Garden Wildlife - of the larger variety

Wyndham

Not sure if this is the right place to post, please move if not.

We are in the suburbs, but right on the edge. So we're next door to a farm (also in the suburbs, but with land behind it) and also back onto one of their fields.

I think I saw a rat the other week, which worried me, but no other sightings since. But we did find some 'burrows' in the garden and thought they might be related. That is, until we saw the rabbit. Only seen one at a time so far, but we think the burrows belong to them rather than rats.

We are not natural gardeners, and the space is... well... let's call it a 'wildlife garden' i.e. we go out and hack things down now and then, but it's far from pristine.

My question is, should I be worried? Should I take any action, or is it likely to be OK to just live and let live? I don't like the idea of killing creatures which are not likely to be a problem.

Also, do rabbits and rats live harmoniously? Or does the fact that we've seen the rabbit a few times now mean that the rats are less likely to be present?

MSE_ForumTeam5

We've moved this to the Greenfingered board

youth_leader

We were also near farmland and regularly saw rabbits/pheasants in our garden.  I agree with the live and let live philosophy, so many animals are now displaced with their habitat being lost for house building/food growth for humans.

Dustyevsky

I live in the countryside. Around us, we have foxes, badgers, deer, hares, rabbits, and no doubt a few rats, though I've yet to see a live one in 13 years.

Before we came here, I expected gardening would be a constant battle with wild things, but after Daisy, our cat, deposited a few rabbits in front of the wood burner, the rest seemed to disappear, and they've never returned. Nothing seems to go for our crops, except maybe pigeons. As I've said, no evidence of rat activity either despite our having chickens and feeding wild birds in winter. I've tracked larger animals in the snow, and they usually stick close to cover and follow the valley bottom. Even marauding squirrels don't come up from there much because it means crossing open ground.

So, no rabbit netting here, which I put down to our lucky situation, but I've seen it used in some other local gardens and at RHS Rosemoor down the road, which is in a valley with extensive tree cover.

We do have a lot of mice, voles, and shrews in the garden. The cat brings in voles and shrews, which just give up and die, but the long-tailed field mice fight back, and they can shift! Occasionally, one goes up behind a kitchen unit and expires. Looking on the bright side, the smell only lasts a fortnight! 

twopenny

Rats are around everywhere and are usually nocuturnal where bunny rabbits are diurnal.

But rats unless you are infested will be seen once in a while particularly in winter when their natural food sources are scarce they go awandering.

They do not bring the plague and will not be heading for you

I've loved seeing the baby rabbits at this time of year. If you have a garden that is not precious you will have lots of birds and other wildlife which are facinating and a privalage to watch.

Ashworks

We have rabbits in our rural garden. It's impossible to keep them out so I just try and find plants that they don't like to eat, and their numbers seem be kept low by the local foxes. 

As others have said, rats are everywhere and not generally a problem as long as you are careful not to leave food sources accessible.

Murphybear

Dustyevsky said:

I live in the countryside. Around us, we have foxes, badgers, deer, hares, rabbits, and no doubt a few rats, though I've yet to see a live one in 13 years.

Before we came here, I expected gardening would be a constant battle with wild things, but after Daisy, our cat, deposited a few rabbits in front of the wood burner, the rest seemed to disappear, and they've never returned. Nothing seems to go for our crops, except maybe pigeons. As I've said, no evidence of rat activity either despite our having chickens and feeding wild birds in winter. I've tracked larger animals in the snow, and they usually stick close to cover and follow the valley bottom. Even marauding squirrels don't come up from there much because it means crossing open ground.

So, no rabbit netting here, which I put down to our lucky situation, but I've seen it used in some other local gardens and at RHS Rosemoor down the road, which is in a valley with extensive tree cover.

We do have a lot of mice, voles, and shrews in the garden. The cat brings in voles and shrews, which just give up and die, but the long-tailed field mice fight back, and they can shift! Occasionally, one goes up behind a kitchen unit and expires. Looking on the bright side, the smell only lasts a fortnight! 

Judging from the flag as your avatar would that be the Devon countryside?  Probably my favourite county.  

Dustyevsky

Murphybear said:

Dustyevsky said:

I live in the countryside. Around us, we have foxes, badgers, deer, hares, rabbits, and no doubt a few rats, though I've yet to see a live one in 13 years.

Before we came here, I expected gardening would be a constant battle with wild things, but after Daisy, our cat, deposited a few rabbits in front of the wood burner, the rest seemed to disappear, and they've never returned. Nothing seems to go for our crops, except maybe pigeons. As I've said, no evidence of rat activity either despite our having chickens and feeding wild birds in winter. I've tracked larger animals in the snow, and they usually stick close to cover and follow the valley bottom. Even marauding squirrels don't come up from there much because it means crossing open ground.

So, no rabbit netting here, which I put down to our lucky situation, but I've seen it used in some other local gardens and at RHS Rosemoor down the road, which is in a valley with extensive tree cover.

We do have a lot of mice, voles, and shrews in the garden. The cat brings in voles and shrews, which just give up and die, but the long-tailed field mice fight back, and they can shift! Occasionally, one goes up behind a kitchen unit and expires. Looking on the bright side, the smell only lasts a fortnight! 

Judging from the flag as your avatar would that be the Devon countryside?  Probably my favourite county.  

It could also be Somerset, as I've spent an equal time in each. Both have  diverse and memorable landscapes. I even had a spell in that awful thing, Avon, not that many of us acknowledged it. We'd still write our address as 'Somerset.' In the end, we got it back.

-taff

Oops, thought it was a first aid box...

Dustyevsky

-taff said:

Oops, thought it was a first aid box...

It might as well be. I haven't a clue what it signifies! .

"The Devon flag colours were choose to represent features from the county; green for the many hills found in Devon, the black represents the high and windswept moors and the white represents the salt spray of Devon's two coastlines."

Ah, there you go.

What's yours? I see 4 maidens, two of them dusky, but we all tend to see what we want to see!

-taff

That's a painting by Billy Beaumont It is mine btw so I'm not infringing copyright or anything...It's Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, re-imagined from the ubiquitous Italian plates...