Wasteland pests and problems.

chimpysmith

I'm just wondering if anyone has any other ideas that I could try.

The road where I live, everyone's back garden fences used to face the back of an old hospital.

Years ago this was demolished and a new housing estate built. For some reason a patch of land was left between the new housing estate and our estate. 

This land is very very much out of control. Our fences are about 6 foot high and the weeds and mess are much higher than this. But this is not the problem.
 It's the rats (I feel sick actually typing this). 

Two years ago I did a bit of research with land registry and discovered it was owned by Home Group
 My house was a council house of theirs many years ago. 

An environmental officer got in touch with the group and I was told that they would have to act with 3 weeks. He said the problem is that there is no entry or exit to this land so they would have to go through a neighbours garden.

One day 4 men came and removed a neighbours back fence and had a look at the land then left. 
The fence was down with the wasteland exposed for many months. 

Eventually the neighbour paid for a company to erect a new fence as Home Group refused to pay. 

For an unfathomable reason they erected the garden 4 foot up his garden which means our corner fences now dont meet.  I have a 4 ft wide open doorway to this hell hole.
Rats and foxes are now in the garden every day.

My neighbour woke up to a large rat in her bedroom at 3 in the morning.
She now can only sleep downstairs with the light on.

I'm the same, if I'm not woken up by the many foxes that turn my garden upside down it's the fear of the rats. I sleep with the light and radio on but tbh, I'm really struggling to sleep now.

We have both contacted Home Group, they aren't particularly bothered. We've both contacted an Environmental Officer, I've contacted the council and 3 local councillors too.
 
This has been going on for over two years and I have not sat in my own garden since. My windows and doors are always firmly shut tight which results in very warm uncomfortable nights.
I've lived in my house for over 30years and I would now move in a heart beat. I have never been an anxious person and am lucky to have always had good mental health but I hate to admit, this is really really effecting me.

daivid

Make sure there is no food to tempt them, both in the home and the garden. Crumbs and scraps need to be cleared up and put in a pest proof container, compost heaps are very tempting, a composting barrel could be used instead and bird feeders may need to go. You could try the local paper and social media news - bad publicity may prompt some action.

MultiFuelBurner

Just don't stop pestering the council and environmental health team. Keep updating them with incidents and contact your local MP.

They must enforce the action and make home group sort it out.

CSI_Yorkshire

I don't understand that fence point. If you had fences to three sides of your garden, moving the neighbours fence doesn't make a 4ft gap.

Or are you saying that 4ft of your old side fence is now missing?

If so, why don't you put 4ft of fence up in the gap?

subjecttocontract

Our garden backs onto woodland and grassed areas. We get foxes, squirrels, small furry mammals, the occasional snake or badger even deer i.e. lots of wildlife. We have seen the occasional rat but our neighbours leave food out for the foxes and the rats are opportunists. As has been said already......make sure no food is left in the garden to encourage them to visit and they will go elsewhere.

I took the lid off of our composter last week and there was a small mouse/shrew/vole furry thing sitting there looking at me.

chimpysmith

I never ever leave food or water out and I don't have a compost heap. I've always been quite mindful of this. I had a bird table years ago and miss it but wouldn't dare have one now. 
The garden fencing is hard to explain. I have a large corner garden and 5 gardens join mine. Believe me if I had the money I would have that fence up in a jiffy but tbh the rats were running up and along the fence before it was moved. 
That's a good idea about my local MP thankyou.
I did wonder about the local newspaper too 

gwynlas

Fences themselves offer little deterrent to smaller mammals foxes eat rats so should be encouraged unless they build dens. waste ground in itself is not attractive to animals who need a food source.  Rats are attracted to food so make sure that there are no bird  feeders or compost bins available to them. Hospitals generally have pest control in place which is why you might have not been aware previously but rat poison and appropriate feeding staions are cheap enough to look after useful and one fence panel should block your four foot gap

subjecttocontract

What you describe as a wasteland may well have been left for wildlife on purpose. I put a gate in the fence of mine and run the lawnmower along the other side of the boundary regularly so that the wild areas don't encroach into my garden.

I don't think anyone from your local council, councillors or your MP will take any action because you have seen a few rats.

Chemistry777

Agree that you could declutter  the area directly behind back fence. Then adding a couple of bait stations on the back of the fence will quickly make a difference.
keep it filled once all poison has been taken. Pest control company will do this for you if you can’t stomach it yourself. Plus they will have access to stronger poisons.

chimpysmith

subjecttocontract said:

What you describe as a wasteland may well have been left for wildlife on purpose. I put a gate in the fence of mine and run the lawnmower along the other side of the boundary regularly so that the wild areas don't encroach into my garden.

I don't think anyone from your local council, councillors or your MP will take any action because you have seen a few rats.

The reason I am worried about this land is not because it has been a few rats. This has been two years of a heck of a lot of rats. And I mean a lot, everywhere, families of them in the gardens and to wake up at 3am to find a large rat in your bedroom  I think is time that something was done.
Some neighbours wont let their little ones play on the grass in their gardens anymore, I don't blame them.

 I've got to admit the foxes are so beautiful to watch play together but they have caused damage to my garden that I'm having to repair.

 This waste land has not been left for wildlife and if you saw it you would see what I mean. The reason the company that own it are trying to avoid it is because it is so out of control, a real uncontrollable mess. It will cost a lot of money to sort it.

 A local councillor has been in touch. He thought the land was sorted years ago when it was very first reported he can't believe that they still haven't touched it. 

Murphybear

 Other vote for contacting your MP.  If he/she is half as good as ours they will get something done.  i had a problem with the DWP and emailed our MP.  I got a response the same day asking for my details and by the following day he had contacted the DWP.  I don’t know what he said but it worked.  .  Good MPs are worth their weight in gold