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I'm with the others. I have tried it. It did work. I haven't a clue why. .....and for the record my degree is in Science. I too am a hearty sceptic, but the proof is in the pudding, and an awful lot of folks find water, etc., using dowsing rods. Some even make their living doing so.

Somewhere we have a 'one rat kiln', originally intended for the disposal of rats and mice used in medical experiments. I have a feeling it ended up with a friend of my brother's. If I come across it, do you want it ? It reduces them pretty much to ash....which is safe to add to the compost :)

How about contacting the local paper ? see if they'd like to do a human interest and council failing sort of piece ?

They like to tunnel agin something...like a wall, or under slabs...which is why I used pea gravel under my compost bins. It's too unstable for them to dig into. They don't like being disturbed, and if you can discourage their travels, it's got to be a good thing. They don't like strong scents...

Can you take time ? Draw a breath for a season or two ? I suspect that it's just been somewhat overwhelming, and time to heal, time to think and be methodical about clearing your feet, rather than feeling hassled and harried to be done on other peoples timetables, would be a good thing. If...

I was wondering that too. A couple of years ago I found two very young rats drowned in the bucket under my garden sink beside the greenhouse. It drains into the bucket. I have no idea why they got in there anyway, but they were definitely drowned. I dug up the compost bins that sat on the soil...

I hope the job in Scotland is enough to be worth all this upheaval. Tourism is not always a reliable income here. Seasonality rules, to be honest. I hope your health improves very quickly, Tengu, that things go well :) M

Thing is; if you're seeing so many, and killing so many, then there must be hundreds more in your neighbours gardens, and they're not doing anything about them by the sounds of it. The whole neighbourhood needs to actively root them out. Otherwise you'll never see an end to it. If you've...

I like the wind one...you can move the world around to get the bit you prefer.... https://earth.nullschool.net

Herb Robert's easy enough to grow, and it weeds out tidily enough too.

Write to your housing association...well phone them pdq. Rats are bad news and if next door won't deal with their problem, and since his property is an issue, then time to move it up a bit. Perseverance works with rats. Put it this way, every one you kill is one more that won't breed. What are...

Well, yes, but I hate polishing brass :redface:

I have been relaying slabs....and the sheer number of grubs and insects in the soil beneath them is astonishing. Delighted a pair of robins though :)

Do you know what else freezes well, and carries well too ? Biscuit dough. Ginger nuts, cinnamon rolls. The dough is made, rolled up, wrapped in tinfoil or freezer paper, and it'll keep for months. Thaw it out slice it up while still chilled and bake yourself some biscuits :) Easy enough to do at...

There were years when I worked from one end of Scotland to the other. It got so that I could tell where I had dyed something just by the tones/shades on the wool. Just different waters, plants grown in different soils. I have heard it said that the tartan defined the clan's identity, but...

It was from the wood. I had huge bags of shavings saved from the Galgael workshop and knowing what I do of Yew I was a little concerned about boiling it up, etc., However, we had a huge outdoor event, and there was a big fire, and it was Summer and no one was sitting close to it because it was...

I have a quaich that's made from yew. It's been well used and no one's complained of more than a hangover yet :) I'd work it outdoors though, or at least very well masked up. It gives a pale green dye on wool with alum.

......and up here at least we're enduring a spate of fires :sigh: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjdxzz442m9o

I was thinking about this just this morning; about how easily a small fire can suddenly overwhelm someone's best efforts to control it. Especially in dry grass fields or pine woods deep in litter. Honestly ? right now, unless you're on shingle or the like, do we really need a fire ?

Oh very well done :) I hope things go very happily for you all. M