Rats?

wwaddick

Recently moved slightly further out of town to a semi rural village. Small holes are appearing in our flower beds with the occasional bulb being dug out. My wife is convinced it’s rats, although apart from overhearing the neighbours mention rodents there is no other evidence. We have just had some decking put down so maybe that’s ideal for them? Not one squirrel has been sighted since we moved here, so I think we can discount them.  Any other Lifers had a similar situation that was confirmed as rodents? If so best course of action? 

Charlton_Road_James

Could be moles?

Ferryman

The rats ate the squirrels! Doesn't sound good mate get some traps or inform the council.

MrWalker

If you've got any in the kitchen, you gotta catch that rat, that's what you've got to do.

cafcfan

Could be rats but this sounds more like voles to me. They are partial to bulbs, etc.

https://gardening.which.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/213981425-Voles-in-the-garden#:~:text=Voles commonly live in gardens,of damage into early winter.

Charltonparklane

Foxes

Bedsaddick

Definitely not rats . 

Fumbluff

Pangolins?

Blackheathen

Move back to town

floydroadfaithfull

Could be rats
I had them at the back end of  last summer 
Destroyed everything in my garage
Even chewing and breaking the concrete floor caused untold carnage
Had them under my decking even chewed their way threw a railway sleeper and pond liner to get water!!
Be warned

MrWalker

floydroadfaithfull said:

Could be rats
I had them at the back end of  last summer 
Destroyed everything in my garage
Even chewing and breaking the concrete floor caused untold carnage
Had them under my decking even chewed their way threw a railway sleeper and pond liner to get water!!
Be warned

Nothing worse than a hungry rat at the back end.

ShootersHillGuru

Hedgehogs. 

LargeAddick

I live in a rural village, only seen two rats in ten years. We currently have something living in our garden, underneath a platform on our raised bedding, I’ve ruled out a rat as I’ve not found any droppings at all so I find it being a vole a more acceptable situation. 

fadgadget

Rats ...... had this bugger digging my bulbs up and make holes all over the place .

WHAddick

Have you built it an assault course?

fadgadget

WHAddick said:

Have you built it an assault course?

The B*****d was climbing up the Trees to get to the Bird feeders !

Stig

They are absolutely beautiful animals, stunningly clever and get a bad press from panicky pernickety humans who want to control everything. A few bulbs going missing, is that really a problem? And if you get them on your bird feeders, just enjoy the show. Unless you're lucky enough to get golden eagles in your back yard, the spectacle you'll get from rats is likely to be far more entertaining than anything you'll get from birds. Best course of action, calm down, live, love, laugh and be happy and enjoy the wonderful gifts that nature provides for us every day.

  

Dave Rudd

Get yourself half a dozen green mambas.  They love a good rat.

HarryLime

You need a Pied Piper, remember to pay him though if you want to see your kids again.

Rob7Lee

Set some traps/poison, or get a Cat.

Dippenhall

Have exactly same problem. I grow next to woodland. Placed a field camera and was mainly badgers but also blackbirds who dig neat deep holes for worms in loose compost. Squirrels dug for acorns and mice also chomped through certain plants.
I have to use netting as a barrier.

lolwray

Are the holes close to birdfeeders or rubbish? Then maybe rats ..do you have a pond ? Bird bath? ..rats must have a supply of water 

Voles makes series of perfectly round holes ,ideally on a bank or slanted ground..about the size of an old penny

Rabbits will start by leaving scuff/scrapings 

Squirrels do take bulbs especially from tubs but moreso in the early spring 

If you are worried that it's a rat and you dont want them ..get 3 18 inch lengths of drain pipe and put poison in the middle put them under cover and ensure they are firmly supported either side by bricks or something heavy so they dt move when a rat or mouse runs through it 

If you poison them they normally go back to their nest and die 

If you do kill one and see it ensure you pick it up soonest and dispose as you dt want it in the food chain ..Corvids and birds of prey would peck it at 

Scoham

I’ve been trying to get rid of a mouse from my house over the last few weeks. He/she had stolen an entire burger bun and started eating a second (all food now locked away, but he continues to roam about the house during the night). It also ignored three humane traps with various combinations of chocolate/cheese/peanut butter. Seems it’s an experienced mouse who has perhaps been caught before.

MuttleyCAFC

I agree, they are beautiful creatures.

Covered End

My rat ate a 20 multi pack of quavers in the garage, overdosed and died. 

letthegoodtimesroll

I was talking to the guy who delivered our new bins about the council policy of only collecting rubbish once a fortnight because the rats had gnawed the old ones as the rubbish built up in them. He said it’s not the rats that do that it’s the squirrels. I said it’s not the squirrels because those bleeders had learned how to lift the lid on the big bins and don’t need to gnaw the plastic to get to the rubbish and said I’d seen them do it.

Solidgone

Nutrella chocolate on a trap is an excellent way of getting rid of your rat/nice. 

MrWalker

Solidgone said:

Nutella chocolate on a trap is an excellent way of getting rid of your rat/mice/children

killerandflash

WHAddick said:

Have you built it an assault course?

I bet he drinks Carling Black Label

kentaddick

Scoham said:

I’ve been trying to get rid of a mouse from my house over the last few weeks. He/she had stolen an entire burger bun and started eating a second (all food now locked away, but he continues to roam about the house during the night). It also ignored three humane traps with various combinations of chocolate/cheese/peanut butter. Seems it’s an experienced mouse who has perhaps been caught before.

Get a plug in rodent repeller from Amazon for like 20 odd quid. Had a problem with mice in my flat (scratching inside the skirting board at night drove me nuts), since putting that in not seen or heard anything, that was about a year or so ago. 

YTS1978

We've had a mouse problem in the flat ever since the housing association have been replacing cladding and ripping up balconies. I've got pest control (paid for by the housing association) sorting out the brick work etc, but we took matters into our own hands and got loads of traditional traps, bait traps and poison. Unfortunately they seem to suss it out after a while, so in desperation I bought some sticky pads. They work a treat and I caught about 10 in a week. Seems to have gone a bit quiet now, so maybe they've got wise to it? Only downside is that they are often still very much alive when you find them stuck to the pad, sometimes in a horrible condition, so you have to finish them off. Not for the faint hearted.