# can broken glass stop rats



## osuldo (30 Jan 2008)

hi all,
wondering if this is an "old wives tall"or the truth.thinking of putting down some decking but afraid of the possible rat problem,my neighbour claims if you lay about an inch of broken glass under the complete deck it deters rats and stops them digging into the ground under the deck.could anyoue confirm if this is true or not.
many thanks


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## rosiemc (30 Jan 2008)

A google returned this:

"For any holes or cracks near foundation perimeter, where it meets the cement, you can use broken up glass or steel wool mixed in with some cement to seal the opening. A rat can chew threw most anything, and wet cement is no problem. The steel wool or broken glass in the cement, when ingested, will serve to cut their intestines, cause internal bleeding and ultimate death. "

So I guess putting broken glass under there will help, but it seems you might end up with lots of dead ones rather than live ones...


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## Sue Ellen (30 Jan 2008)

rosiemc said:


> A google returned this:
> 
> "For any holes or cracks near foundation perimeter, where it meets the cement, you can use broken up glass or steel wool mixed in with some cement to seal the opening. A rat can chew threw most anything, and wet cement is no problem. The steel wool or broken glass in the cement, when ingested, will serve to cut their intestines, cause internal bleeding and ultimate death. "
> 
> So I guess putting broken glass under there will help, but it seems you might end up with lots of dead ones rather than live ones...



What a death!


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## DrMoriarty (30 Jan 2008)

What a waste!


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## Sherman (31 Jan 2008)

osuldo said:


> hi all,
> wondering if this is an "old wives tall"or the truth.thinking of putting down some decking but afraid of the possible rat problem,my neighbour claims if you lay about an inch of broken glass under the complete deck it deters rats and stops them digging into the ground under the deck.could anyoue confirm if this is true or not.
> many thanks


 
If there are cats around, they'll handle any rat problem quicker than your solution, which I have to say is way beyond the bounds of animal cruelty.


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## ophelia (31 Jan 2008)

I noticed a hole dug in the corner of my garden recently (I have decking), and have a history of rats in the garden.  I placed a rat trap with some chocolate on it (LIndt 70%) but I don't think rats are too discerning!
The  next morning the trap was snapped, there were gnaw marks on the chocolate and quite disturbingly there were blood spatters on the wall, soil and plants around the trap. He escaped, walking but wounded. No problems since.


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## Caveat (31 Jan 2008)

Sometimes with rats a scare like this or other deterrent is enough - they won't bother unless they are desperate. They're relatively intelligent - much more so than mice. Mice will persist in an instinctive preprogrammed way to gain entry, get food or whatever but rats will consider their terrain, escape routes, likely dangers etc.


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## Teabag (31 Jan 2008)

I have been told that growing garlic will deter rats. Just throw a few cloves around the decking and they should sprout easy enough.


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## beaky (31 Jan 2008)

I tried the broken glass trick in our garden but had absolutly no effect.  The glass was dug out and scattered outside the hole.  "storm" did the trick within 1 week.


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