Okay so let’s face it, for most of us, rats really aren’t our cup of tea. But whether you love them or hate them, you have to accept that they are now very much part of our wildlife. In England the rats we tend to be familiar with are the common brown rat, also known as the Norwegian rat. They are brown or grey in colour and have a life span of around three years. And part of the reason why they are known as such terrible pests is because of the sheer amount of them that can appear in areas- this is mainly due to the female rats that can give birth to up to five litters a year! Basically they never stop breeding and because they are so highly intelligent, it makes it very challenging to deal with them.
It’s also in the warmer months when we tend to see their numbers spike so here is my mini guide to rats.
Now normally I talk about why it’s so important that we look after the creature in question but I’m afraid the jury is totally out on that one for me when it comes to rats. So instead I’m going to give some information that you might find useful and also talk about how to deal with the scaly tails. It is a common misconception that rats all stay together in one burrow, in fact, a female rat will have multiple nests and borrows in various spots, as well as hiding places. They are mainly nocturnal but if you see them out during the day then this is an indicator that you have a very high population of rats in your garden and you may want to think about taking action. It is also a common misconception that the blame of rats being close by is a food source- in fact, while a food source will attract rats to an area such as bird feeders and ground feeders, if you have rats then the problem is that you have places nearby that they can call home, not the food source itself! So the key is to make sure you have no lovely spots in your garden, like under your shed where the rats can live. Because the only way to get rid of rats is to remove their home and force them to move elsewhere!
Anyone who knows me, knows that I love pretty much all creatures so why am I so against rats?
Well simply because rats are pests on all levels, their numbers are totally out of control and recent studies suggested that every single one of us is never less than 10 meters from a rat! They can cause property damage and more importantly to me, they can in high numbers, effect the other wildlife. Rats have been known to kill baby hedgehogs and attack weak adults as well as raid bird nests and attack small pets. Rats will eat just about anything and their teeth can chew through most materials but if you are a untidy person with lots of rubbish in the garden then they will love it and you may find very quickly that you have a out of control infestation.
So how do you deal with them while still protecting the rest of the wildlife? Well there is no easy answer I’m afraid but my tips: keep a tidy garden, that doesn’t mean don’t have lovely wild overgrown patches for the insects and hogs, it just means don’t leave litter or old mattresses or piles of old scrap wood around. Try to keep your feeders tidy e.g. put a base dish under your bird feeders to catch any seed that might fall out. Hedgehog feeders should be removed first thing in the morning and only put out at dusk. Check regularly for signs of rats in your garden! For sheds and outbuildings, try to have the
bases flush to the ground and don’t ever have sheds that are raised because that tiny gap underneath will be the perfect home for rats. Keep bin bags and rubbish inside a shed or garage until bin day so that rats can’t pick out litter to make nests with. Hedgehog boxes and any small enclosed structures that a female rat may leave her babies in, should be checked regularly and cleaned twice a year with a strong hedgehog friendly spray like safe 4. Rats love chickens and any old buildings that are rotting- so monitor closely if you have chickens and remove any rotten structures.
If you are worried that there are rats coming from a neighbour's garden then simply talk to them and see what can be done.
Pest control is expensive and a last resort! Please don’t stop putting food out for the wildlife because you have rats because those rats will be there anyway, with or without the food so the only victims will be the hedgehogs and other animals that will go hungry! Poison needs to be handled with care, if you must use it then you should use bait boxes that protect birds and hedgehogs from being able to get to the poison.
Please NEVER use open snap shut traps, they are horrid and often catch hedgehogs,
breaking bones and causing a slow painful death. All traps and poisons should be placed within the entrance holes of a rat burrow, nearby, within sheds or under them where birds and hedgehogs cannot reach. Never just throw poison around openly as you will kill many animals that are not rats! Humane traps are useless as again they catch hedgehogs too and rats are so intelligent that they rarely fall for it.
Bait traps are the safest and very effective but the first thing and the most important to do is find the burrow and destroy it! As I said before, it’s about removing or blocking the homes they can use. If you find a nest, there are a number of methods to use including placing poison in the holes and then sealing the rats in so that they perish under there. They can also be smoked out but really and truly the simplest way is to find the nest and get rid of it. If you suspect that a box has rats in it, block the entrance, then
hold the box over a tall wheelie bin and tip out, any rats will fall into the bin and will be captured.
Lastly I would add that rats will be a problem for every address at one point or another so understanding is key and working together, street by street is the most effective way of getting rid of them. Protect your other wildlife and be savvy and smart about the methods you use to deal with them- in short you need to be rattier then the rats!
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