Rats

[bikermike]

The easiest thing is to keep disturbing where they are. Regularly flood any tunnels, stick wire wool down them, move the earth around etc.

[Plot70]

Rats do a lot of damage to seed beds and gnaw our sheds and destroy stored seeds.
I have to have a steel ammo box the size of a suit case to stop rats pinching my seeds.

[Mark Rand]

Rats are no different than hedgehogs, squirrels, blackbirds, cats, dogs etc. They're just living as best they can where they can. They're clean, familiy oriented animals who eat pests as well as plants.

Why the hatred?

[geepee]

Contact your local council pest control dept, they should deal with it. left uncontrolled it will become an immense problem......rats multiply rapidly....ie litters of 8-10 every 3/4 weeks and females can breed from a very young age ie approx 8 weeks old . So do the Maths...its pretty alarming . Gp

[Plot70]

We had rats in the back garden a couple of years ago.
They had found there way up from the sewer through a small hole in the inspection chamber.
I got some bait from Wilco and then found that the local council deal with rats for free.
They scoffed the Wilco poison first and then the stuff the council rat catcher put down.
The inspection chamber belongs to Severn Trent water but getting them out was too much hassel so I filled the tunnel leading to the inspection chamber with concrete and rendered the inside of the chamber with a strong mix of cement.
The rats are gone now...

[burnie]

I built my sheds/summerhouse on slabs and the rats haven't been under them, I have had them after the bird feeders and did have to resort to drastic methods after trying to shoo them away failed. I now have rabbits again, so it may well be time for drastic action again. You can buy traps, I have one that traps them alive, I have only caught mice so far, so I guess the rats have moved on now to safer haunts, I let the mice go again and the rats could be released the other side of the railway. Grey Squirrels however cannot be released into the wild again as it is illegal to let alien pest species go.

[Jungle Jane]

They said on a morning programme there’s been a 51% rise in rat problems,because of the restaurants & cafes being closed,they’re looking elsewhere for food. The suggestion was to change your garden around so it’s different for them,they don’t like change,maybe block some of their runs against the fence,put something in the way. I had to use rat poison years ago before we had a cat. I put the poison into clingfilm like a packed lunch,down the hole I found,they multiply like rats otherwise.

[peanut]

I have had rats under my sheds too. Rats hate disturbance. I got rid of them by generally annoying them , I kept putting bricks over the entrances and pushing my hosepipe into their runs. I kept on doing this and one day they had all gone. Hope you manage to get rid of them soon.

[KevinM67]

I feel for you Florence

On my new allotment, I resorted to using slug pellets to try and salvage some sunflowers from slugs.
Watching from my greenhouse, a whole pack of rats scoffed the lot, I nearly threw up.
I've not used slug pellets for years due to the harm they used to cause, however seeing that the new formula is apparently 'organic' I succumbed and bought some.

Never again.

[Florence Fennel]

I have a family of rats under my shed in the back garden again and they are running around as if they own the place. They have a plentiful larder from the cherry tree across the way and Pest Control is not yet available. I don't even want to go outside! What can I do? Please help.