Rats

Broomstick

Apologies if this is the wrong place to post this.

We have a garden that has newly-laid lawn and a new shed beside a new patio. We are getting ready to plant up the patio with loads of pots for fruit and veg. Our landlord, who paid for the garden to be done, won't welcome us digging up the lawn for veg beds and we want to be able to take the pots if we move anyway. When our garden was cleared out, it was obvious that there were rats living in both of our neighbours gardens. One had a lot of the hiding places cleared away at the same time that our garden was done but the other neighbours did nothing about the rats on their property. This afternoon we have been watching the rats in their garden scrambling onto their outdoor table breaking into the rubbish bags they are storing on it, helping themselves to the contents which they then have brought back under our gate and under our shed. I suspect they may be raising a family there. I'm really reluctant to start planting outside until we have sorted something out and I've never had to deal with rats before.

So...
1. What's the cheapest, most effective way to keep our garden as rat free as possible? Will shop-bought poison do it or does the council have to be called out? Do they charge? We can't have a cat.

2. Do we have any rights around asking our neighbours to store their rubbish in dustbins, or put down poison as well? (I hope things will be friendly and cooperative though!)

3. If I try to block out the gap at the bottom of our shed and the gap under the gate, is there a metal mesh I could use? If so, what do I ask for and where do I get it from? The builders said that we had to have a gap under the shed for ventilation.

4. There are some gaps in the corners of the shed where the walls meet the sloping roof. Could the rats climb up there? Do I need to look at blocking those high up holes as well? Currently the shed is lovely, dry and clean and I'd like it to stay that way! We need the storage space.

5. If we plant fruit and veg in pots and the rats decide to help themselves to the produce, is this going to end up being a health hazard to us if we also eat the produce with which the rats have been in contact?

Many thanks.

BlondeHeadOn

Ring up the local council. When we saw a rat in our garden, the council 'Rat Man' came out to check, and the service was free. They will put down poison if necessary, and come back to check all has been cleared.

Also, if the rats are from a neighbours garden, the council man should be able to do something about that too. Rats are a public pest and health hazard.

HTH

Broomstick

Thank you very much for that info. I searched for 'rats' on our council's website and discovered the 'Rat Man's' details. However, they charge just under £30 for an initial visit and the same amount for each half-hour that is needed after that. I think it could work out rather expensive but, as you say, he might be able to put pressure on the neighbours to do something on their property. I'll phone the council in the morning and hope there isn't too much of a waiting list.

ariba10

Any good ironmonger will sell rat poison. I have even seen it in Wilkinson stores.

It can be granules or wheat grain colored blue.

If you use it make sure you put it where children and pets cannot see it.

If you know a run, you can lay some old drainpipe or tubing down and put the bait in there, then birds and normal wildlife will not be able to get at it.

Lotus-eater

Broomstick wrote: »

1. What's the cheapest, most effective way to keep our garden as rat free as possible? Will shop-bought poison do it or does the council have to be called out? Do they charge? We can't have a cat.

Wilkinsons, as already said, do cheap poison.

Broomstick wrote: »

2. Do we have any rights around asking our neighbours to store their rubbish in dustbins, or put down poison as well? (I hope things will be friendly and cooperative though!)

You probably don't have any rights, but the council man might help you on that. I certainly would go round and tell them what you saw. Tell them you have rats living in your garden and they are eating their rubbish.

Broomstick wrote: »

3. If I try to block out the gap at the bottom of our shed and the gap under the gate, is there a metal mesh I could use? If so, what do I ask for and where do I get it from? The builders said that we had to have a gap under the shed for ventilation.

You can't keep rats out of the garden, you can try to make it difficult for them, by blocking up runs, but the fact is they are living in your garden already.

Broomstick wrote: »

4. There are some gaps in the corners of the shed where the walls meet the sloping roof. Could the rats climb up there? Do I need to look at blocking those high up holes as well? Currently the shed is lovely, dry and clean and I'd like it to stay that way! We need the storage space.

Forget it, you need to get rid of them first, then deal with things like that. Without seeing it, it's impossible to tell you what to do, but bear in mind a rat will chew through almost anything to get to where they want.

Broomstick wrote: »

5. If we plant fruit and veg in pots and the rats decide to help themselves to the produce, is this going to end up being a health hazard to us if we also eat the produce with which the rats have been in contact?

Possibly, normally it's not a problem.

Your biggest problem is getting rid of the source's of food, if you don't do that and get rid of them, you'll just get more.
By the sound of it you live in a town, there will be sources of food everywhere, rubbish bags, bird tables, food for birds, foxes etc

If it was me, I would go round to all the neighbours, explain what is going on, you've just moved in etc and know you have this big rat problem, you will need all of their help to stop this.
I would also ask the landlord to pay for the councils pest control, they were already there when you moved in.

mirabelle

Have you tried Environmental Health at the Council Offices.

Broomstick

Thanks for all your replies. I've rung the council this morning and am waiting for a call back. I've decided to pay for the first visit, regardless but will definitely ask the Landlord for a refund as you suggest. I think that if I can get the council guy to suggest ways of blocking the underneath of our shed (which is on a slightly raised platform over a concrete base) then that will remove all nesting possibilities in our garden. It really is the only possible nest site we have. If I know what to ask for, the Landlord will probably be willing to get it done,

The council's website says that they may not treat vermin where recent DIY poison has been put down so I'm not going to put down poison myself yet (I'll save that to keep the garden rat-reduced when the council have had a go) but it's good to know that you can get it cheap at ironmongers.

The rat run is very obvious at the moment and pretty much shielded from other larger wildlife, especially birds, so I think we'd be OK there. There's been no sign of things like hedgehogs. I'd be really worried about accidentally killing them. The drainpipe idea is a really good one to know about even if we don't need it right now.

Until this is sorted out I'm going to keep the seedlings indoors for longer - I think I'll just clear our remaining empty windowsills - and delay the potato planting for a bit. And I'll just use the garden for drying washing and keep the back door shut at all times too!!!

Many thanks again.

BlondeHeadOn

Just thought I'd post again to say: it must be a sign of the credit crunch that you will be charged for this service by the council - it was free for me a couple of years ago! Or it may depend on the council, of course.

Anyway, in my experience the council 'rat man' really knows his rats(!), so I think you are right to get a visit from him in the first instance, even if you have to pay. While he's there, ask him as much as possible about where he thinks the rats are/will go, and how best to place poison to make sure they are all exterminated. Then you will have this information for if you need to resort to a 'DIY de-ratting' session at a later date! The rat man we saw was very chatty and helpful, so hopefully you will get someone similar.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on!

JupObs

If you decide to use the poison yourself, then a word of warning - although the pack might say enough to kill say 20 rats, what it doesn't tell you is that one rat is likely to eat the whole lot. The problem is that even though the first dose will kill the rat, it will take him a week or so to die, during that time he will keep on coming back and eating up all your expensive poison.

Regards

Rummer

We have had two dead rats in the garden this week, don't know if it is the cats or the foxes that are killing them. Does Rat poison not also affect the local wildlife?

Ste_C

Rummer wrote: »

We have had two dead rats in the garden this week, don't know if it is the cats or the foxes that are killing them. Does Rat poison not also affect the local wildlife?

It can do, but it's normally absorbed too much by the rat to be effective the second time around. It depends on how strong it is I think.

Putting poison down is only a short term solution though. You might get rid of these ones, but if the environment is right for them and there is food available rats will just keep coming back.