Seen A Rat.....

Discussion in 'Pests, Diseases and Cures' started by Bilbo675, Jun 8, 2013.

  1. Bilbo675

    Bilbo675 Total Gardener

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    .....something to be worried about or just keep an eye on?

    Last night, just before dark and for the first time I saw a rat in our garden, popping in and out from under our shed, it was on its own and searching for food. I don't have a problem with any wildlife but am aware that populations of rats can explode quickly given the right conditions.

    I'm not talking a dirty great black rat here, it was a small brown rat.

    I always garden in essentially a clean a way as possible in that when I feed birds on the ground it is sparingly so as not to leave any food lying around, if there is any left uneaten after a day I usually brush it up.

    I am not overly concerned by this sighting as yet but am aware that some action may be possible in a worse case scenario, so am just looking for others views really.

    Thanks for reading :)
     
  2. Jenny namaste

    Jenny namaste Total Gardener

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    As the rat was on its own, and you don't leave food around to encourage it to make a home in your garden, then I wouldn't worry personally.
    We are never far from them but they are usually not visible and I think that too much hype is put out there about RATS.
    Just don't encourage them is all we need to remember.
     
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    • sal73

      sal73 Total Gardener

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      I keep see flyers around , about infestation of rats in my area due of flying tipping and rubbish in gardens ......never seen one in mine ....maybe the reason is that my garden attract the local
      wild life ......the evil cats .

      [​IMG]
       
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      • Victoria

        Victoria Lover of Exotic Flora

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        Just love your babes, Sal xx

        My cats can't be bothered ... this is what we get ...

        Mouse.jpg
         
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        • JWK

          JWK Gardener Staff Member

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          Next door have chickens and rabbits and the spilt feed encourages rats into their garden and unfortunately they come into ours too sometimes. I guess the one you saw was just in transit if you don't have anything left out for them to feed on.
           
        • sal73

          sal73 Total Gardener

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          • "M"

            "M" Total Gardener

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            A good couple of responses have occurred as a consequence of your query and I will try to address both :)

            First and foremost, your own concerns: you are talking about a woodland rat as opposed to a sewer rat. While both do have the potential to carry diseases, the former is less likely to cause problems than the latter. How long/far do you wait until it becomes " a problem?" is subjective - for some members, the sight of one is enough to pull out the whole artillery! For me, woodland rats have their place in the ecology. (Sewer rats? I view differently :redface: )

            I am yet to be convinced that chook owners encourage rats (although, as a chook owner, I do admit my arguments could be perceived as biased, on the one hand, yet, 'experienced' on the other! :dunno:

            You will have to make a judgement call on that ;) ). With good husbandry, chook owners are as likely to 'encourage' rats as people who own dogs (who poop in the garden), cats, rabbits, gerbils, hamster, guinea pigs, goats, pigs: I say again "good husbandry" !

            Personally? Just keep an eye on ;)
             
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            • clueless1

              clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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              Was it definitely a rat?

              Thing is with rats is they are remarkably clever creatures. If you saw one, there will be more.

              My dad had a real problem with them a few years ago on his allotment, so he set a none-lethal trap (an arrangement that would almost comically land a container over the top of the rat when it took the bait). He actually sat and watched from his shed as they came out. One took the bait and got trapped. He humanely dispatched the trapped rat, reset the trap, then waited again. He waited and waited, and nothing. The rats were still there, he saw them, time and time again, but never once did any of them go near the bait.
               
            • Bilbo675

              Bilbo675 Total Gardener

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              Hi Clueless, yes it was definitely a rat :)

              I watched last night for 30 minutes or so and saw it again a couple of times, seems to be same one as it has a limp (something wrong with a rear foot), still not seen any others or evidence that would suggest there are dozens of them, although in reality it is unlikely to be alone as you say.

              I don't have a problem with this particular species of rat either so long as they don't bring their whole 'east midlands' population to dine in my back garden :heehee: As "M" says I'll keep an eye on the little fellas :snork:

              Thanks for the replies so far :dbgrtmb:
               
            • JWK

              JWK Gardener Staff Member

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              You're probably right "M", I have seen rats in our garden well before our neighbour started keeping chooks, but they were always furthest away from the house at the end of the garden in my compost heap. Now we see rats coming down the garden and around the house, maybe it's a coincidence or maybe rats are like foxes these days getting less scared of humans.

              For a few years I had a council 'green cone' into which went all our kitchen waste. I had to give up using it a couple of years ago because I just couldn't keep rats out of it, even a barrier of concrete.

              To be honest I'm not particularly bothered, just make sure all produce is well washed. If it's just one Bilbo that's not too bad.
               
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              • Lea

                Lea Super Gardener

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                My Jack Russell caught and killed one recently. I hadn't seen them or noticed any signs of them so they were obviously keeping themselves to themselves. I haven't bothered about it since. I figure that if they make a nuisance of themselves I'll do something about them but until then, if they leave me alone, I'll leave them alone. I can't make the same promise on behalf of my dogs though! :)
                 
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                • Fat Controller

                  Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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                  I'm in the 'get out the entire artillery' brigade I'm afraid - where there is one, there will be more.

                  When I was a child, my parents were building an extension to the house, and we had seen a wee brown rat darting around at night, and thought little of it at first. It was 1984, and you may recall the summer of that year was something of a scorcher (indeed, there was a drought and we ended up with stand pipes in the street) - as ground water disappeared, the rat and a couple of others would be seen drinking from any receptacles left in the garden that had water in them; however, when building work stalled for a while, the few we had seen were soon joined by many more and they were chewing window and door frames to get the putty out (presumably for the linseed oil) and did a hell of a lot of damage.

                  The shed also got damaged quite badly as they gnawed through the wood to make their wee home underneath it. In the end, poisons etc were put down to get shot of them, as locally there were sewer rats on the move en-mass looking for water - - I saw one field near to the outskirts of the town that was literally a heaving black mass with all the rats heading toward a local loch.

                  I agree that woodland rats are not as bad as sewer rats for disease, but never the less they are still not healthy to have around, not least because they urinate fairly often as they have small bladders - and they can be highly destructive.

                  I welcome most wildlife into my garden, but rats (and foxes) are not among the welcome visitors.
                   
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                  • landimad

                    landimad Odd man rather than Land man

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                    Being nextdoor to the countryside we get them all the time.
                    So with the lack of food in other areas they seek out other sources and feed this back to the rest of the nest. A bit like bees when I think about it, they have an uncanny way of passing on information to each other and use this to maximise the rewards.
                     
                  • lazydog

                    lazydog Know nothing but willing to learn

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                    Bilbo675 I have read your thread about your lonesome rat,and I hate to think of this poor creature being lonely please pm you address and I will package up a few mates for it,being on the edge of a nature reserve with a river we have one or two going spare :heehee:
                     
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                    • Bilbo675

                      Bilbo675 Total Gardener

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                      Lazydog, your location sounds amazing, I'll catch "Ben" and send him to you instead, he'll be well chuffed :lunapic 130165696578242 5:
                       
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