Yet again I have had to stop feeding my garden birds due to rats. Last time for months then this time I really thought they had gone, I switched the feeders to the front of the house & had hung them in the tree in the front garden, after my neighbour did the same thing. Good idea I thought.
Then after months of the feeders being there, no sign of a rat, this afternoon I went out to refill them & nearly trod on a huge male rat who shot off under the tree & vanished into the undergrowth. Down have come all the feeders unfilled.
I am gutted. No idea why I see rats here, never seen them near neighbours tree, only two doors away too.
I know birds don’t really need feeding this time of year, but it was lovely to see them in the tree. So no more feeding till Winter, if the rat comes back I’ll still carry on doing it in the Winter. 
OOH you have to be carful of thems Devon rats on four and two legs. Just make sure those pantaloons of yours are tied tight around the leg area. 
It might be a silly question but do you think that the rats are scavenging the bits and pieces that have fallen from your feeders?
Rats are loathsome creatures, I know that councils employ pest control services,it might be worth contacting them.
Huge they are too, much bigger than any around your way. 
I don’t dislike rats, we used to keep fancy tame ones & they do make really good pets, but the wild ones breed like mad & if one there are bound to be at least one more & they breed frequently.
Yes, they are after the food that falls from the feeders.
The council don’t want to know, unless they are infesting your house that is & these aren’t. They just say stop feeding the birds. 
Ah!
Yes, tame rats are fine, more intelligent than pet fancy mice as I remember.
A joyless attitude from the council perhaps but all things considered hardly surprising.
We had to stop feeding the Birds because of Rats, we have Rats here that are huge, and you would see them climbing up onto the feeders.
Periodically I get rat problems on the bird feeders .
I have two humane traps and I trap them and then realise them elsewhere ( must be over a mile away )
Haven’t had any trouble this year except from mice in the compost heap .
Well poor little things have to live somewhere .
It is odd - Australian Wildlife organisations discourage the feeding of any wild animals including birds.
People still do it but it is not really a thing here.
It is odd - Australian Wildlife organisations discourage the feeding of any wild animals including birds.
People still do it but it is not really a thing here.
We enjoy feeding the birds but where’s there’s easy available food, it attracts other unwanted creatures to move into your house for shelter too. We don’t get rats but have gotten mice at our last house.
we have bird feeders and yes we get rats, we used to also throw bread onto the garage roof and watch mainly larger birds till i saw a big grey bird with no wings, no more bread on the garage roof, but the still came to the bird feeders, so i got a rifle, i chose an open area of the garden that i could see from the kitchen window and put a piece of tinned tuna down as bait, an old guy in my youth warned me about how i disposed of erm, fish bits, he told me they could smell fish from half a mile away, so i used the piece of tuna, and less than fifteen minutes later there was Roland, so i shot him and ten minutes later another appeared, so that one got the same treatment… that was a couple of years ago and we havent seen any since, but if i get bored i might put another bit of tuna out…
Oh! While I hate attracting mice I’m no killer. I’ve always found other alternatives to getting rid of pesky animals and would never in my life consider what you did. Sorry but I just can’t relate. 
Get a cat…my cat George never catches a thing although he tries…just having him around ensures I never see rats although we have lots of hawks around here too so maybe they keep the population down…
I don’t feed.birds though George might have more success and like it if I did 
you should always answer to your own conscience, i do.
the Govt trained me to use a gun, luckily i never had to point it at any living thing
but i was brought up in a tenement and we could hear the rats scurrying to and fro
so i have a fear of rats [some kids ing the building got bitten] so when i see on i react
when i first went to Goa they were everywhere, the Indians laughed at me telling me it was ok to see rats as that meant there were no snakes…lol… but i now visit south Goa and there is a lot of dogs, so no rats [well non seen] i have seen a snake [i actually saw a Red Kyte flying over me with a four foot snake in its talons] i have also seen a Mongoose, i think they also kill rats, and a Monitor Lizard. all of which take rats i believe… i saw [on you tube] a grey heron swallowing a big rat, so Mr Rat has plenty of enemy’s
That first sentence is a good one.
I’m very grateful that I don’t have to live anywhere like you just described. There’s plenty to be thankful for.
When I visit Australia I always feed the birds. They are so colourful and not afraid like in the U.K. .I got into trouble with my son though for the noise ( he works from home ) as they started to come in flocks .
He has python ivisits his garden hence no rats
Hi
If you have rats it is your responsibility to deal with, not the Councils.
The Council can serve you a legal notice requiring you to do this at your own expense.
Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949
As muddy suggested, keep a Carpet Python in the house you won’t have trouble with rats (or cats for that matter).