Rats in my vegetable garden

[Roland]

I know there are some keen gardeners on the forum, so I thought I'd ask for a bit of advice about rats, which are currently having a great time in my vegetable garden.

A bit of context: my garden backs into woodland, which is where I believe they nest, and the garden itself is split into patio areas, lawn and wild flower 'mini-meadows'. We'd occasionally see the odd rat and my old Jack Russel would give halfhearted chase, but since we put in raised vegetable beds the rats have grown in both number and become increasingly brave.

So, before I call in the rat man or get the airgun out, I was wondering whether there were any methods of keeping them away (I'm not squeamish about killing them if I have to, but I'd rather eliminate other options first).

Thanks
Rol

[TaketheCannoli]

Rats Roland? Or....

[bloater]

Bait and plenty of it, I like the Racan range. There's always more out there than you realise hence using plenty of bait.


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[Tatters]

I thought that Jack Russells are great ratters, isn’t it what they were originally bred for? Maybe your old chum needs a young companion?

[guinea]

The rat poison you can buy as a consumer has been massively nerfed.

A few years ago you could by good stuff, but it's been regulated harshly and now you need to be professional to buy anything that actually works.

If your property back on to open space, then without physical barriers anything you do is only temporary. Even If you killed them all tomorrow they'd be back in a month.

[blackal]

Do you have any wooden decking? Rats love the space below.

[xellos99]

The rat poison you can buy as a consumer has been massively nerfed.

A few years ago you could by good stuff, but it's been regulated harshly and now you need to be professional to buy anything that actually works.

If your property back on to open space, then without physical barriers anything you do is only temporary. Even If you killed them all tomorrow they'd be back in a month.

The one i quoted above your post works for sure.

I had a nightmare with loads of huge rats on my property caused by next door throwing scrap food in a field behind our houses.

These were not small rats, they were huge.

Never seen them since so i assume they all died or were abducted by Aliens.

[Ares]

Just let them into your kitchen and support their culinary aspirations..

[Maysie]

It sounds like you have an issue that will need to be sorted properly.

If you don't have the proper gear (bait boxes, traps etc) and the appropriate knowledge to use it safely, then I would just use a pro to deal with it, as they have stronger bait and know how to use it to avoid issues with non-target species. Using bait without some knowledge can cause all sorts of issues for secondary species who later ingest the poison, etc etc.

It will probably need an initial hard intervention, followed by regular checks. Rats don't like new things/change, so they will avoid the bait/traps until they are used to them, so the sooner you get onto it the better.

After they are under control you can then decide if you want to manage the ongoing control yourself.

Using an air rifle at this stage will not get the issue under control as they are primarily nocturnal, but it wont do any harm if you see one during daylight.

[xellos99]

Bait traps.

Use this Bait called Ruby Blocks, it works. I tried it and never seen Rats since.

https://www.pestcontrolhub.co.uk/lod...RoCW1YQAvD_BwE

[Roland]

Thanks for the advice (and Roland Rat gag).
As my garden attracts lots of lovely wildlife, including badgers, hedgehogs and deer that I don't want to poison, I'm going to call in the pest controllers and get it sorted properly.

[Owren]

Thanks for the advice (and Roland Rat gag).
As my garden attracts lots of lovely wildlife, including badgers, hedgehogs and deer that I don't want to poison, I'm going to call in the pest controllers and get it sorted properly. If this doesn't help either I will use these devices.

Aren't pest controllers using poison either?

[snowman]

UB40's new album?

M

[Jlynch1984]

I would refrain from poison as you can impact the whole food chain… e.g animals which eat the dead rat. When I had a mouse problem at the converted barn I home, pest controls won’t put poison outside as other animals can take it on instead… likely traps are the best option.


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[smalleyboy1]

If you are happy to kill them with bait, I would use rat traps instead. Reduces the risk of other animals ingesting the bait and it should be a quicker, cleaner death for them. You also know you have killed them.

[KavKav]

Bait station loaded with your own well stirred mixture of 50g Cornmeal, 50g Plaster of Paris powder, 60g Chocolate powder.
Not the most humane solution but it gets the job done!

If you just want a non-lethal deterrent, then try to identify their entry and exit points and activity points and spray those areas weekly with a solution of pure peppermint oil and water. (One teaspoon of oil in 2 litres of warm water) They DON’T like it and will soon consider moving elsewhere!