Rats in Gardens

In Pests, Rats & Mice

The majority of our domestic call outs involving rats are in gardens and most of them are caused by feeding either birds, squirrels, foxes or domestic animals.

Rats by their nature live from other animals – they find it hard to compete in a completely ‘natural’ environment where they have to compete with other animals such as stoats, weasels , etc. They are intelligent adaptable animals that have adapted from their original place (central Asia) and spread through out the world. They have done this by changing and adapting their behaviour to the circumstances surrounding them. For example they will live in sewers feeding from sewage and other debris but also live in a burrow near a foxes den and feed off droppings and scraps of food but being careful to avoid the foxes.

Young or displaced rats (displaced by population pressure or removal of a food source) are constantly on the move so if they come across an area with a regular supply of high protein food in the same place (bird feeders supply all of these, as birds are messy feeders), then they will set up home in this type of environment.

Melissa (PEST UK’s only lady pest control technician), took these photo’s of a garden where the customer was feeding birds. The population was such that rats were feeding in daylight hours. This is unusual and often means that the rat population is so high that the older and less dominant rats have to feed in the more dangerous daylight hours where the rats predators such as birds of prey, cats and dogs are more likely to attack them.

At PEST UK we don’t just put poison down but look at the whole issue of rats in gardens which includes food source, proofing and where the animals are living.
Rats – BPCA Advice
For expert adVice or to book a treatment please call: 0330 100 2811 (local rate) or 0800 026 0308. PEST UK