Please help (1 Viewer)

[char66]

I live in rural Ireland near many farms so I thought the rats would stay there. I have feeders high in trees and a lovely metal feeding station in the front garden. I have a fantastic selection of birds visiting including several Robins that wait outside the door when I get up! I've been ground feeding them.
The other day I noticed a sneaky rat keep coming out of the bushes eat seed and run back ALL day, god knows what he does at night.
Any advice? Ps I no longer ground feed I have a Robin feeder high up but peanut bits and stuff still drop.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum. I hope you enjoy your visits.

Rats are prevalent everywhere, towns, villages, farms, cities. They say one is never more than 10 feet from a rat. There's not much you can do. Even if you stop feeding birds completely, there will be rats around. We see them occasionally in our garden.

 

[shrek48]

Rats are a re part of life, just try to keep ground spillage/feeding to a minimum and let the rats be ! I have 1 that I have seen in my garden, it/they were here before me and my bird feeder so I just ignore them!

 

[char66]

Rats are a re part of life, just try to keep ground spillage/feeding to a minimum and let the rats be ! I have 1 that I have seen in my garden, it/they were here before me and my bird feeder so I just ignore them.

 

[char66]

I always knew they were around but every 30 mins is beyond a joke.
I'm going to clear that area of bush so it has nowhere to hide. I'm thinking it has a nest there so getting someone else to do it. Being a country girl, I'm all for live and live but it's too cheeky by far.

 

[shrek48]

I always knew they were around but every 30 mins is beyond a joke.
I'm going to clear that area of bush so it has nowhere to hide. I'm thinking it has a nest there so getting someone else to do it. Being a country girl, I'm all for live and live but it's too cheeky by far.

Trouble is like pidgeons, once one comes they come in hundreds and greedy, good luck ;-)

 

[char66]

Trouble is like pidgeons, once one comes they come in hundreds and greedy, good luck ;-)

Yes I've seen a black mass on a farm which when cleared were hundreds of them. That's why I'm a bit surprised by the 'leave it alone' answers.
I just need to work out how to poison without hurting the birds.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Yes I've seen a black mass on a farm which when cleared were hundreds of them. That's why I'm a bit surprised by the 'leave it alone' answers.
I just need to work out how to poison without hurting the birds.

An issue with poison is other animals eating the rats after they have died. I think you’re doing the right thing in not putting food on the ground btw. We had to do the same but they still occasionally can be seen.

Welcome to BirdForum btw.

Rich

 

[char66]

An issue with poison is other animals eating the rats after they have died. I think you’re doing the right thing in not putting food on the ground btw. We had to do the same but they still occasionally can be seen.

Welcome to BirdForum btw.

Rich

Thank you all

 

[01101001]

clear that area of bush

Birds like bushes as well, and I don't know if it helps with the rats?

 

[char66]

Birds like bushes as well, and I don't know if it helps with the rats?

I can't clear it all as its sort of part of the hedgerow. But one particular bit near a water butt in a corner is where I think they have a nest. As it/they never come from any other direction. The birds have loads of cover and I know their favourite places

 

[Elkhornsun]

I live in rural Ireland near many farms so I thought the rats would stay there. I have feeders high in trees and a lovely metal feeding station in the front garden. I have a fantastic selection of birds visiting including several Robins that wait outside the door when I get up! I've been ground feeding them.
The other day I noticed a sneaky rat keep coming out of the bushes eat seed and run back ALL day, god knows what he does at night.
Any advice? Ps I no longer ground feed I have a Robin feeder high up but peanut bits and stuff still drop.

Many species of ground feeding species will also eat seed from a platform feeder. The platform feeders I have mounted off the ground and the posts protected by baffle guards for squirrels and other rodents.

The only seed I throw out on the ground is for quail and towhees and sparrows and I only put out enough so that nearly all of it is consumed during the day by the birds.

I gained a breeding pair of barn owls last year and hope they return this year to reduce the rodent population.

 

[Peregrine Took]

We have ground feeding birds - mainly dunnocks, robins and blackbirds - using the feeders in our trees. The easiest solution is to stop putting food on the ground, it's not necessary and the rats will soon start looking elsewhere.

If it were me, I'd also set mechanical rat traps, but only at night, when birds are not about. You might want to 'train' the rats by putting out ground bait at night for several nights, then set the traps.
.

 

[Peewit]

I would say is to set up a few plant Pot bases/saucers to collect your seeds as they drop onto the ground.

What I mean by this is place your plant bases under the feeders (tie them) so it collects the food before it is dropped to the garden area.

Using a bit of an imagination to see if this works or not comes into it.

 

[Owen Murphy]

I live in rural Ireland near many farms so I thought the rats would stay there. I have feeders high in trees and a lovely metal feeding station in the front garden. I have a fantastic selection of birds visiting including several Robins that wait outside the door when I get up! I've been ground feeding them.
The other day I noticed a sneaky rat keep coming out of the bushes eat seed and run back ALL day, god knows what he does at night.
Any advice? Ps I no longer ground feed I have a Robin feeder high up but peanut bits and stuff still drop.

If you are seeing a rat coming out all day, it means that there are many rats in the cover and taking turns going out to get food. Maybe the addition of an Owl nesting box, moving the feeders further from the cover (bushes) and possibly some sort of tray under your feeders to stop the spilled seeds from being on the ground.

 

[Julie50]

You can buy “bird seed catching trays”. They hand off the feeders and catch the dropped seed - might be worth looking at?