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Rat burrows in garden

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loulou41
loulou41 Posts: 2,871 Forumite
in Gardening
I found a few holes in my garden along the fences. Could they be rats burrows as I live near an open fields we do have rats coming in the garden? I am not sure whether I should contact pest control or try to block the holes myself. Advice pl? Thanks

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  • ljonski
    ljonski Posts: 3,337 Forumite
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    Do rats make burrows? What about rabbits or foxes? Do you have a dog?
    "if the state cannot find within itself a place for those who peacefully refuse to worship at its temples, then it’s the state that’s become extreme".Revd Dr Giles Fraser on Radio 4 2017
  • bouicca21
    bouicca21 Posts: 6,514 Forumite
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    Do they take over fox nests? Neighbours tell me that this year is the first that they've not seen fox cubs, and the mounded area that they indicate as housing the fox family just happens to be where I have seen a young rat. It's the area that I have my eye on as the next bit of garden to clear.

    Personally I'd like to be rid of both sorts of vermin, so not too concerned about destroying a nest but at least one neighbour thinks the fox cubs are adorable, and I wouldn't want to upset her. I suspect she won't be quite so fond of rats.
  • ljonski
    ljonski Posts: 3,337 Forumite
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    its a pity then there is no foxes as they love ratatouille !
    "if the state cannot find within itself a place for those who peacefully refuse to worship at its temples, then it’s the state that’s become extreme".Revd Dr Giles Fraser on Radio 4 2017
  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741 Forumite
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    edited 19 October 2016 at 1:51PM
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    My advice is to calm down, dear......

    ....Oh, hang on, that was David Cameron's advice, and look what happened to him! ;)

    But seriously, holes are nothing unusual, especially close to fields, and there are plenty of other rodents which produce them, besides rats.

    Any time I lift a long-standing flat item in my rural garden, I find a hole underneath, and if I examine the hedge banks, there are literally hundreds of them; in fact I can thrust my arm into the bank up to my elbow in some places, because there are so many chambers in there. Most of them have probably been made by voles, and most are redundant, because my cats have most of the voles!

    I haven't a rat problem. Never seen a live one in 7 years, although there must be a few around, just as there are everywhere.

    So, unless you start to see rats regularly, I wouldn't jump to conclusions.

    P.S. Foxes make earths, not nests!
  • Justagardener
    Justagardener Posts: 307 Forumite
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    Rats do live underground that's where they live! The entrances are about 3" in diameter. Put some rat bait in a plastic bag and stuff the bags down the holes they will gnaw the bag to get to the bait... it's unlikely to kill them first time so keep going with the bait. Call the council, they might control them free of charge. It's quite important to get rid of them early before they breed...they start young!
  • Primrose
    Primrose Posts: 10,620 Forumite
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    If they're very small holes, about 3" in diameter suspect it will be rats. We get them regularly and from time to time, especially in winter they will burrow into our compost heap. They can be prolific breeders. Of you call in the council you ,probably find they have outsourced their pest control to an outside contractor who will charge about £40. You can buy bait boxes and bait from places like B&Q although these are not cheap but the plastic boxes can be reused and re baited as necessary. Rat breed up to six infants at at a time so essential to nip the problem in the bud quickly.
  • loulou41
    loulou41 Posts: 2,871 Forumite
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    I have blocked the holes and they have not been disturbed. I guess they were after the sunflower seeds on the ground. Also I have scattered lawn seeds by the fences as there are bare patches, it is possible they have been attracted to them. In the past they were eating slug pellets. Will never get rid of them as there is an open field behind the house.
  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741 Forumite
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    loulou41 wrote: »
    . Will never get rid of them as there is an open field behind the house.

    We have fields all the way around our house, but it doesn't follow that there's lots of rats. For a start, we have predators not found much in towns.

    Even though we keep chickens in one field, there isn't a rat problem there because we've taken special measures to ensure the rats can't get at the chicken pellets. There's moles a plenty, but no rats, apart from any passing through. There's nowhere in the UK without them

    The same goes for the barn; no problem in there because the feed storage is mouse and rat proof.

    About 300m down the road there's a lady who has rats. She feeds the birds more than they can possibly consume. It drives her neighbour mad.

    We feed the birds in winter too. Again we take care not to overdo it, but there are some ground-dwelling species which do mopping-up of any spilt seed, so it's not too hard.

    I don't think you need to 'get rid of them.' Any time I've seen significant concentrations of rats, it's been in town and exacerbated by carelessness and bad behaviour on the part of humans.
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