Help. Mouse ok. Rat NO!

I tend not to put much in the way of vegetable peelings etc on the compost heap now. We do have one that is an enclosed green plastic tub and they go in there, but not on the main open heap.

DH was taking compost out of the compost bin and came across a piece of string. He pulled it, and it was a large dead rat on the end!! Found we had rats living under the old shed, one of them would saunter past the kitchen door, bold as brass. Rat man said he would only come if we removed all bird feeders from the garden, which we did. His 'organic' poison had no effect, but Homebase's did. When shed was removed, further rats found living underneath, which the workmen dispatched. Then there was an ear-splitting scream from next door. Neighbour had just found a dying rat in the middle of her lawn!

Well they say you are never more than 20 feet away from a rat so whether you feed or not they are still probably scurrying through your garden. I always make sure I only put out the food in quantities that will be eaten that day and make sure that the ground underneath is kept clean and the feeders to. It is just a personal opinion but I get so much enjoyment from feeding the birds that I will put up with the odd rat but of course if they start to become too much of a nuisance stop feeding for a week or two and see what happens.

We used to live in the country and were surrounded by wildlife of all sorts. We were just one field away from the river too. We used to get field mice, water rats and shrews in the garden. The little field mice used to nest in the house walls, and would sometimes die there. The horrid smell lasted for three or four days. We never ever saw domestic rats though.

Some years ago my husband shouted 'there's a rat on the bird feeders!'. Silly man I thought, it must be a squirrel. But definitely a big rat!
The 'rat man' told us then that some years, depending on the weather and what food was not available, that bird feeders and compost heaps invariably attracted rats, and they will cover miles in search of food.
In came the bird feeders and poison was laid, which did the trick. I still put the feeders out afterwards though.

Cherrytree you could almost be telling my! story...

Last year dd an I were sat in the conservatory..all of a sudden I said "b..hell ?? what was that!!! the length of it covered half the flag! it ran under my wooden shed...about 15 mins later it ran back out..and I would have said it was approx 8inch in body length(thats without the tail) so yes was big rat..my shed had holes in it so plenty of opportunity to get in etc..
But!! my neighbour feeds the birds and the dam pigeons...so we had rat man up.
But because I had already put poison down (special hard stuff from my dads pen) the rat man wouldn't put any more down...anyway..I filled up a tray old ready meal tray with rat poison)locked the shed door and left it...the next morning the lot! had gone.!! showing that there was more than 1 rat. did this for 3 days on the 4th day not much had gone..but!! on walking round the garden I found 4 dead bodies (baby rats but even they were at least 4/5 inch in length, found another 4 over the next day scattered around.
they were horrible..

So I said right!! shed has to come down...dd and partner pulled it down..when we lifted the floor of the shed up there was a large nest approx 18 in in diameter..in the middle was what I presumed the mother (what was left of it) as it was around this time last year and hot weather.on checking the soil and area I found another 3 younger ones.totaling 11 young.

They had made a run from the shed out the back under the shed straight to the bottom of next doors bird table..of course the birds would drop the food the rats thought it was a restaurant! believe me not a pretty sight.!

I had to keep my conservatory door and all windows shut..anything that moved even a leaf or whatever had me scuttling inside.There is never! 1 rat they will be producing young as we speak...poison is cruel and if I could have found another way to deal with it I would have..but they breed by the month..I have now got a concrete base with a metal shed. the next door neighbour has been asked NOT to feed the birds..by a number of neighbours and they will!! come in your house if they get chance!! trust me...what you also have to remember is these rats run about your garden when your not there, peeing etc all over the place.I now dont leave my conservatory door open unless im sat in it.horrible things they are.

I had to stop filling my bird feeder at least ten years ago, because every day I would see a rat go and eat what had dropped on the ground below it. I'm sure it was the same one each time. It wasn't a huge rat and I hate rats, but it was definitely a rat and not a mouse. There are lots of cats round here, so I don't know how it survived.

I have always fed birds in my gardens & never seen a rat in the garden, we always had cats that were hunters so maybe they kept them away.

Since moving here I have had to stop putting porridge oats on my tray (on a pole) as we have a pair of gulls nesting on a neighbour's roof. I also used to put bread out when we lived in a large house with a large garden. The gulls have attacked my cat, he was just wandering down the path in his own garden, they perceive him as a threat to their young, don't know why, cats can't fly. IMHO they are vermin, rather have mice & voles although I do draw the line at rats.

Ditto, Niobe. Wouldn't entertain the idea. The very sight of one mouse (a rat is UNTHINKABLE) and my pleasure of gardening would be ruined for every and that indeed would be a tragedy.

It is probably a vole. We had one, much rounder body than a rat. It did no harm. I think they are a protected species.

Don't stop the feeding but do adopt different measures. We have had rats in our garden; in fact rats are never far away from any of us so do not be surprised to see one. What you do need to do is ensure they are not living in your garden. That may mean employing a man to exterminate them which can be done easily and successfully.

Unfortunately it does mean following advice not to put food out on the floor. However there are feeders which can be quite successful in preventing almost 100% of food dropping onto the floor. Thay use plastic 'bowls' under the feeders and are quite wide, attached to the botto m of the feeder or to a pole if used.

We've got rid of rats and continue to feed all the birds as well as a few squirrels. Every year brings a surprising variety of birds and often some we have not seen here before. We've also put up nest boxes - always face them north - and see three broods of sparrows, bluetits and others while listening to the tweets of their young.

I used to love feeding the birds, watching the many different varieties using the bird table until I seen a hugh rat in the garden, sadly had to stop feeding the birds as I couldn't risk attracting more rats. I was gutted.

Given a choice between rats & our noisy, at the moment due to nesting, Gulls I choose the Gulls every time. I feed the pair on my roof as they have chicks now & a ringed Gull & mate from across the road & have not seen a rat for the few years feeding the Gulls. Like all birds Gulls need all the help they can get as they are Red listed!
If silly people did not wave their food about tormenting the birds then there would be no problems. We humans always assume we are dominant but animals & birds were here first!
If you dont want rats get a Gull they usually keep the rats away!

I stopped feeding the birds a few years ago because of rats. I do put water out but have now seen the rats at the water bowl I detest them and have resorted to poison. I contacted the Council and they directed me to the pest controller whose fee was £120 for 2 visits! I declined. I dread the thought of the rats getting into my house, and can't now leave the garden door open in case they come in. I have been told that crushed glass near their runs is a deterrent, as are moth balls.

Ours was living in next door's shed and visiting our garden.

W11girl I heard that 'you are never more than 10 feet from a rat' but then perhaps I'm just old-fashioned

We have had one in this garden going after the bird food and someone came from the Council to get rid of it; I think they charge now. If you have little ones using the garden it is a worry - I wanted DH to pour Jeyes Fluid everywhere but he didn't think it was necessary.

The exterminators may not be willing to travel from Sacramento to the UK for one job IkeHicks

A brown rat got into the squirrel-proof bird feeder, then we saw him peeping out of the shed window! Looked online, discovered old-fashioned smelly mothballs best harmless deterrent so bought some online, here the following day. Put a couple in each corner of the shed and left packet in middle of the floor. Did not put any under the shed where the hedgehog lives. Problem solved without resorting to violence!

We saw a little browm fellow who had climbed up and got into the allegedly squirrel proof bird feeder, then saw a small furry face peeping out from the shed wimdow! I looked on line and discovered that old fashioned smelly mothballs are the answer. Bought some online and they arrived next day. Sprinkled a few inside corners of the shed, but not underneath where the hedgehog lives. Sorted, as no sign since, without having to kill anybody!

That old urban myth springs to mind...."we are never more than 6 metres from a rat" at any one time, particularly in cities because of the amount of fast food restaurants/cafe's etc.

Living but a few miles from the coast I unfortunately had to stop feeding the birds due to the gulls who would get there first. They would perch on my roof in anticipation screeching from first light. Imagine the state of my roof?

Sadly we've had to take in all our bird feeders and the bird table since we saw a rat on it, helping himself! I think the initial attraction was from our neighbour who likes to chuck down bread etc onto his grass for all and sundry. Our other neighbour has also stopped feeding the birds and has since seen a smaller rat as well. Sorry state of affairs. May put it out again in the winter.

We had a visiting rat in the winter eating the bits the birds drop from the feeder. We think it was living under next doors shed, as they throw bread on the lawn for birds. Our jack russell chased it back under the fence a few times and we haven't seen it since, so I hope it has got the message!

We have bird feeders and no mice / rats - we have never seen any since we moved here (our last place had rats in the garden due to a lazy landlord next door). However there is a healthy cat population round here - and we attract many birds, some eat from the feeders, some eat the food that is dropped, and what gets left is hoovered up by our beagles.

I am unable to determine whether it is a rat or mouse. But if you think its a rat that its exclusion is really must because it harms the surroundings and can even infect your food. A friend of mine has got all the rats exterminated from the pest control rats Sacramento CA (http://pinnaclepest.com/roseville-pest-control-servicecenter/) professionals. The team made it very easy in exterminating the rats from her home and made the safer environment to live. Moreover, they gave her organic spraying which didn't harm the nature.