Will anything deter rats from the garden without actually killing them?

BlondeHeadOn

I have just spotted what I think is a rat on the patio; this is the second sighting in a week and the first time it was definitely a rat! This time it ran past my legs (:eek:) while I was sitting in the sun - I moved rather faster then it did when I saw it!

There is nothing in our garden that can be attracting it (them??) food-wise, but our next door neighbours have 2 dogs who sometimes have bones and things ourside, and surrounding neighbours have compost bins and feed the birds a lot. There are about 6 cats prowling around the local gardens anyway, so I don't think the rats will hang around too long - we don't have a cat of our own though, so they might be using our garden as an escape run (a "rat run". Geddit? Sorry.....)

So.... I don't fancy trying to kill this rat because of the other wildlife in the garden and also having to deal with the corpses afterwards. On the other hand, I don't want to share my sunbathing time with a live rat or any of his friends!

Is there any way of making them avoid the garden? Like repeller sprays or products or something?

All help gratefully accepted...

welshsue

We had the same problem with rats. A lady 2 doors away keeps chickens and for the last 2 years we have been plagued by rats running through our garden. The best thing is to call the council in and they will put bait down for them. They do it for free in our area, worth checking in yours. We even had them burrowing up through the garage floor so the landlord had to get it concreted.
We never had corpses in our garden as they take the bait back to the nest and it gradually kills them.
It was made worse here as the lady also owns a dog and our neighbour used to give her ham bones for the dog to chew. These were just thrown round the garden so of course the rats were attracted to that. The council got so fed up with having to come and keep baiting that they sent environmental health in to the lady with the chickens. Since then we have not seen any more rats.

Pazu

Get the council in. Rats are filthy.

Pazu

Money_maker

As a deterrent, try peppermint oil. Needs to be the strong one from health shop (essential oil 100%). Few drops on cotton wool balls and pop them in the entrances to runs.

If it becomes a big problem then bait or traps may be best but please make sure that they cannot be accessed by any wildlife, cats etc.

BlondeHeadOn

Many thanks for all your replies, very helpful.

In fact I decided to phone the pest control at the council this morning, and the 'rat man' is coming round tomorrow. This was after the biggest, hugest rat ever sat and looked through the patio doors at us while we were having tea last night - eek! That focussed my decison making tremendously....

It's not a free service from the council any more unfortunately, but I don't want to be scared out of my garden all summer.

pinkcandyflossprincess

i did have a huge rat problem- baiting never helped as they were eating off dumped rubbish from next doors alley.
i gutted my garden, cleaned their alley and removed my bin to outside my garden further up house side.
i took down a wendy house they had moved into:eek: and then dug over the nest reptitively and now they have all left.
if they dont have a food or water source they will move on- im a bit worried as now planted veg etc, so far ive only had a visit by a cat and a fox but not seen any rats for a few months:T
the fox hasnt been back either thankfully or if he has hes not left any poop:o

Jnelhams

You need to have the rats dealt with, as they carry many serious diseases including Plague and Weils disease, if you have children or pet's they can easily come into contact with the Rat's urine and excrement.

pinkcandyflossprincess

Jnelhams wrote: »

You need to have the rats dealt with, as they carry many serious diseases including Plague and Weils disease, if you have children or pet's they can easily come into contact with the Rat's urine and excrement.

I think you are at least safe from catching that:eek:

Jnelhams

Oddly enough the plague is still to be found in Rats in Central Asia, and South West United States - they had a case in 2010. So may be not entirely a page in history.

a1cat

Get a gun and learn a new sport?

100% legal to kill vermin.

morg_monster

yes Rats are dangerous to cats - a cat in our neighbourhood was bitten on the nose by one last year! - as well as Weils disease etc, BUT as someone else has said, rat poison will also kill / make seriously ill cats, dogs, kids etc if ingested. They must be put down somewhere only rats can access.
We had a few living under our shed when we first moved into our house and we saw them quite often. Got cats and although they are total wusses and rubbish at hunting, the rats have not been seen since.