So are rats on the allotment so bad anyway?

[Eco Worrier]

Saw a rat on my compost bin today - it dived in fast when I appeared, but I'm pretty sure that's what it was. Do I really have to do anything about it? There's at least one fox on the site, and a few cats - and one of the plot-holders said mine was the first rat he'd seen on the site, so I'm hoping a bit of natural selection goes on. Don't want to use poison, and are rats so bad anyway?

[ina]

Well - I think they can get quite nasty, transmit diseases, bite and cause festering wounds... Especially if there are children around, or non-rat-hunting pets, I'd be careful. Let's hope you are lucky and the existing predators on your allotment take care of it!

[Andy Hamilton]

My old allotment had rats on it, we used to find that our courgettes were nibbled. They also go mad for pumpkin seeds so if you are growing any pumkins then look out.

You would have thought that having cats around would help, I think that it can do. Although in a shared house I lived in a while back the cat ran off when he saw a rat that had got into the house.

[Shirley]

We had rats in the rented place we had... I hate them!!

One rat (with intervention from the opposite sex) very soon becomes LOTS of rats... so personally I'd do something about it. There are natural poisons available too. http://www.natrocell.com/

[Eco Worrier]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to ask DH to turn out the compost over the next week - (he knows about the rat in there, honest!) as I want to put the compost on my potato beds, so hopefully that'll persuade the rat(s) to move - or expose them to the foxy, catty elements anyway.

[gunners71uk]

we have rats on me allotment but i have only seen one in 9 months .there are plenty of mice too,and houses back on to the allotments i think they enjoy what they get from those houses, rather then veg.!
plenty of cats big fat tome that do the buisness rat munchers, ithink i found a badgers set anyone got a pic wot they look like abig bank with a hole in.i think all compost bins have something in there smoke them out borrow a jack russel.or leave some bait and borrow an air rifle.i personally let nature deal with them or any of the above.
i personally think the airrifle is cruel unless your a good shot.

[Sven]

I've found at least two rats in my food digester (green cone). They've nibbled through the grille and seem to have constructed a series of tunnels.

I think I've inadvertantly created an ideal habitat for them!

My current course of action is a rat trap baited with peanut butter. We'll see what happens . . .

[Stonehead]

Don't even mention the R word, to me. We have an ongoing war with the blighters - they get shot, shovelled, poisoned, trapped, burned, drowned and they keep on coming back (and usually bigger than ever).

We have metal and heavy duty plastic feed bins for our pig and chicken feed, keep all our own food stores well secured, regularly search out and destroy their runs, and to what seems like minimal effect.

Not only that, but ours are incredibly brazen. I went out to water the animals last week and as I was filling the buckets, I saw a rat shadow on the wall. I looked up and there was a rat scampering along the bank, so I ducked back inside the byre, grabbed the air rifle and as I came back the silly bugger sat up and chittered at me! Bang, one dead rat.

I go over to the old cottage, which is our broody house, and there are another two rats on the floor. This time, I'm still carrying the air rifle so I loaded and cocked it and while one of the rats shot off, the other simply ran across the floor and stopped to look. Bang, another dead rat.

The next day, I was working in the hay shed and spotted two more on the straw bales. Grabbed a shovel and wallop, another dead rat.

One was drinking from the pig trough this afternoon, but as I had a bucket in each hand I couldn't have a pop at him. They try to gnaw their way into the hen house, eat the lime mortar in the stone walls, munch on plastic feed bags and electricial cables, and leave droppings everywhere.

I often carry the air rifle with me now, just in case I spot a rat (or a pigeon - basically flying rats) - it's starting feel like I'm on patrol in a war zone!

Scores for the past week: rats, 12; mice, 8; pigeons, 5; rabbits 6.

Oh, and if people tell you rats and mice don't co-exist - don't believe it. We have both and the carcases to prove it if anyone wants to check.

Stonehead

PS And if I get one more urban dweller in a BMW stopping to tell me to leave the cute bunnies alone, then I will not be held responsible for my actions!! Think about it, you see a chap wandering the fields with a rifle/shotgun/air rifle and you proceed to harangue him about being a nutter with a gun...

[Millymollymandy]

How about a French countryside dwelling, wouldn't know a BMW from a Renault person telling you about cute fluffy bunnies..............?

[Stonehead]

Scores for the past week: rats, 12; mice, 8; pigeons, 5; rabbits 6.

Make that: rats, 13; mice, 8; pigeons, 6; rabbits 7. Busy morning already!

Stonehead

[Stonehead]

I've found at least two rats in my food digester (green cone). They've nibbled through the grille and seem to have constructed a series of tunnels.

I think I've inadvertantly created an ideal habitat for them!

My current course of action is a rat trap baited with peanut butter. We'll see what happens . . .

We've had a similar experience with our Green Cone. Strangely, the rats haven't gnawed their way into two black plastic composters or into the green water butts we use as animal feed bins. They are, of course, under the muck heaps but that's to be expected.

The Green Cone must be made of a softer, more palatable plastic - a bit of a flaw in the design.

Stonehead

[ray7]

If anybody needs a reason to kill rats this is taken from an airgun hunting site :-
"Never handle a dead Rat as they carry a filthy disease called Weil's Disease (pronounced Vile's). Victorian rat catchers called this ailment the 'The Yellows' .

If any Weil's bacteria gets into your blood stream through cuts, putting contaminated fingers into your mouth or worst, through being bitten ! You could be dead in less than two weeks ! "

Rats also urinate while moving, unlike most animals that stop to do it in one place, and therefore spread disease over a large area.
This is not ment to upset anybody but to warn againest the dangers of letting rats get a hold on your property.

[Stonehead]

We found a new rat nest two days ago - a combination of garden forks (used on their side with a whack across the necks of the rats) and heavy walking sticks saw eight bite the dust. Then, it was leather gloves to pick them up (just in case they're still alive and bite), into a double plastic bag and then in the bin.

Our problem is that as soon as we get rid of one lot, another lot move in. None of the three neighbouring households (one farm, two houses) admit to rat problems but they have to be coming from somewhere.

While we can keep our food and animal feed secure, the big problem is when the broad beans, beans, peas, marrows and squashes start developing as they're a favourite with both rats and mice.

We lost a huge amount of our surviving broad beans (many lost to a gale) last year to an overnight mouse invasion - we're talking dozens of mice turning up, stripping the plants and then disappearing again. We killed quite a few mice, but simply couldn't defeat the numbers!

Stonehead

[hedgewizard]

A shame we don't have "big owls" in the UK. I read about a farm in Oz that had an owl house on top of a tree and had hanging nets to keep them close, and a feed bin at the bottom to attract the local rats. The big owls killed the rats, and everyone was happy!

[Martin]

if you ask around in most country areas, you'll find a bunch of terrier owners who'll be quite happy to bring their dogs round for an afternoon's "clearance".
When we had the free-range egg farm we were plagued with the damned things - they'd get into the deep litter, and the anticoagulant poisons tended not to work because poultry feed is full of vitamin K (the antidote!). One afternooon three local lads and their dogs had well over 300 rats when we were clearing one of the houses.
In the end you get rather blase about them - one of the most astounding sights Ive ever seen was when I dug the bucket of a mini-digger into one corner of the litter - it just "boiled" with rats - thank heavens the terriers were there!
Keep an air rifle (and a Jack Russel or three) handy! 8)