Rats !

[Gazzer]

Anyone know about rats ? I am talking the vermin type not pets.

it seems that they have been seen around teh row of houses where I live. Now thinking sensibly , you would think that there will only be rats where there is something for them...ie, Food.

My neighbour has Rabbits and a Guinea pig and also a fish pond. Now I reckon the smell of pet food and the fact that she is throwing bread on her lawn for the birds is attracting them. She has agred to stop the bread throwing as she doesnt want rats either.

Now next to our houses is a large house that has been converted to flats and this is where I think the are coming from and using our back gardens to nest as its quieter.

Last year one of the neighbours called the council out and a man came and laid poison for them. It worked...well at least once as I found the dead rat feet up on my lawn. That was the last we saw of them until now. So looking up on the internet I see there are mixed views of how to get rid of them, ie , trap or poison ! My thoughts are to cut off the food supply bafore going crazy. One neighbour thinks he can shoot them with an air rifle !! i wonder if he is going to sit up all night waiting for them ?

Anyone else had this problem ? Its not nice to admit there are rats around your home.

 

[doug boardley]

apparently Neale, you're never more than 6 feet away from a rat (if popular myth is to be believed)

 

[nybor62]

i think cutting of the food supply is a start , rats breed at an alarming rate, do you know any one with working terriers they might do the job

 

[hillhead]

I built my house in the country on a site where I lived as a child,
I remember rats here as we had pigs etc at the time.
Now here we have no pigs but the rats are close by, they don't come near us as we have 4 cats ! Great hunters and nothing comes here.
Works for us anyway.
I seen terriers killing rats well on tv a while back, really well too!

 

[Deleted member 9966]

these lads have a jack russell dog whom they've trained to catch and kill rats

London Pest Control Experts | As Seen on BBC | 0207 384 4501: London Pest Control

 

[Gazzer]

apparently Neale, you're never more than 6 feet away from a rat (if popular myth is to be believed)

Yeah I have heard that but they seem to be more active lately. Maybe the warmer weather is a reason.

 

[Mike]

there's always rats around, as rob said don't feed them and put poison down. october time is the worst time for them, they're looking for somewere indoors to live then as the winters setting in

 

[doug boardley]

we have hens and I normally scatter the pellets in their coop, never seen a rat or sign of a rat thereabouts.......but maybe the three ferrets are deterring them!:smilewinkgrin:

 

[Andy Allen]

make sure you havn't got any ivy running up the side of the house or they can climb up and get in your house.

 

[Gazzer]

there's always rats around, as rob said don't feed them and put poison down. october time is the worst time for them, they're looking for somewere indoors to live then as the winters setting in

I dont intend to feed them unless its lead pellets or the poison.

 

[Ajax123]

Poison the bu**ers. You poinsoning one colony will not affect the overall population very much. Do you have Kids......think about Leptspirosis as well.

We had rats - It's nowt to be ashamed of - the council Pest Controller sorted them and touch wood we have not had a problem since.

Cutting off the food supply only works if this is overt, i.e. if you chuck out the remnants of sunday dinner for the "birds" and that sort of thing. Most rats live in sewers and near water courses. when there are floods or drouts they are forced out of their homes to forage elsewhere. once they have colonised the only realistic way to treat is to kill the blighters.

 

[nybor62]

i used to pick oranges in greece , rats nesting in the trees use to give you a right fright

 

[Gazzer]

Poison the bu**ers. You poinsoning one colony will not affect the overall population very much. Do you have Kids......think about Leptspirosis as well.

We had rats - It's nowt to be ashamed of - the council Pest Controller sorted them and touch wood we have not had a problem since.

Cutting off the food supply only works if this is overt, i.e. if you chuck out the remnants of sunday dinner for the "birds" and that sort of thing. Most rats live in sewers and near water courses. when there are floods or drouts they are forced out of their homes to forage elsewhere. once they have colonised the only realistic way to treat is to kill the blighters.

Its getting a poison that they like the taste of. I have no issues in destroying them by any means !

 

[chrisroe]

my mate had them in his loft he trapped one and decided to dispatch it by airgun

now he is a pretty crap shot at the best of times but even i though he could of sorted it in less than 8 shots

 

[Ajax123]

Its getting a poison that they like the taste of. I have no issues in destroying them by any means !

not something you will be able to do yourself generally. The poisons you can buy from the likes of hardware shops is generally not very effective. It has been around so long and is diluted so much that it does not do them much harm. Rats are very robust and adaptable....hence they have survived so well.....and if you have a colony nesting where they should not be nesting you will be best to get a registered pest controller involved.