Two rats in garden

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Toby

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Following on from my previous post about a suspicious hole in our flowerbed near the deck - we caught two rats in our garden this weekend. More traps have been set and we're waiting to see what happens.

They are not shy rats - one sat merrily on the lawn near us looking around enjoying the sunshine today. And they were BIG.

Should we expect to find more or could it just be two?

Since we have very small kids playing out there all the time, should we disinfect the deck etc or is washing it with the hose enough? Should we keep the kids in until we're sure rats are gone?

Also, we have an InSinkerator - could they be getting at the food that goes down this by any chance?

Its great timing - just when we want to start using the garden :(
 
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rats are usually after food,eliminate any food or food smells and place traps and poison.
 
Be very careful placing poison if you have kids or pets. I wouldn't.

Block the access and use traps, is what I would do.
 
Get a little jack russell dog. They are great 'ratters'. I know I have one. Saw her in action a few weeks ago killing a rat. Not a pretty sight but she got him. I am inundated with rats and mice due to building going on in the estate. I've a couple of cats as well and they take care of the mice.

Be careful about putting poison down though especially with the kiddies.
 
My advise is similar to the other posters, however one very important thing is to remember to keep your back doors closed until you have sorted out this problem. To be honest if it was me I would get in professionals if necessary, if you have two rats, you can be sure there are more. Is there anyone in the area who has a ferret or terrier trained for ratting? Ask around because in stud farms and in large organisations with lots of buildings there is usually a maintenance man who looks after this problem. It's ongoing maintenance in lots of places.
Also remember that Weil's disease which is caught from rats is got from their urine;its very serious and as rats can urinate anywhere, handwashing after contact with anything in the garden is very important.
I would use Jeyes Fluid to disinfect as much as possible and if your children aren't small then consider poison with traps.
 
get poison bait boxes,these only have an entrance big enough to allow rodents in to eat the bait,cats dogs and children cant fit in.
 
sparkeee said:
get poison bait boxes,these only have an entrance big enough to allow rodents in to eat the bait,cats dogs and children cant fit in.
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Or cutting a 4" pipe in to six or seven foot lengths and putting the poison in there will also do the trick. I've been doing this for years around the ditches/ hedges around our place and I never had a problem with our dogs or kids and the poison.
 
Clubman, lets just say we're putting the toilet lid down all the time now.

sparkeee said:
get poison bait boxes,these only have an entrance big enough to allow rodents in to eat the bait,cats dogs and children cant fit in.
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We got these and have chained them under the deck where we caught Ratty #1.

Trying to evaluate how big a problem this is though, aren't there supposed to be rats everywhere anyway - how come they're not popping into everyones back garden and into our houses with all the open doors to our "outside rooms" nowadays? Aren't most gardens covered in rat pee anyway or is thise really exceptional? We just can't keep the kids inside for long!
 
sparkeee said:
get poison bait boxes,these only have an entrance big enough to allow rodents in to eat the bait,cats dogs and children cant fit in.
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And birds. Birds often eat rat poison and die horribly soon after. Often rat poison is some form of seed coated in poison.

As a previous poster said, the best way to get rid of rats is to remove their food source.
 
Teabag said:
As a previous poster said, the best way to get rid of rats is to remove their food source.
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But what food source - could it be something to do with our Insinkerator?

Other than that theres no food source I can think of unless in a neighbours garden.

BTW we live in south Dublin, not in countryside
 
Toby said:
Following on from my previous post about a suspicious hole in our flowerbed near the deck - we caught two rats in our garden this weekend. ......Should we expect to find more or could it just be two?
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Did I read somewhere that the rat population ratio to human population is 4:1? If sao, you've a way to go .....:D
 
I have heard that decking seems to attract them - so no decking for me then.

And didn't people say that you were only ever four foot away from a rat no matter where you went.

I just love the title of this thread, two rats in garden. My first thought was, what an unkind thing to say about the neighbours.
 
I can't add much to the debate, except that if you poison them, I hope the rats don't crawl into the neighbours garden to die, which happened to me.

The rat was huge, so big it took me a few minutes to realise what it was. It was close to death, so I tried to encourage it to go back from whence it came with a few 'be gone with ye's, but unfortunately it died on my patch. Yuk.
 
Ring your local council and speak to Environmental Health, very often the council will advise or treat if the problem is bad. As regards food sources, it can be someone feeding birds with scraps, leaving out food for pets or badly secured bins and it may be one of your neighbours .I've also heard but I am not sure if it is true or not that those bird feeders can attract rats. With all the building work that has gone on in the country , a lot of rats habitats have been disturbed and then they come to our attention.
 
Is there any chance there could be rubbish or food scraps under your decking? Otherwise it must be rubbish from bins. Why not have a word with your neighbours that there are rats around and could they be extra vigilant about rubbish etc no harm.
No way would I let kids play anywhere where there are rats, they're dangerous things and will attack when they feel threatened not necessarily cornered.
A Jack Russell is a good suggestion IMO.
 
lukegriffen said:
I can't add much to the debate, except that if you poison them, I hope the rats don't crawl into the neighbours garden to die, which happened to me.
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Normally they will try and find a warm and dry place to try and recover from the poison. That usually means indoors. So dead rotting rats can be another problem.

I think the big metal rat traps are the best option when you have removed any possible food sources. The food source can possibly be in neighbour's house but they come to your house for accomodation.
 
Teabag is correct , Poison them and they will head for back to their nest for warmth as the poison thins their blood. Usually they will die underground or under a shed so you wouldnt notice them. The trouble with poisoning them is if they are nesting indoors and die on top of a radiator pipe seeking warmth, the smell is putrid.

Toby said:
BTW we live in south Dublin, not in countryside
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Shocking to think that those rats would dare trespass in to South Dublin and not remain in the countryside where they should.

As Brianne said, with all the building that has gone on recently, more ground is being disturbed and the rats are more evident. With every development I'm on i get more complaints that we are attracting the rats to the site but only because they can see the rats more often they never realised they have been there all along.
 
Nothing new in the traps under deck so far but I suppose we should give it a week or so before we relax. Trying to keep kids in the house in this good weather is insane though.

bullbars said:
The trouble with poisoning them is if they are nesting indoors and die on top of a radiator pipe seeking warmth, the smell is putrid.
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how could they be nesting indoors - where could they get in? There aren't any big holes in the walls or anything. Don't want them dying under deck outside back door though.


bullbars said:
Shocking to think that those rats would dare trespass in to South Dublin and not remain in the countryside where they should.
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Obviously didn't mean to insult any rural dwellers there - I was just trying to give all relevant info so I can get the best advice. Instead of "south dublin" I should have said "urban area with slightly larger than postage stamp size garden". I'm originally from the country myself :)
 
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