Help, we have garden rats and a party on Saturday!

ferry

Any quick help with dealing with rats in our garden . They seem to be burrowing under the decking area so are difficult to get to..on top of this we have a marqee booked for my sons 18th birthday party. Any ideas on getting rid of these quickly please?

Thanks as always 

justwhat

No chance lol 

Doozergirl

They won't turn up, if that's what you're worried about! 

You just put your poison/traps out and the rats bite when they bite.  Not much else you can do.  

But they won't disturb your party.  

Eldi_Dos

Do you know anyone with Jack Russells or terriers, invite them round asap and right up to start of party.

TELLIT01

Block off as much of the edge of the decking as you can.  It's unlikely the rats will appear during the party but make sure you clear up every bit of mess after it, or the rats will be there in numbers later.

LippyDoodle

Make tiny party hats?   

With all the noise and movement they will keep away. Just relax and have a great time! 

Rdwill

Rats need food and water close by, particularly water, so remove all sources.

Poison will work, but they are very wyly about what they take and it can be difficult to get them to eat it. And you now need a license to get the proper stuff, do you know any farmers who may let you have some.

If you need to get rid of them asap, and you can't remove the decking (I dug up a big bush they had made a burrow under to get rid of a pack) the best idea is to get up in the bedroom window with an air rifle and shoot the blighters.

Hope that helps.

I hate rats!!   

Racky_Roo

Recently had rats myself, agree they won't come out at the party but after that I'd get the council out or a pest control co to lay decent poison which won't harm other animals. You will have to pay but it's really effective and rats won't eat poison you buy yourselves if they can find a better food source elseware and believe me they will go quite far to get decent food. Not sure if you have a dog but dog poo is one of the fav's according to the pest control people I had round.

Doozergirl

Racky_Roo said:

Recently had rats myself, agree they won't come out at the party but after that I'd get the council out or a pest control co to lay decent poison which won't harm other animals. You will have to pay but it's really effective and rats won't eat poison you buy yourselves if they can find a better food source elseware and believe me they will go quite far to get decent food. Not sure if you have a dog but dog poo is one of the fav's according to the pest control people I had round.

They like eating dog poo? 

You really do learn something new every day.  Some thing more pleasant than others! 

Rosa_Damascena

I have sympathy but don't understand why other posters are confident the rats won't intrude. If the decking isn't covered then surely any crumbs dropped will only make matters worse in the long run?

Davesnave

Rats may only be convinced to take poison bait when they have become accustomed to seeing the bait station for a good while; that's weeks, not days.

However, as others have said it's very unlikely they'll join in the festivities, but in case they make an appearance, have a sledgehammer handy and you can pretend it's an organised game of 'Splat the Rat!'