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I have been dealing with the latest challenge to sustainable living. Rats in my back yard!

I was clearing up the other day and lifted up an old door which was outside. There was a rat's nest, full of babies! Ms Rat disappeared pretty sharpish - I went inside to debate what to do about it, and by the time I went back out the whole lot had vanished.

Ms Rat had been getting food from my compost bin, which had been on the old door. I moved the bin onto concrete so there is no way in now. I had also spotted some burrows, which I filled in.

Apparently rats are old enough to reproduce at about 8 weeks old. There were probably about half a dozen babies in this nest, so I just can't afford to let them reach adulthood.

I am really loathe to kill animals, but I have been forced to get some rat poison and put it down. Apparently if they get in your house they can eat through your electric cables and start fires. There was a fresh hole dug this morning, but I'm hopeful that the poison will have got them.

I did toy with the idea of getting a 'humane' trap for the mother, but if I did that, it would mean that the babies would starve to death. Better to let the mother take poisoned bait back to the nest, I thought - then they would all go together.

They looked so cute, the babies - didn't even have their eyes open. It really pains me to poison them - but it's them or me!

There are only two time-proven tricks concerning rats:

1) Dont feed them! Be bloody careful with everything you build

2) Keep cats. Allow them to go hungry a couple of days a week. Even if they seem to kill just for the fun of it, some hunger turn them into _really_ ruthless predators. In case of emergency, there will be a lot of stray cats. Start feeding a couple of them, and they will stay with you.

The only problem with cats is that I am trying to encourage frogs in my garden to get rid of slugs and snails! Cats will kill frogs.

It's a tricky one . . . never had rats before. I suppose I should just shoot them with my air gun, cook them with a bit of garlic and eat them! Might have to get used to the taste post-peak!

Andy Hunt wrote: It's a tricky one . . . never had rats before.

How do you know? Aren't you, on average, always no more than 10m from a rat?

I think that it's a case of keeping them under control and away from vital bits, you will never beat them.

I went on a course last month which mentioned rats, and they said that generally cats keep rats down. But when they lost the cats or some such the rats increased and reintroducing cats didn't do the trick. First they had to resort to poison, then when they had sufficiently reduced the rat numbers, the cats were enough to keep the "truce" going.


BTW, it's quite common to have vermin in your compost bin over the winter (nice insulation). I wouldn't put your bin on concrete though, I believe that it needs soil beneath it to maintain the worm population,


Peter.

I wouldn't put your bin on concrete though, I believe that it needs soil beneath it to maintain the worm population,

I made sure there are plenty of worms in there! It's about 2/3 full too, which should help the digestive process . . . the only thing is, moisture seems to be getting out of the bottom. I might have to water it during the summer to stop it drying out.

The rat had removed most of the edible contents and scattered them around my yard. Can't have that!

But if you leave it on the concrete, when you take out your current compost and start again, there won;t be any way for worms to get in,


Peter.

But if you leave it on the concrete, when you take out your current compost and start again, there won;t be any way for worms to get in,

I'll probably wait until it is completely full until I start using it, and then keep it half-full, at a minimum, so there will be a constant population of worms in there. I only have a small garden (although hopefully it will be producing tons of tasty stuff soon!)

I use 'Ecover' compostable bags in my kitchen. The rat had used some of them to line its nest, along with some dried flowers I had thrown out! It's OK for some!

Andy,

If you have rats the nits probably not just your problem, it could also be your neighbour?s as well. You might want to consider talking to them and taking up cooperative action?

You don?t want to kill animals but you either have to kill them one way or another or persuade them to move somewhere else. In which case they just become someone else?s problem (and they will probably kill them). If you don?t want to poison them and you don?t want a cat then the only other thing you can do is deny them access to food. Easier said than done as rats can get into the smallest of holes but you will need to find away to locate where they get into building and then block off all access to any potential food supply.

the nits

Nits too? It's all too much for a Tuesday morning . . .

you either have to kill them one way or another or persuade them to move somewhere else. In which case they just become someone else?s problem (and they will probably kill them).

This was the quandary I was faced with. I tidied everything up and made sure they couldn't get to food any more, and left them overnight to give them the chance to move somewhere else - the soft option, really, and a bit spineless of me.

Anyway, a new rat-hole had been dug when I checked in the morning, so it was then I decided on the ultimate sanction. I put the poison down (got it from B&Q) last night, so hopefully I will be rat-free from today onwards, I'll check the bait later.

My other half has been agonizing over the whole thing. We even rescued one of the babies which had been left behind by the mother when we first discovered the nest, and put it somewhere where she could find it. And now we are poisoning them! It's a cruel world . . . but nature can be cruellest of all. As the human race may be about to discover!

Andy Hunt wrote:
I did toy with the idea of getting a 'humane' trap for the mother, but if I did that, it would mean that the babies would starve to death. Better to let the mother take poisoned bait back to the nest, I thought - then they would all go together.

They looked so cute, the babies - didn't even have their eyes open. It really pains me to poison them - but it's them or me!

Andy,

You are being suckered by your own inherited primate emotional response to small warm furry things. If they were scorpions or poisonous snakes you wouldnt hesitate.

Ratus Ratus has no such compunction and sees you and your environment purely as a resource to be mercilessy exploited. If he could he'd gobble you up in an instant.

Its you or them, mate. Nature red in tooth and claw and all that. If you're feeling squeamish, use a humane trap, catch the adults and then put the trap in a covered bucket. Use car exhaust fed into the bucket to put ratty gently and humanely to sleep.

Spreading rat poison about the place is not good for other animals. Squirrels, mice, voles, shrews, etc. sometimes come a cropper. I suspect a cat of mine died (unpleasantly slowly - had to have her put down) of liver failure from eating a poisoned rat when I used to live out in the wilds of North Hertfordshire.

Ratus Ratus has no such compunction and sees you and your environment purely as a resource to be mercilessy exploited. If he could he'd gobble you up in an instant.

It's true - the first sighting I had of the rat, it had climbed my bay tree and was busy trying to rip open the bird feeder, full of peanuts.

I watch them every morning as I am waiting for the tram into work - they feed on all the rubbish thrown onto the embankment in Bury town centre. They are everywhere . . .

I read somewhere that 1/3 of the world's annual food production is eaten by rats!

Andy Hunt wrote: I read somewhere that 1/3 of the world's annual food production is eaten by rats!

Now what needs to be done, is for people to harvest these and turn them into ratburgers .

Think of it as a slight return on the energy input

Now what needs to be done, is for people to harvest these and turn them into ratburgers

McDonald's DOES have a future after PO!

Hi Andy
Might I suggest this book
.... some dark night.

It was only when the bones of the first devoured victims were discovered that the true nature and power of these swarming black creatures with their razor sharp teeth and taste for human blood began to be realized by a panic-stricken city. For millions of years man and rats had been natural enemies. But now for the first time - suddenly, shockingly, horribly - the balance of power had shifted.

Andy Hunt wrote:

I wouldn't put your bin on concrete though, I believe that it needs soil beneath it to maintain the worm population,

I made sure there are plenty of worms in there! It's about 2/3 full too, which should help the digestive process . . . the only thing is, moisture seems to be getting out of the bottom. I might have to water it during the summer to stop it drying out.

The rat had removed most of the edible contents and scattered them around my yard. Can't have that!

You can put the compost bin back on soil with a suitable mesh underneath - one small enough to keep rats out but large enough to let worm in - say 1cm