The Big Rat Diary

[Johnny Appleseed]

Day 1 - 25th Oct 2008 - I've just swept up a load of leaves from the drive and went to put them in the compost bin.

I lifted off the cover and there staring back at me was a bl**dy great rat on top of the compost inside the bin - feeding on the vegetable peelings or something similar.

I don't know which one of us was more surprised. I jumped backwards and it jumped out of the bin and along the line of the fence disappearing under the fence into my neighbours garden.

Any tips, help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am going to get the bu**er any which way I can - fair means or foul, it is going to go on a one way trip to meet its maker.

I can't stand them. It must be a brave one as my neighbour has cats!!!!

His days are numbered but I don't know how long it will be until I have disposed of him or the best way to do it.

Either way he is going to lose

[BrideXIII]

unless your nieghbours cat is a big tom, then don't rely on it to help you out, if its a big rat the cats aren't daft enough to try, find a mate thats got a jack russel though and you are on to a winner.

[screwbylil]

how bizarre same thing happend to me on wed, i lifted the lid on my compost bin and there he was eating peelings etc, how the diviil do they get in thats what i want to know, luckily im not bothered by all things rodent (and im female!!) but it was still a shock
no sign of him yesterday though, have noticed lots of bait boxes on our lottie so its obviously ongoing

[Capsid]

Pffft! Only one rat? I opened the lid and I had a group of about 6 teenagers loitering. They were quite cute.

[Hilary B]

Carry a heavy iron poker. There is something very satisfying about bashing a rat with a poker!
If there is one invading your compost-heap, there is probably a family somewhere nearby. Terrier, trap, air-rifle, or (if all else fails) poison!
I once found a group of not-quite-adult rats in one of the feedbins. They had got in through a hole, now too high for them to get out. I took the poker to them, left the bodies nearby, and we saw no sign of rats for the next 6 months or more. My guess is their Mum was 'chief rat' in the area, and reckoned it wasn't safe in our shed!

[Moog]

I must admit....I would find it very difficult to kill rats. In fact - we keep some as pets (the pet variety are a different breed to the feral ones, but still...) Surely there is a better way of discouraging them from being in your shed than smacking them with a poker??!

[Johnny Appleseed]

Many thanks for all the thoughts and tips everyone.

I can't stand rats and I do not want them in my garden. I'm loathe to put any poison down because of domestic pets and other wildlife in the area.

So I plan to use a traditional "Nipper" spring or humane "Catch 'em alive" trap and see what happens.

Moog and Capsid - I'm sorry in advance if this thread may cause some upset to anyone who keeps or likes rats or finds them cute, but it is not going to have a happy "Hollywood" style ending. The vermin are going to lose.

What I am curious about is the link with rats and compost bins. The council are actively encouraging us all to recycle garden waste etc and I do.

But if the cost of this is to have rats breeding and nesting somewhere in my garden - I may have to rethink what I am doing.

By recycling garden waste and buying subsidised compost bins from the council am I just providing a 1m high nest, complete with ready to eat, take away food for the local rat population?

Is there a danger the well intentioned aims of the Council policy will provide thousands of brand new nesting sites throughout the County?????

Are we actually encouraging rats to breed by recycling garden waste at home?

[Two_Sheds]

What I am curious about is the link with rats and compost bins...if the cost of this is to have rats breeding and nesting somewhere in my garden - I may have to rethink what I am doing.

Are we actually encouraging rats to breed by recycling garden waste at home?

It depends how you do it. I have had compost heaps for years, and occasionally the meeces will nest there, if I've been lax in turning my heap.

They like to nest in warm, dry, undisturbed compost heaps. Therefore, you need to disturb the rats/mice, by regularly turning the heap, or at least prodding it with a fork.
Also, keep it on the wet side (it should be wet anyway, to rot properly)

Rats don't like to eat rotting food, but they will take things like bread left out for the birds, corn off the plants, anything tasty left lying around. So don't leave stuff lying around

[womble]

I've found the odd rat as well in the compost bin. Never did before I got the black plastic ones, I suspect they are just that bit drier than uncovered heaps.
Anyway, I put heavy duty wire underneath since then and no more problems.

[lynda66]

i'm glad i've only found mice in mine, it's all warm and snuggly in there, and a ready supply of fresh veg peelings, you just have to make them rat proof..... they definitely would be dead if i found rats .....yukkkkk hate them.

[Capsid]

So what exactly is it about rats that people fear?

[womble]

The biting and the disease? I have to admit that there is something about them that makes me have a cave man fear.

[lynda66]

we had a big problem with rats when i was a kid, they killed one of my rabbits, and also got in and killed a litter of babies, we also had problems with them with the horses, one day i went in and there were loads of them, and i was attacked by 3 of them .... evil bitey things ..... plus they can carry diseases, and they are just horrid ..... it's weird, i'm not scared of them, i just don't like them.

[Hilary B]

I don't like rats (although I have got on fine with pet ones, but it's a different story). Rats are attracted to sources of food and places to live. Rats are clever, and VERY successful breeders. If you have a 'food source' (eg a compost heap that appeals) and a neighbour has a 'refuge' (eg a shed with old newspapers in) they will be in heaven, and unless you can totally do away with access to one requirement (preferably both) they will increase in numbers to plague proportions. Culling is usually the most reliable answer.
The worst case of 'rats galore' I ever came across was when a daft neighbour placed the poultry house over where a defunct car had been buried (arrangements for removing 'dead' cars were not workable there, it was an island). The rats thought they were in paradise. Comfy sleeping quarters below, and food laid on upstairs.......

[Capsid]

It's interesting that people are afraid of the diseases; these are bubonic plague and Weil's disease, both are rare in the UK.