Have I got a rat?

Hi All,

I've just been clearing some old and dying plants from the border and came across a hole about 3"x2" could it be a rat? I bravely poked a stick in and it went down about a foot. It's situated next to a peony rose which has looked a bit sickly of late.:(

 

Yes you have, youll probably be able to see runs etc across the soil if you look close.

You need to adress the food source ie do you feed the birds etc.

 

I had a prob with rats but I caught them in an electric trap. I did buy some poison that was safe for other animals but they didn't seem to wanna eat it. On the farm we used slaymor and that was brill

 

:(i love rats...sob sob Ben the two of us need look no more ......:(

 

Omg don't talk to me about rats! I was cutting back a large sprawling Convolvulus on the rocks in the garden and suddenly I heard this almighty squeal (which made me jump about 5 foot in the air I might add) when I gingerly went back with a broom handle I discovered a medium sized hole going through the membrane under the gravel which I presume until recently was a mother and babies *yuk*

 

Rats are alright. They aren`t dirty like some think and they are quite intelligent. Mice on the other hand-dear God in Heaven save me.

 

Thanks for the replies.

I've not fed the birds for a couple of years, ever since I had a mouse problem in my greenhouse ( I stupidly stored the bird nuts in there )
My next door neighbour on the other hand throws out half a loaf of bread onto the grass in the mornings, as well as having 2 rabbit hutches in the garden which means rabbit food, and she puts out a dish of dog food for a dog that lives up the road!
I'm guessing that she'd be the food source.

My hubby filled the hole in last night, if it reappears or I find more holes I'll put some poison down them.

Rat's just give me the willies:D

 

Rats aren't alright and they do carry disease.
They are vermin that need to be removed by the most appropriate means.

 

Leptospirosis to name but one.

 

Pet rats are great best pets for children better than hamsters but wild rats are dirty.

When I was having a rat prob I went to put some stuff in my compost bin and there was a rats bottom end so I pulled its tail, it crawled a bit further in. I then went and got a watering can full of water and gave it a bath it soon came running out and away.

 

hmmm I have rats in my garden, the come out only at night... sod it, they've done no harm yet and i can't be bothered to get rid of them...

much like my masonary bee's living in the wall of my house... God i'm lazy!

I have a pet scottish terrier and they are meant to be good rat catchers, maybe i should send him out one night to take care of them, yeah right, we're talking about a dog who is afraid of the dark!

Oh well... looks like the rats are staying put for now!

 

We have rats here ... have one or more in the shed at the moment and it STINKS with the heat but we've put these little pocket thingies in and they eat what's in them and then they go to rat heaven pretty quickly. T'other half puts it in a box so the cats can't get to it.

Here's one t'other half got a couple of years ago ....



.... and it's probably a small one here. Obviously they don't live in the shed at the same time our snakes do .... our shed is called Casa da Cobra (house of the snake) .....:rolleyes::D

That's t'other half's hand obviously .... if it were mine the rat would overhang my hand ..... just the body that is .... :eek:

 

hello there
We had rats in the garden earlier this year and I picked up an infection and was really ill for a couple of weeks.had to take antibiotics etc -but not leptispirosis thank goodness.
We tried catching them and relocating them but there was always another one and getting bigger all the time and my husband eventually got some rat atak poison which did the job after I was ill.
Have had no further trouble but would move quickly if they turn up again to try to find the hole and move them out. We did relocate at lest 8 small(bigger than large mice) and two very large greys before we resorted to poison because I was not happy killing anything,but it was getting out of hand!
Believe me they are not pets!
take care and my best regards to Nortumberland.
always a geordie
Arlene

 

Well with our cats...we don't suffer with rats. Well cats need to come in handy sometimes don't they.:thumb: