I think I have a problem with rats.

They are not in the house ( bungalow).

In the past month I have found two dead ones on my drive. I am sure they are coming from next door who keep chickens. the chickens are in a compund ( free range) which is next to my drive sitting on the boundary between them and me).

last Saturday, I thought I saw a live rat on my drive but it disappeared when I got out of the car. However, I have now seen a largish hole ( around six inches diameter) with freshly excavated soil around it on top of the wall ( my side of the boundar) right next to the chicken run next door.
( difficult to explain this - the wall is a Cornish hedge/ dry wall back filled with soil and the hole is dug into the top and goes down).


Now, I dont know what a rat hole looks like and cant find pictures despite looking . My gut tells me this hole is not good. I cant see any other holes but I dont know what/ how to look - and it scares me. I hate rats.

Bottom line - how do I stop these rats before they get established in my wall /garden?

On Friday, 20 January 2017 07:27:13 UTC, sweetheart wrote:
I think I have a problem with rats.

They are not in the house ( bungalow).

In the past month I have found two dead ones on my drive. I am sure they are coming from next door who keep chickens. the chickens are in a compund ( free range) which is next to my drive sitting on the boundary between them and me).

last Saturday, I thought I saw a live rat on my drive but it disappeared when I got out of the car. However, I have now seen a largish hole ( around six inches diameter) with freshly excavated soil around it on top of the wall ( my side of the boundar) right next to the chicken run next door.
( difficult to explain this - the wall is a Cornish hedge/ dry wall back filled with soil and the hole is dug into the top and goes down).


Now, I dont know what a rat hole looks like and cant find pictures despite looking . My gut tells me this hole is not good. I cant see any other holes but I dont know what/ how to look - and it scares me. I hate rats.

Bottom line - how do I stop these rats before they get established in my wall /garden?

Poison is your best bet. Get one of the enclosed boxes to keep it dry.

Speak to your neighbour. The dead ones might be from him/her poisoning them.. It needs a co-ordinated poisoning session toget rid of them anyway.

Don't leave (chicken?) food about.
Don't leave wild bird food around where rats can get at it.
Especially overnight.

If you have horsey types nearby, you can bet that's where they are coming from. These *******s are always chucking food around encouraging rats.

They only come where/when there's stuff to eat.

sweetheart wrote:

I think I have a problem with rats.

They are not in the house ( bungalow).

In the past month I have found two dead ones on my drive. I am sure they
are coming from next door who keep chickens. the chickens are in a
compund ( free range) which is next to my drive sitting on the boundary
between them and me).

last Saturday, I thought I saw a live rat on my drive but it disappeared
when I got out of the car. However, I have now seen a largish hole (
around six inches diameter) with freshly excavated soil around it on top
of the wall ( my side of the boundar) right next to the chicken run next door.
( difficult to explain this - the wall is a Cornish hedge/ dry wall back
filled with soil and the hole is dug into the top and goes down).


Now, I dont know what a rat hole looks like and cant find pictures
despite looking . My gut tells me this hole is not good. I cant see any
other holes but I dont know what/ how to look - and it scares me. I hate rats.

Bottom line - how do I stop these rats before they get established in my wall /garden?



Probably worth contacting your local environmental health dept before doing
anything yourself.

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

On Thu, 19 Jan 2017 23:27:09 -0800 (PST), sweetheart
wrote:


I think I have a problem with rats.

They are not in the house ( bungalow).

Nothing to panic about then.


In the past month I have found two dead ones on my drive.
Perhaps someone is on the case already and they were poisoned.



I am sure they are coming from next door who keep chickens. the chickens are in a compund ( free range) which is next to my drive sitting on the boundary between them and me).

Countryish area ? More or less natural, while they are a pest they
are just a wild animal, many live in hedgerows . You will never
eliminate them completely .Birds of Prey often take them before they
get too big.


last Saturday, I thought I saw a live rat on my drive but it disappeared when I got out of the car. However, I have now seen a largish hole ( around six inches diameter) with freshly excavated soil around it on top of the wall ( my side of the boundar) right next to the chicken run next door.
( difficult to explain this - the wall is a Cornish hedge/ dry wall back filled with soil and the hole is dug into the top and goes down).

That would be a very large Rat , despite reports of huge Rats
appearing a rat needing a hole that size is unlikely and wild animals
don't waste energy digging more than needed. Rat hole about 1 "to 3"
inches. 6" Sounds like a Fox, bad news for chickens but they do eat
Rats if not much else us around.

Now, I dont know what a rat hole looks like and cant find pictures despite looking . My gut tells me this hole is not good. I cant see any other holes but I dont know what/ how to look - and it scares me. I hate rats.

You cannot have looked very hard
http://www.grpestcontrol.co.uk/image...mall%20pic.jpg


Bottom line - how do I stop these rats before they get established in my wall /garden?

You won't , They are smarter than you. keep the numbers down by
shooting them , keeping a Jack Russell who can hunt or getting someone
in to do so.

Traps and poisons are better in buildings but outside are of limited
use and poisoned rats may actually poison prey who could have
controlled them better.


G. Harman

"harry" wrote in message
...
On Friday, 20 January 2017 07:27:13 UTC, sweetheart wrote:
I think I have a problem with rats.

They are not in the house ( bungalow).

In the past month I have found two dead ones on my drive. I am sure they
are coming from next door who keep chickens. the chickens are in a
compund ( free range) which is next to my drive sitting on the boundary
between them and me).

last Saturday, I thought I saw a live rat on my drive but it disappeared
when I got out of the car. However, I have now seen a largish hole (
around six inches diameter) with freshly excavated soil around it on top
of the wall ( my side of the boundar) right next to the chicken run next
door.
( difficult to explain this - the wall is a Cornish hedge/ dry wall back
filled with soil and the hole is dug into the top and goes down).


Now, I dont know what a rat hole looks like and cant find pictures
despite looking . My gut tells me this hole is not good. I cant see any
other holes but I dont know what/ how to look - and it scares me. I hate
rats.

Bottom line - how do I stop these rats before they get established in my
wall /garden?

Poison is your best bet. Get one of the enclosed boxes to keep it dry.

Speak to your neighbour. The dead ones might be from him/her poisoning
them.

No need to speak to the neighbour if that is true.

It needs a co-ordinated poisoning session toget rid of them anyway.

Even sillier than you usually manage.

Don't leave (chicken?) food about.

It isnt the OP's chooks, stupid.

Don't leave wild bird food around where rats can get at it.
Especially overnight.

If you have horsey types nearby, you can bet that's
where they are coming from. These *******s are
always chucking food around encouraging rats.

Much more likely to be the chooks, stupid.

They only come where/when there's stuff to eat.

Even sillier than you usually manage.

"Tim+" wrote in message
news
sweetheart wrote:

I think I have a problem with rats.

They are not in the house ( bungalow).

In the past month I have found two dead ones on my drive. I am sure they
are coming from next door who keep chickens. the chickens are in a
compund ( free range) which is next to my drive sitting on the boundary
between them and me).

last Saturday, I thought I saw a live rat on my drive but it disappeared
when I got out of the car. However, I have now seen a largish hole (
around six inches diameter) with freshly excavated soil around it on top
of the wall ( my side of the boundar) right next to the chicken run next
door.
( difficult to explain this - the wall is a Cornish hedge/ dry wall back
filled with soil and the hole is dug into the top and goes down).


Now, I dont know what a rat hole looks like and cant find pictures
despite looking . My gut tells me this hole is not good. I cant see any
other holes but I dont know what/ how to look - and it scares me. I hate
rats.

Bottom line - how do I stop these rats before they get established in my
wall /garden?



Probably worth contacting your local environmental health dept before
doing
anything yourself.

No point if you are going to poison them.

On 20/01/2017 09:03, Rod Speed wrote:

"Tim+" wrote in message
news
sweetheart wrote:

I think I have a problem with rats.

They are not in the house ( bungalow).

In the past month I have found two dead ones on my drive. I am sure
they
are coming from next door who keep chickens. the chickens are in a
compund ( free range) which is next to my drive sitting on the boundary
between them and me).

last Saturday, I thought I saw a live rat on my drive but it disappeared
when I got out of the car. However, I have now seen a largish hole (
around six inches diameter) with freshly excavated soil around it on top
of the wall ( my side of the boundar) right next to the chicken run
next door.
( difficult to explain this - the wall is a Cornish hedge/ dry wall back
filled with soil and the hole is dug into the top and goes down).

6" sounds much more like a rabbit hole than a rat.
2-3" diameter is a typical rat hole.

You could always set a PIR camera trap and see what goes in and out.

Now, I dont know what a rat hole looks like and cant find pictures
despite looking . My gut tells me this hole is not good. I cant see any
other holes but I dont know what/ how to look - and it scares me. I
hate rats.

Bottom line - how do I stop these rats before they get established in
my wall /garden?

Probably worth contacting your local environmental health dept before
doing
anything yourself.

No point if you are going to poison them.

Actually there might be since their neighbour may be behaving
irresponsibly by leaving too much food lying about overnight.
OTOH If it is a rabbit burrow the EH guy will put the OPs mind at rest.

Though this year a glut of apples and a mild winter has led to an
explosion in the rural rat population. There are still plenty of
windfall apples on the ground uneaten and we are well into January.

It is only with the recent cold snap that wild birds took any interest
in my bird feeder. Until then there was plenty of food to go round.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Thu, 19 Jan 2017 23:27:09 -0800 (PST), sweetheart wrote:

However, I have now seen a largish hole ( around six inches diameter)
with freshly excavated soil around it on top of the wall

A tunnel (not opening diameter) of 6" is big for a rabbit, a rat
tunnel is 2" or under. I wouldn't expect a rat to dig into the top of
a wall or out in the open in general.

Bottom line - how do I stop these rats before they get established in my
wall /garden?

Dead rats in the open indicates to me someone has put poison down.
The corpses really need to collected and disposed of (bagged and
landfill/incineration waste collection) so other creatures don't
scavange.

Talk to your neighbour, they may well be the people who have laid
poison. Do they take in/lift up any feeders when they shut the
chickens up for the night? Rats need a food source, take that away
and they'll move on. FSVO "move on".

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 20/01/17 08:43, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Thu, 19 Jan 2017 23:27:09 -0800 (PST), sweetheart
wrote:


I think I have a problem with rats.

They are not in the house ( bungalow).

[...]

*
even if it is a rat, there's no need to do anything.
**^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ **
This.
[...]
And don't put poison out, you might kill someone's cat.

TW

However you do need to be mindful about any run off of anything you do into
the chicken run area.
Poison baited food that only rats like and can get into seems to work for
the pest controllers.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"harry" wrote in message
...
On Friday, 20 January 2017 07:27:13 UTC, sweetheart wrote:
I think I have a problem with rats.

They are not in the house ( bungalow).

In the past month I have found two dead ones on my drive. I am sure they
are coming from next door who keep chickens. the chickens are in a compund
( free range) which is next to my drive sitting on the boundary between
them and me).

last Saturday, I thought I saw a live rat on my drive but it disappeared
when I got out of the car. However, I have now seen a largish hole (
around six inches diameter) with freshly excavated soil around it on top
of the wall ( my side of the boundar) right next to the chicken run next
door.
( difficult to explain this - the wall is a Cornish hedge/ dry wall back
filled with soil and the hole is dug into the top and goes down).


Now, I dont know what a rat hole looks like and cant find pictures despite
looking . My gut tells me this hole is not good. I cant see any other
holes but I dont know what/ how to look - and it scares me. I hate rats.

Bottom line - how do I stop these rats before they get established in my
wall /garden?

Poison is your best bet. Get one of the enclosed boxes to keep it dry.

Speak to your neighbour. The dead ones might be from him/her poisoning them.
It needs a co-ordinated poisoning session toget rid of them anyway.

Don't leave (chicken?) food about.
Don't leave wild bird food around where rats can get at it.
Especially overnight.

If you have horsey types nearby, you can bet that's where they are coming
from. These *******s are always chucking food around encouraging rats.

They only come where/when there's stuff to eat.

On 20/01/17 07:27, sweetheart wrote:

I think I have a problem with rats.

They are not in the house ( bungalow).

In the past month I have found two dead ones on my drive. I am sure they are coming from next door who keep chickens. the chickens are in a compund ( free range) which is next to my drive sitting on the boundary between them and me).

last Saturday, I thought I saw a live rat on my drive but it disappeared when I got out of the car. However, I have now seen a largish hole ( around six inches diameter) with freshly excavated soil around it on top of the wall ( my side of the boundar) right next to the chicken run next door.
( difficult to explain this - the wall is a Cornish hedge/ dry wall back filled with soil and the hole is dug into the top and goes down).


Now, I dont know what a rat hole looks like and cant find pictures despite looking . My gut tells me this hole is not good. I cant see any other holes but I dont know what/ how to look - and it scares me. I hate rats.

Bottom line - how do I stop these rats before they get established in my wall /garden?

Bottom line. They already are.


--
How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think.

Adolf Hitler

On Fri, 20 Jan 2017 08:40:06 -0000 (UTC), Tim+ wrote:

Probably worth contacting your local environmental health dept before
doing anything yourself.

Who may well charge...

Rats are cautious, one you place a trap or poison only check them
visually from a distance. Too close (yard or two) or handling and
ratty will avoid.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 20/01/2017 09:32, TimW wrote:
On 20/01/17 08:43, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Thu, 19 Jan 2017 23:27:09 -0800 (PST), sweetheart
wrote:

I think I have a problem with rats.

They are not in the house ( bungalow).

[...]

*
even if it is a rat, there's no need to do anything.
**^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ **
This.
[...]
And don't put poison out, you might kill someone's cat.

Rat bait or traps should be inside an approved rat box and coloured blue
so that birds are not attracted to it. Rats seem to like exploring right
sized holes to see what is inside. I won't tolerate them inside
buildings but living in the country they are never far away in the wild.

An increasing problem with rats is that the poisons available to a
domestic end user seem to be mostly the ones that don't work any more.
You might as well be putting out wild animal food in some instances!

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Fri, 20 Jan 2017 10:10:45 +0000, Martin Brown wrote:

I won't tolerate them inside buildings but living in the country
they are never far away in the wild.

They aint far away in the city either!

On 1/20/2017 9:23 AM, Martin Brown wrote:
On 20/01/2017 09:03, Rod Speed wrote:

"Tim+" wrote in message
news
sweetheart wrote:

I think I have a problem with rats.

They are not in the house ( bungalow).

In the past month I have found two dead ones on my drive. I am sure
they
are coming from next door who keep chickens. the chickens are in a
compund ( free range) which is next to my drive sitting on the boundary
between them and me).

last Saturday, I thought I saw a live rat on my drive but it
disappeared
when I got out of the car. However, I have now seen a largish hole (
around six inches diameter) with freshly excavated soil around it on
top
of the wall ( my side of the boundar) right next to the chicken run
next door.
( difficult to explain this - the wall is a Cornish hedge/ dry wall
back
filled with soil and the hole is dug into the top and goes down).

6" sounds much more like a rabbit hole than a rat.
2-3" diameter is a typical rat hole.

+1, unless there has been a terrier enlarging it to try to get at the
rats (or voles, rabbits?).


You could always set a PIR camera trap and see what goes in and out.

+1

As others have said, talk to neighbour(s), and environmental health.
I've used box traps with poison. I have also tried an "electric shock"
trap, but that never caught anything.


Now, I dont know what a rat hole looks like and cant find pictures
despite looking . My gut tells me this hole is not good. I cant see any
other holes but I dont know what/ how to look - and it scares me. I
hate rats.

Bottom line - how do I stop these rats before they get established in
my wall /garden?

Probably worth contacting your local environmental health dept before
doing
anything yourself.

No point if you are going to poison them.

Actually there might be since their neighbour may be behaving
irresponsibly by leaving too much food lying about overnight.
OTOH If it is a rabbit burrow the EH guy will put the OPs mind at rest.

Though this year a glut of apples and a mild winter has led to an
explosion in the rural rat population. There are still plenty of
windfall apples on the ground uneaten and we are well into January.

It is only with the recent cold snap that wild birds took any interest
in my bird feeder. Until then there was plenty of food to go round.

On 1/20/2017 10:10 AM, Martin Brown wrote:
On 20/01/2017 09:32, TimW wrote:
On 20/01/17 08:43, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Thu, 19 Jan 2017 23:27:09 -0800 (PST), sweetheart
wrote:

I think I have a problem with rats.

They are not in the house ( bungalow).

[...]

*
even if it is a rat, there's no need to do anything.
**^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ **
This.
[...]
And don't put poison out, you might kill someone's cat.

Rat bait or traps should be inside an approved rat box and coloured blue
so that birds are not attracted to it. Rats seem to like exploring right
sized holes to see what is inside. I won't tolerate them inside
buildings but living in the country they are never far away in the wild.

An increasing problem with rats is that the poisons available to a
domestic end user seem to be mostly the ones that don't work any more.
You might as well be putting out wild animal food in some instances!

I had a full kilo box of the "dishwasher tablet" type poison (original
tupperware type container) in our tack room, one night something(s)
nibbled off the corner and removed the entire contents. However have
seen much less evidence of rats since then.

I wonder if Rats might hold the key to making cheap energy?
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
news
On 20/01/17 07:27, sweetheart wrote:

I think I have a problem with rats.

They are not in the house ( bungalow).

In the past month I have found two dead ones on my drive. I am sure they
are coming from next door who keep chickens. the chickens are in a
compund ( free range) which is next to my drive sitting on the boundary
between them and me).

last Saturday, I thought I saw a live rat on my drive but it disappeared
when I got out of the car. However, I have now seen a largish hole (
around six inches diameter) with freshly excavated soil around it on top
of the wall ( my side of the boundar) right next to the chicken run next
door.
( difficult to explain this - the wall is a Cornish hedge/ dry wall back
filled with soil and the hole is dug into the top and goes down).


Now, I dont know what a rat hole looks like and cant find pictures
despite looking . My gut tells me this hole is not good. I cant see any
other holes but I dont know what/ how to look - and it scares me. I hate
rats.

Bottom line - how do I stop these rats before they get established in my
wall /garden?

Bottom line. They already are.


--
How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think.

Adolf Hitler

On 20/01/2017 13:52, newshound wrote:
On 1/20/2017 9:23 AM, Martin Brown wrote:

As others have said, talk to neighbour(s), and environmental health.
I've used box traps with poison. I have also tried an "electric shock"
trap, but that never caught anything.

I am trying out ultrasonic scarers on a recommendation to keep them out
of the garage. They tend to nibble electrical flex which is annoying.

I prefer the classic mechanical traps myself. Just don't get your
fingers caught in the nip they are powerful but tricky to set and on a
hair trigger. Well more like hanging on a bit of bent tin.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Friday, 20 January 2017 09:28:05 UTC, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Thu, 19 Jan 2017 23:27:09 -0800 (PST), sweetheart wrote:

do I stop these rats before they get established in my
wall /garden?

Dead rats in the open indicates to me someone has put poison down.
The corpses really need to collected and disposed of (bagged and
landfill/incineration waste collection) so other creatures don't
scavange.

Talk to your neighbour, they may well be the people who have laid
poison. Do they take in/lift up any feeders when they shut the
chickens up for the night? Rats need a food source, take that away
and they'll move on. FSVO "move on".

The chickens are free range. I am not actually aware of them ever taking them in to be honest. There is a small hen house but the chickens just come and go as they please.

The hole isnt in the open. Its under trees /hedge which is established on top of the wall. I found two more in the wall this afternoon. I very much doubt it is rabbits. I know what they look like. Picture provided elsewhere looks quite like my hole and in similar habitat. I have seen rats running in the chicken coup before but they have always been the other side of the fence, now they are on my drive side..

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jan 2017 08:40:06 -0000 (UTC), Tim+ wrote:

Probably worth contacting your local environmental health dept before
doing anything yourself.

Who may well charge...

They might, but I reckon advice from one pest controller who has actually
laid eyes on the "scene of the crime" is worth way more than any advice
offered "blindly" here.

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

On 20/01/2017 09:28, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Thu, 19 Jan 2017 23:27:09 -0800 (PST), sweetheart wrote:

However, I have now seen a largish hole ( around six inches diameter)
with freshly excavated soil around it on top of the wall

A tunnel (not opening diameter) of 6" is big for a rabbit, a rat
tunnel is 2" or under. I wouldn't expect a rat to dig into the top of
a wall or out in the open in general.

Bottom line - how do I stop these rats before they get established in my
wall /garden?

Dead rats in the open indicates to me someone has put poison down.

That was my first thought.

On 20/01/2017 15:07, Martin Brown wrote:
I am trying out ultrasonic scarers on a recommendation to keep them out
of the garage. They tend to nibble electrical flex which is annoying.

We get mice every autumn after harvest. Next door got one of those. It
was great, really worked.

For several weeks.

Then they got used to it. Poison is the only way.

Andy

I have put some rat poison down the holes. The man who came for a site visit did bait them but also told me that unless next door got rid of the chickens I was stuck with the problem. It seems they use my garden as home and her chicken run as the supermarket and get their food there - including eggs.. One was found in the run.

He also suggested clearing the area of the hedge and keeping it clear. Have to get OH to take the trees and bushes down now.

On Mon, 30 Jan 2017 03:36:24 -0800 (PST),
wrote:


I have put some rat poison down the holes. The man who came for a site visit did bait them but also told me that unless next door got rid of the chickens I was stuck with the problem. It seems they use my garden as home and her chicken run as the supermarket and get their food there - including eggs. One was found in the run.

He also suggested clearing the area of the hedge and keeping it clear. Have to get OH to take the trees and bushes down now.

About par for the course really, you won't stop Rats outside
completely unless huge measures are undertaken so is best just to
concentrate on making sure your residence hasn't got any weak points
such as under roofs at eave level or holes in the fabric of the
building that need attention, same applies to out buildings though if
they are can be harder to protect if they are a wooden shed. It's
food they look for, if you don't supply a source then they will stay
with the easier option of going for the chicken run.

G.Harman