seconds!!

Sealed all available gaps with expanded foam and inherited a stray cat and have been rodent free for years.

[Halla]

When on LEJOG in 2004, warm night with the window open, we had mice in the B&B bedroom. Guess where CHEDDAR!!! True, nibbled an apple in the pannier When the light was put on it disappeared further into the B&B.

[peetee]

A few years back we had them going for the bird food. They would climb the bird table and the wooden pole that supported the feeder so we had to stop putting food out which was a real shame as we had seen over 20 species of bird. I thought I located the rats nest which was 30ft from the house so baited it and hoped for the best. Shortly after that we noticed a strange smell in a room in the middle of the house. The smell worsened to the point where the room has to be shut off, it was truly terrible and lasted for weeks, but before that I had lifted the floor boards and inspected the cavity as best I could. I discovered evidence of rodents through the garage and a damaged air brick leading into the under-floor cavity.
They say rats are intelligent creatures. I still to this day wonder if it knew it’s fate and that it’s corpse would prove a risk so chose to die a long way from the nest to protect its young.

[mercalia]

A few years back we had them going for the bird food. They would climb the bird table and the wooden pole that supported the feeder so we had to stop putting food out which was a real shame as we had seen over 20 species of bird. I thought I located the rats nest which was 30ft from the house so baited it and hoped for the best. Shortly after that we noticed a strange smell in a room in the middle of the house. The smell worsened to the point where the room has to be shut off, it was truly terrible and lasted for weeks, but before that I had lifted the floor boards and inspected the cavity as best I could. I discovered evidence of rodents through the garage and a damaged air brick leading into the under-floor cavity.
They say rats are intelligent creatures. I still to this day wonder if it knew it’s fate and that it’s corpse would prove a risk so chose to die a long way from the nest to protect its young.

I think a more reasonable explanation. payback. You got what you deserved you mess with me and i'll stink yur whole house out with my corpse and you will have to tear the place to bits to find my little body

[peetee]

[Bonefishblues]

Use the tipple-topple style traps baited with chocolate spread. Stop up each and every nook and cranny with wire wool.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fixman-674723- ... 5070379237

[Morzedec]

Photo attached of our mousetrap in France.

Happy days,

[mercalia]

Photo attached of our mousetrap in France.

Happy days,

what sort of snake is that?

[661-Pete]

Photo attached of our mousetrap in France.

Happy days,

what sort of snake is that?

Western whip snake. As you'd have seen if you'd hovered the mouse* or tapped on the picture. Quite common in mainland Europe but don't occur in the wild in Britain. They're completely harmless (to humans).

* The electronic kind, I mean!