Grow Your Own Magazine

yoanbob · #1 (**permalink**) 14-04-2007, 09:22 PM

HELP!!!! we knew we had rats but what i saw today really shocked me, RATS THE SIZE OF CATS!!!! what do i do, the food hopper for the chooks and ducks stands on a rodant proof base, but theese rats can reach accross it! cant use poison, (because of the girls) cant use traps, same reason, HELP!

shirlthegirl43 · #2 (**permalink**) 14-04-2007, 09:43 PM

Get yourself a Jack Russel - they are brilliant ratters. If you don't fancy a dog, call the local council and ask for the rat man - they send someone round to deal with the problem for you.

yoanbob · #3 (**permalink**) 14-04-2007, 10:19 PM

but will they use poison?

Alice · #4 (**permalink**) 14-04-2007, 10:34 PM

Oh Yuk Yoanbob. What a shame. And yes the Council rat catchers do use poison and traps. Can you fence of the food bins so that the girls can't get in there and put the poison and traps in there. Whatever you do, don't delay. Rats breed very quickly.

PAULW · #5 (**permalink**) 14-04-2007, 10:46 PM

Put poison in a piece of drain pipe this restricts the access so them who shouldn't be poisoned wont be and them who should will be.

shirlthegirl43 · #6 (**permalink**) 15-04-2007, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yoanbob

but will they use poison?

They will use poison but if you explain about your concerns for the chooks they will site it so that only mr ratty can get it. My neighbour saw a rat and called the ratman - he used a special bait and hid it so our cat wouldn't get it.

muckdiva · #7 (**permalink**) 15-04-2007, 01:40 PM

Eeeewww, sounds like Ratzilla to me. Rats and mice always seem to congregate around horses stables - and chickens it seems. In the end, I got fed up with putting poison down as I think the rats must have got immune to the stuff - they ate it, ate more, and came back for another helping or three! I even tried some rat specific killer that was safe if it came into contact with other animals/children etc (wish I could remember the name of it) but I don't think it worked either. In despair, I got two cats from a friend's farm. I was told they were semi feral, although they were the friendliest 'feral' cats I've ever seen. Yes, they are a pain at times, dig up and poo in newly cultivated soil unless it's netted, decapitate wild baby rabbits and deposit them at my door. As regards birds, I try to put any bird feeding or bath areas out of reach of the cats, but it must be said the cats do deter a wealth of pigeons which seem to line up to sample new peas and brassicas.

I think cats, (unless you own a terrier of course) are the most effective vermin control (although one of mine has now decided it's an indoor cat and rarely ventures outside the office). They also love to potter round the garden with me, pouncing on each other from behind the raised beds, and generally taking an interest in what's going on - they are great entertainment.

It's worth bearing in mind that cats which hunt (and probably dogs too) are very prone to tapeworms (another eeeewww!), so MUST be regularly wormed and treated for fleas.

dexterdoglancashire · #8 (**permalink**) 15-04-2007, 08:05 PM

Sorry to hear that YB! You and me are having the same problem, but mine are much smaller, dark grey in colour and very cute to look at! Have put down lots of bait as per instructions but couldnt see any evidence of it having worked this morning.
OH says why should they eat bait when they have three dustbins full of nice food? How do you get a mouse to eat this stuff?
Should I get rid of the bird food altogether? Dont really want to because of cost, but like YB need to do something!
Any ideas anyone?
Bernie aka Dexterdog

yoanbob · #9 (**permalink**) 15-04-2007, 11:27 PM

put your bird food in metal containers, catch mice with peanut butter and humane traps.
there are 10 cats that live on our street of 14 houses, felix spends lots of time on the lottie sunbathing with the chooks, why should they chase rats bigger than them when they get a meal every day? my mum has two hunting cats i would be scared they would run into the road being country cats, also we are both allergic, also not safe for cats in our house, floorboards missing, no skirting etc, might try the exterminater route, if they can put it somwhere safe, the ducks and chooks love lifting things to get at slugs and worms, they are experts.

yoanbob · #10 (**permalink**) 15-04-2007, 11:29 PM

wouldnt a terrier chase the chooks?

yoanbob · #11 (**permalink**) 15-04-2007, 11:32 PM

have moved the hopper to the middle of chook area, so they will be more exposed when trying to get it, the chooks can eat mice but these things are HUGE!!! maybe a shotgun, rat on a stick anyone?

Alice · #12 (**permalink**) 15-04-2007, 11:48 PM

Well yes, you could try shooting some of them.

yoanbob · #13 (**permalink**) 15-04-2007, 11:52 PM

where is not so bad lad when you need him?

shirlthegirl43 · #14 (**permalink**) 16-04-2007, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yoanbob

wouldnt a terrier chase the chooks?

Not sure but you could soon teach it not to chase the chooks.

We had a miniature dachshund when we had chickens and he used to get jealous and kill the odd one. One day my mum got so cross she picked up the hen he had just killed and whacked the dog with it - he never bothered the hens again! I guess a full grown Rhode Island Red round the ear got the message in quite well

Wendy · #15 (**permalink**) 16-04-2007, 04:39 PM

I too had some rather large rats in my garden

- i bought a battery operated rat deterrent, waterproofed it and hung it on a tree, so far i havent seen any rats! it doesnt affect birds, pets or wildlife only rodents

yoanbob · #16 (**permalink**) 16-04-2007, 08:03 PM

wow great idea wendy will definatly get one thanks. how much area do they cover?

Wendy · #17 (**permalink**) 16-04-2007, 08:19 PM

They cover 2500 square metres (apparently!) and cost about £12 from ebay - go for it i havnt seen a rat since!

yoanbob · #18 (**permalink**) 22-04-2007, 04:12 PM

wow thats great, will get bob on ebay, (i dont know how it works) I had to move a dead one this morning, could'nt see how it had died, it had rigamortice, YUK! not knowing what it died of is a bit worrying, if it was ill i dont want the chickens catching it.

has-bean · #19 (**permalink**) 22-04-2007, 05:57 PM

This post makes me shudder I am terrified of rats. fortunately the allotment cat seems to have taken a liking to sleepinbg in my shed on teh old newspapers so double bonus - no rats and also cos it has found a home it doesnt do its stuff in my allotment. Badgers are still a nuisance though am looking forward to the digging uop bean trench season with trepidation.

HKCambridge · #20 (**permalink**) 23-04-2007, 12:52 AM

It's the year of the Diamond Dogs already?

yoanbob · #21 (**permalink**) 23-04-2007, 10:39 PM

I suppose one of the houses could be using poison, we'll look into.

Here goes ebay!

laura g · #22 (**permalink**) 24-04-2007, 01:12 PM

I heard or read somewhere that you're never more than 50' away from a rat. Little bl**ders are everywhere.

Our cat used to bring them into the house - still alive. Have memories (well, nightmares really) of one that went to ground in my dirty laundry pile. No chance at all of asking it to leave nicely - it was seriously angry. and I had to resort to beating it to death as quickly and humanely as possible. Then lifting up socks and pants and the like until i found the body. Accompanied by v loud yells from a 6 year old and 7 year old who thought i was an evil cow from hell!

Council came out and I believe they used warfarin? anyway, from what i remember is gets carried back to the nests and so there are very few dead rat bodies to be found.

Sure we've got some at the bottom of the garden here under the shed - know this from the way my lurchers wont stay away from the area at night and consistently are excavating exploratory trenches.

furball · #23 (**permalink**) 24-04-2007, 01:46 PM

Hi i have a fantastic cat he will kill rats amd mice, i notice you live in my area and if you want i will fetch him down see if it helps till your rat deterent arrives from ebay. We had chooks last year so he wont bother them.