Rats!

[Fingle]

Being a city dweller with an overgrown alley at the back of the garden, rats are a fact of life. Up early I occasionally clock one in the garden passing through. If they loiter they get the gat and that's the end of it, usually. But in this rough weather and dark mornings we tend to leave each other alone.

Took a load of leftovers out to my composting bin and noticed the (not so) little buggers had tunneled under the edge and into the drum, no doubt enticed by the rotting morsels inside. My initial thoughts turned to the suppressed air rifle and a couple of early mornings, but then I realised they had turned over the compost inside rather more effectively than me with a fork and a couple of hours.

So I have been thinking, is my 'shoot the feckers first' the right way? the neighbours have pigeons and doves which to be honest cause me and my veggies (not to mention the washing) dramas all year around, worse than the few rats I inevitably death in a year. The rats love the next door's garden because of all the spilled bird feed and are not going to stop any time soon (the neighbours get through tons of chemical rat death type stuff every week).

I'm not looking for a lecture on the various rat born diseases, but I am wondering what people here think about maybe letting live for a change? After all I don't eat the little buggers (or what is left of them) after they have been zapped! They stay well clear of the house and the only reason I see any is due to being up at stupid o'clock in the morning.

Fingle.

 

[cbrdave]

I got rid in my garden as they breed like god knows what, the food and heat in ya compost heap will be a nice winter home for them, too be honest it is a personal thing mate, if youre happy for them to stay there then leave be, if they start becoming a problem then go for a bit of a cull.

 

[Bowlander]

I'd keep zapping them, they won't stop breeding.

 

[lannyman8]

once taken hold and start to get out of control its almost impossible to get rid of them withpout calling in a pest controler, they will need to come back time and again for a while....

get rid keep them under control and save yourself some cash in the future, and the problems....

 

[Fingle]

the food and heat in ya compost heap will be a nice winter home for them

- yeah thought of that and have made sure I put the fork through the heap every couple of days ' like a camp guard looking for POWs in a hay stack'.

Fingle

 

[mrcairney]

There's a rat-catcher on here, from Manchester way. I can't remember his username though (might be 'the ratchatcher')! He'd know what to do

 

[dwardo]

kill em, kill em all.

 

[Bowlander]

Here's my trainee ratting team!

 

[Imagedude]

I had rats living under my damson trees. I'd be shooting a couple every week then a pair of weasels moved in and the rats vanished.

 

[mountainm]

I had rats living under my damson trees. I'd be shooting a couple every week then a pair of weasels moved in and the rats vanished.

Weasily the best solution so far, unless he fancies something stoatally different - question is is he up ferret?

 

[BillyBlade]

Hate the bloody things. We have a stables over the fence at the back, and I'm sure they must get them, but so far, they haven't came near. I check under the decking often though, just to make sure.

I'm in the 'kill them all' camp I'm afraid. Not a fan of rats one little bit. Primary school I went to was infested with them, had them run over me once. That put me off for life really.

 

[Chiseller]

Me an the team.....

.

The Mighty Oak Is Merely A Nut Who Stood His Ground

 

[Andy BB]

I know you said not to mention the disease side of it, but I'm afraid its all too relevant to any discussion on sharing living space with them. You might wash your hands now every time you touch something in your garden, but will the kids, or wife, or dogs/cats, or relatives/visitors? Sorry, but I'd wipe em out.

 

[Bushwhacker]

An old petrol strimmer with a length of hose on the exhaust and shoved down the holes with some terriers waiting is one way. I hear them scummaging around in various wall cavities of my cabin from time to time so I take a stick and dip it in ferret do do's and leave on exterior entry points or maybe a bit of hay from their old bedding or sometimes the ferrets themselves.

 

[lannyman8]

there is another way with petrol, its better in the summer though....

 

[Bushwhacker]

there is another way with petrol, its better in the summer though....

I agree wholeheartedly, but not when I live in a wood cabin it ain't.

 

[Toddy]

I know they're around the side garden where my compost heaps are, I know they're in the lane and the garden of a neighbour down the street who leaves lots of leftovers out for the birds......and complains about rats ! but until I found two young ones drowned in the bucket under the outdoor sink recently (they were subsequently deposited in my compost bin) I had only seen one in the jaws of my Tomcat years ago.

I think taking them *all* out is unrealistic, especially where you live, but I do think that the gat and the air guns might be used to good effect.
I'm told there's a kind of mesh that can be put under the compost to stop the blighters getting in for warmth or food too.

If there's nothing for them to eat, find comfort, or otherwise need near your home, so much the better, because there's no getting away from it, they do carry disease.
I'm inclined to live and let live with most creatures, but I don't think I'd be too complacent about ratty nearby.

My cat died a couple of weeks ago , I don't want another, but I'm trying to figure out how to discourage the mice and the like, myself.

Foxes are good I'm told ......so are kestrels and buzzards, but I don't think that'd work in a suburban back lane like ours or your alleyway.

Best of luck with it, and if you do find a solution, let us know ?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Bushwhacker]

Can I subscribe to a makers membership and sell bags of ferret shizzle?

 

[cbr6fs]

I wish i was closer, my Jack Russell absolutely loves ratting.

I'm with the others here, nothing good can come out of letting them live.
In no time at all they'll bred that much they'll take over.

 

[Toddy]

Does it work ?

.............there might be a business opportunity there..........until the H&S gets ahold of you, and demands that it's 'organically' produced or you've covered yourself with the necessary certification in ferret **** handling
I suspect it's one of the proscribed items for the Royal Mail too though.

Seriously, if it does work, I'm away round to see my friend Shuggie, who keep ferrets, in the morning

cheers,
Toddy