Rats

Whether you live in a town or the country there will most definitely be a rat about somewhere but unless you leave food out at night or anything else that may attract them they are unlikely to bother you.

I’m sure there will be easier food sources to temp them outside.

She's being ridiculous.

We always sleep with our ground floor bedroom window open at the bottom, lots of rats round here but none has ever come in to the bedroom. 25 years and counting...

Could you get metal grill put on your window so you can open it but nothing can get in?
We had something like this on the ground floor window of the all female Uni hall I was in. I think it was to keep the two legged rats out!

Rats are very agile creatures, but I really doubt it would bother with trying to climb to a top window.

I'm sure it will be fine to keep your window open.

Poor lady, living in fear of rats going to the trouble of climbing up the house wall and getting into her bedroom during the night!
They may say that no matter where we live, town or country, we are always less than 10ft away from a rat - can I ask how many of us have seen one? I live on a farm and seldom see one unless I go specially looking.
Rats have better things to do with their time than terrorising humans in their beds. Food is their top priority so they'd be heading for your kitchen, not your bedroom, if they take the trouble to invade your house.
If you're really worried get some of that mesh that let's the air through and stick it round your open window and try to stop worrying. Mr Rat is terrified of you and won't come near you unless he's desperate and you have food in your bedroom. Please don't let this lady scare you into losing sleep.

My very small cat has caught three rats in the last few months.
She brought the last one , a small young one, in on Sunday morning, it was dead and seemed unmarked.
My 14 year old GS asked if Molly could have strangled it.
He was the one who found it on the living room carpet.
I cannot comment on their climbing skills.

We get the occasional one as we live by a canal.

Katjoy I really would waste your time worrying about a rat getting through your windows, please don't let it stop you opening your them.

I once knew someone who went on holiday abroad with a friend. Although it was very hot her friend insisted on keeping the windows shut. Her reason? She was frightened someone would climb up the balconies and come into their room. They were on the fifth floor!!

Kate1949

We get the occasional one as we live by a canal.

In your bedroom??

I hope your park home owner has a rat control plan active, look for square black boxes with a hole each end alongside walls.
It’s highly unlikely that a rat could climb in through a top window there is no grip on the glass below.

Unless someone else knows different?

This is such a coincidence! I was just sat in the garden about 10 minutes ago monitoring the solar powered irrigation system when a massive right shot out from under my car making for the open garage whe it saw me and retreated. We’re blaming next door bird feeding but maybe unfairly. DH has put the camera trap up…

massive rat..

My neighbour has dogs & cats, I used to have cats. Most rats & mice I've seen in close vicinity to my house are dead.
I leave my back door open in summer, now I'm worried!

Oh no keepingquiet just scuttling around the garden.

I remember sleeping down stairs with the top half of my stable door open for air. One night just looking out & massive tail passed my back door ahh- never slept with it open after that

Yes I've seen 3 rats in my lifetime. One in our garden at our old house. One was in our kitchen cupboard here. Dog was going mad trying to knock down the kick board. The 3rd was in our dog washing shelter in the garden. I screamed and it ran away. I told OH I'm getting pest control if I see another (it's free from council here) but that was 2 yrs ago and haven't seen any since. They will come into the house if they spot a door or window open at night.

Londoner here, rats everywhere due to rubbish and takeaway shops. Thank heavens for the local cats and foxes. Can you borrow a jack Russell, they're brilliant ratters?

Like ExDancer, I too live on a farm and we have many rats but I only see them where there's food - they especially like to see what the chickens have left and enjoy bird seed that's fallen from the many feeders, but humans they don't enjoy one bit, and a rat isn't going to climb in any window without the promise of lunch.

I live in the countryside and had a problem with mice in the wall when we first moved in so we had Rentokil come and they put some metal boxes around the outside of the house with poison inside. I fill these with rat poison every now and agin just in case. Last year I heard a noise outside at night and went out to investigate and there was a huge fat rat sticking out of one of the boxes, it had got in and was stuck. Did not know what to do, thought about whacking it with a spade but couldn't so waited until the morning and by then it had disappeared thank goodness, never to be seen again - touch wood!

Rattus rattus, that used commonly to be called the black rat, although they come in all colours, is an expert climber, which is why people have started calling that ilk roof rats.

Rattus norvegicus, that used to be called the brown rat, prefers sewers and drains.

Neither are very likely to turn up in your bedroom, as I expect your house is clean and has no broken sewage pipes or drains.

A mesh screen will deter a rat or anything else that wants in, to a certain extent, although if you have the type of window that swivels all the way round to facilitate polishing them, you can't use screens.

I have windows open in this weather, but, of course, I also have a cat or sometimes two sleeping in my bedroom, so it was be a remarkably careless mouse or rat that came in here.

Very much doubt that! Like to see a rat climbing up a window! Too much effort.I would not worry. Have you had anyprior to thus lady saying that to you? Well then...open your window!🤣

I was in bed dozing with flu , a rat strolled by and disappeared into the fireplace ! I was laughed at , told I was hallucinating.
Local odd job man came and took up the hearthstone , there was a big rats nest , missing socks seemed to be part of the nest
Sorry I’d never lit the fire ,
We never found out where they came from , but it was 200 yr old house , there was a chimney from the basement up to the roof , so maybe that was how it got in
Though the place was not exactly rat proof !

When I lived overseas we did have rats wandering around all the rooms but in Uk only had one once which came from next door, whose house and garden was worse than Steptoe and sons yard They are gone now I caught the rat and never seen another
It’s really not something to worry about just keep a net across your window if you re really spooked at the, very slight, almost non existent possibility