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Rats In The Garden


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Ive got rats in my garden . My next door neighbour died last year and his house and garden were very old and "weathered" to put it mildly . Somebody from malta has bought the house but hasnt done anything with it . I noticed a while ago a rat running through my patio and into the neighbours next door . Ive spoken to them and they said my other neighbour always had rats around his house and they called enciromental health on him before about it . Anyway a month or so ago i put 6 ml ply on my garden border fence so that when i let the ferret out on to the patio he cant jump up the dwarf wall and under the fence and on to the garden to run off . I noticed that their were little tunell holes under the ply .

 

This is a few of them

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This is a picture a bit further to get the idea of the layout . (Vinny the white dog lurking in the backround) . The patio is set down from the lawn. You can see the dog holes bottom right

 

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This is on the inside of the fence on the right adjoining next door fence . So their going under this little fence then under the big fence into next door .

 

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This is on the oposite site of the patio going into the deceased mans garden . You can see the corner where the rats have chewed through to get through . I did block it up apart from a black plastic pipe that ran straight into my live trap but got no joy . Their are a few more holes under the ply on this side of the garden aswell .

 

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Its a bit pic heavy i know and maybe it wont help the way ive described the layout either . But id like some ideas from the good trappers on here what they would do . Ive trapped squirells before which is why i have the traps and that went ok but rats are new to me . At the moment i have 3 live traps set up on hair triggers with raw bacon tied to a string at the back of the trap and little bits on the way in to try and entice them . Ive had zero luck . Is their any other forms of trapping i could try . I didnt like the idea of kill traps as i got 2 dogs roaming the garden (although supervised) and i just know one of them would stick their nose in if it was in view . Any ideas will be great and im not adverse to trying new methods or type of traps if i can make them dog safe .

 

I was going to feed any rats to the ferret but thought better of it incase any poison has been left out next door .

 

1 last question .My girlfriend complained to the son of the onwer or the rat house and he says he cant understand how their would be rats there if their is no food source . My argument is they must be on the hunt for food down the street and make their way back their . Thats my thinking anyway , On my patio i have plastic boxes the bins go in and ive never had the bags ripped by rats so their basically using my garden as a passing route i think

 

Long post i know . Apologies

Edited by Welsh_red
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Fens in a tunnel as they should be, or even rat snares? They take time to become accustomed to live catch traps and while I have caught with them they are not great for rats.

 

As an example I usually get a problem with rats in the shed around June or July I always have a live catch trap on the floor of the shed, my thinking there is, when the rat moves in everything is new to it so it takes the trap as part of the furniture so to speak. If I see any signs of a rat I then bait the trap and it usually catches within a day or two. But I find no other rat will enter that trap for a while after it has caught for the first time, why I do not know It may be that I shoot the rat in the trap and the smell of the blood puts them off, who knows?

 

TC

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Yes my yard got invaded one winter and a month or two of fenns and snap traps sorted it or at least put them off oh and a dam good tidy up :(

I had a habit of leaving stuff laying about to take up the plot for the compost

 

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I randomly flick through the cctv now and again just to check lol plus the dog would soon let me know

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why I do not know It may be that I shoot the rat in the trap and the smell of the blood puts them off, who knows?

 

 

Never thought about that one Tiercel, I've caught six of them in a live catch trap in my neighbours garden in the last couple months. Takes up to two / three weeks before I catch the next one.Shoot them with a .25 air-rifle, head-shot which make them bleed rather seriously. Thought that smell of blood would attract them even a bit more. Have to rethink that one.

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why I do not know It may be that I shoot the rat in the trap and the smell of the blood puts them off, who knows?

 

Never thought about that one Tiercel, I've caught six of them in a live catch trap in my neighbours garden in the last couple months. Takes up to two / three weeks before I catch the next one.Shoot them with a .25 air-rifle, head-shot which make them bleed rather seriously. Thought that smell of blood would attract them even a bit more. Have to rethink that one.

I don't think they're that bothered by their own dead or the blood - I've seen them cannibalise the dead ones when I've shot a lot on a local pig farm ....... horrible little buggers :rolleyes:

 

They are usually very wary of anything new in their environment.

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Just out of interest, do either of your neighbours have a bird feeders? Also, do your dog's tend to leave food behind in their food bowl?

Not sure on the bird feeders but the dogs leave no food behind

Well their getting food from somewhere, not your garden, so a garden close by. Might be worth investigating.

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Just out of interest, do either of your neighbours have a bird feeders? Also, do your dog's tend to leave food behind in their food bowl?

Not sure on the bird feeders but the dogs leave no food behind
Well their getting food from somewhere, not your garden, so a garden close by. Might be worth investigating.
dog mess ? rats are quite happy eating it especially if the dogs are biscuit fed. Just a thought.
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Bird feed in a neighbours garden, chickens, rabbits or guinea pigs nearby or it could be a more serious issue like a broken drain if they've been there forever. Get the buggers poisoned as you won't clear it very quickly with traps.

Edited by ratattack
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Bird feed in a neighbours garden, chickens, rabbits or guinea pigs nearby or it could be a more serious issue like a broken drain if they've been there forever. Get the buggers poisoned as you won't clear it very quickly with traps.

My only thought on poisoning is the fear that if a poisoned rat made his way down the street and was eaten or chewed by a dog would it kill the dog as well. I'm not up on poison and not sure if that's a real thing

  • Like 1
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Just out of interest, do either of your neighbours have a bird feeders? Also, do your dog's tend to leave food behind in their food bowl?

Not sure on the bird feeders but the dogs leave no food behind
Well their getting food from somewhere, not your garden, so a garden close by. Might be worth investigating.
dog mess ? rats are quite happy eating it especially if the dogs are biscuit fed. Just a thought.

And I thought I couldn't loath rats Any more

  • Like 1
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