Rats invading!

[hurricane124]

Hi
Hopefully it's okay to post this here - couldn't really figure out where it would fit!
Our garden has unfortunately been overrun with rats from next doors garden. We've had pest control out, who out poison down (which I didn't really want) but they didn't touch it.
They're now hell bent on gnawing their way into my ferret sheds - not the best idea on their part!
I don't want to put more poison down because I've heard awful things about it killing other animals e.g. owls further down the food chain. I've tried putting ferret poo in the holes to scare them off which I was told would work but it's done nothing.
I thought about traps but I would be worried about the dog sniffing where she shouldn't and getting a bit of a shock!

I really need rid of them because I don't want them near the ferrets. Don't want to risk them passing on fleas or ticks or the ferrets getting hold of one which has ingested poison from another garden or something.
The shed was escape/entry proof but the sods are gnawing holes through the wood.
The ferrets are no use as ratters- they're not workers and a rescued bunch of poncey show ferrets and disabled/blind ones!

Any ideas?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Can you find someone who has working ferrets and terriers to get rid of them for you?

 

[hurricane124]

Can you find someone who has working ferrets and terriers to get rid of them for you?

I hadn't thought of that! I'll ask on some of the local ferret groups.
Most people I know with them are the same as me- either have the pretty fluffy ones to show or ones they've took pity on and rescued.
Easy to forget some people have the sense to make them earn their keep! 😂

 

[Clodagh]

You can trap them in tunnel traps. I think Fenn traps are still legal at the moment, you put them in a tunnel (a bit of plank leaning against the wall on their run is fine) and smear some peanut butter on it. They are hard to catch as they are so suspicious of things but worth a try maybe.
Not many people work ferrets on rats, athey can be too much for a Jill and most soon get fed up with being bitten.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

You can trap them in tunnel traps. I think Fenn traps are still legal at the moment, you put them in a tunnel (a bit of plank leaning against the wall on their run is fine) and smear some peanut butter on it. They are hard to catch as they are so suspicious of things but worth a try maybe.
Not many people work ferrets on rats, athey can be too much for a Jill and most soon get fed up with being bitten.

There are a few people working ferrets up here!

 

[Mule]

Whenever I've seen rat or mouse poison used, it's put in containers with tiny little openings so the animal has to go in to eat it, as opposed to leaving it out in the open where other animals would get at it. I think the containers come with the poison.

 

[shortstuff99]

Is there a reason that next door has so many rats? If there is then you could call environmental health for them to investigate/clear it up?

 

[Clodagh]

Whenever I've seen rat or mouse poison used, it's put in containers with tiny little openings so the animal has to go in to eat it, as opposed to leaving it out in the open where other animals would get at it. I think the containers come with the poison.

It is the carcasses that are the problem, although generally they die underground they casn go looking for water (poor things) and then die when owls and cats can eat them.

 

[Clodagh]

There are a few people working ferrets up here!

Mainly on rabbits, I would guess? Not saying people don't work them on rats but it takes a bold ferret to face up to a large angry rat.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Mainly on rabbits, I would guess? Not saying people don't work them on rats but it takes a bold ferret to face up to a large angry rat.

Ratcatchers work their ferrets in pairs and usually have a terrier as well.

 

[twiggy2]

It a big ask of a ferret as they are fairly evenly matches with rats-many nasty injuries and deaths on the ferrets part.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Call environmental health.

 

[AmyMay]

Is there a reason that next door has so many rats? If there is then you could call environmental health for them to investigate/clear it up?

I would imagine that your ferrets (or at least their food) also attract them.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I had rats here as we kept chickens and it is inevitable they will turn up at some point. They burrowed under the coops which were raised off the ground so the rat man came in and placed a long pipe down the main exit hole and filled it with poisoned grain. He then put massive slabs over all the other exists and the rats had to eat their way out of that one hole. It worked a treat, we only saw one on the surface looking for water and it was huge but almost dead so I disposed of it in thick plastic. He said for every pair of mature rats the extended family will raise 2000 offspring in a year. I am very glad it worked because it was bad enough with just a few. As they die underground owls and cats are very unlikely to die as a result, we have 9 cats and haven't lost one through poison.

Now I have bait traps and snap traps in the attics as they do occasionally return and for some reason they make a beeline for my roof.

 

[oldie48]

I have a very persistent rat which comes into the stables, saw it on the infra red camera in Rose's stable. it is huge! Stanley goes out several times a day but never manages to catch it, we have blocked every access to the stable that we can find but the bugger is still finding a way in. It won't touch poison or the other trap we have, I have all the feed in bins but it's driving me mad as I can't work out where it's living. We also have moles that dig up the plants in the green house, squirrels that dig up my arena rabbits that eat the veg and now muntjacs that eat precious plants. We are a real life animal conservation area.

 

[paddy555]

. We also have moles that dig up the plants in the green house, squirrels that dig up my arena rabbits that eat the veg and now muntjacs that eat precious plants. We are a real life animal conservation area.

I could cope with all those happily. What I couldn't cope with last week was the mouse that ate it's way thro my car's turbo pipe costing me £65!! It was easy to identify as left us some dropping, cheeky little bugger!

 

[Mule]

I could cope with all those happily. What I couldn't cope with last week was the mouse that ate it's way thro my car's turbo pipe costing me £65!! It was easy to identify as left us some dropping, cheeky little bugger!

I would be highly displeased with that mouse.

 

[oldie48]

I could cope with all those happily. What I couldn't cope with last week was the mouse that ate it's way thro my car's turbo pipe costing me £65!! It was easy to identify as left us some dropping, cheeky little bugger!

Ah it was a conservationist mouse on a mission to save the planet, was it a diesel car by any chance?

 

[Mule]

Ah it was a conservationist mouse on a mission to save the planet, was it a diesel car by any chance?

 

[paddy555]

Ah it was a conservationist mouse on a mission to save the planet, was it a diesel car by any chance?

I am afraid it was a diesel car. Sorry, I never considered it's intentions which were clearly very honourable. My apologies to the mouse.

 

[Gusbear]

We live close to the city centre but are also opposite racing stables. We had a rat infestation in our garden and also in our roof too. Due to having a dog we were told not to put bait down in case our dog caught and ate a poisoned rat.
On advice from HHOers I set traps in the garden with Snickers and Mars Bars. Bingo as we caught a family of rats without endangering our dog.
Dog is feed inside morning and night so nothing to attract the rats now.
After a few months there are no more rats.

 

[twiggy2]

If you use a decent pest control company they can get rat poison that is pretty much dog safe, it is however lethal in very small doses to pigs so they don't always like to use it, it is also more expensive.

 

[hurricane124]

Next door did have a large chicken coop and the rats appeared when it was ripped down - I assume they were living in there and decided to seek shelter under our decking when it was being ripped down.

I doubt the ferrets are attracting them. I've had stables and allotment owners ask for bags of ferret poo before because it apparently deters rodents. The pest control guy from environmental health said he'd heard that too.
Food is kept indoors and the stuff they have in their bowls is no use to a rat because if my smallest jill can't fit out the cage I doubt a rat could get in!

Things seem quieter now thankfully. Blocked up all the holes I can and got covered snap traps out. Pest control coming back out this week if needed.

 

[MagicMelon]

You can get humane rat traps, they're cages that they get into like a mouse trap and they cant then get back out of. Then you release them in the middle of nowhere far away. Thats what I use anyway, they like peanut butter on biscuits in the trap. Just be aware, my trap is in a very obvious place where I can see it morning and night when Im in the tack room. One morning, I found 6 big rats in the trap but they'd either killed or trampled 3 of their friends to death... it was pretty gross and literally happened overnight. So make sure you do check regularly!

I hate killing things, hence the humane way. These humane traps do work well so I see no need to find killing ways.

 

[rabatsa]

Next door did have a large chicken coop and the rats appeared when it was ripped down - I assume they were living in there and decided to seek shelter under our decking when it was being ripped down.

I doubt the ferrets are attracting them. I've had stables and allotment owners ask for bags of ferret poo before because it apparently deters rodents. The pest control guy from environmental health said he'd heard that too.
Food is kept indoors and the stuff they have in their bowls is no use to a rat because if my smallest jill can't fit out the cage I doubt a rat could get in!

Things seem quieter now thankfully. Blocked up all the holes I can and got covered snap traps out. Pest control coming back out this week if needed.

Rats have collapsable skulls and can get through really small holes so they could probably get where a ferret cannot.