I want to feed birds not rats!!! (2 Viewers)

[colliecrew]

Hi all,

We live in a very rural location and loved watching all the local wild birds coming to our feeders. That was until the rats moved in, first below the feeders and then in various burrows throughout the garden.

We got the rat invasion successfully treated and unfortunately have had to remove our feeders to prevent further rats.

I would love to know if anyone manages to feed birds and avoid rats moving in.

I'd appreciate any and all advice.

I really really miss the birds in the garden

 

[michael23]

Hi there, and as this is your 1st post welcome onto birdforum!

I too have had this problem, i have my feeding stand as normal but i always put out oats and the like for robins and dummocks on the floor, this was unfortunately attracting rats, this encouraged the rats to scale the feeding stand and sit on a tray eating oats that were on there too. Since I stopped putting the oats down the rats appear to have gone and not returned. So a decent feeding station with some sunflower hearts, nyger seed nuts and some fatballs and staying away from putting anything on the ground should suffice. Also stuffed coconut halves in trees or bushes are great.
Hope this helps.
B

 

[Monahawk]

Hi Colliecrew. This is a problem, but I've found through experience in my garden that easing up on feeding the birds for a while means less edible morsals for rats and so they shuffle off somewhere else to get their culinary kicks. They are opportunists after all. However the problem can still linger if neighbouring gardens or farms do little to deter rats.
I am a great believer in not using chemical rodenticides to kill off mice and rats, simply because the residues from these get into the food chain and can prove fatal to even pet predators such as cats, ferrets or dogs. Just look at the state of barn owls around the British Isles. Rat poison is or was one of the main reasons for their decline on these isles, because farmers, educated by the agrichemical industry were led to believe that poison was quick and efficient. Not only that but what a horrible slow way to die, not only for rodents but their predators too. However I digress.
My labrador is a pretty good rat catcher when she can get them. Living in a rural area try getting an animal such as a dog,ferret or cat to deter rats or get a liscenced air gun. Carefully watch a rats movements. It will make it easier to hunt them down by what ever method you use to get rid of them if you feel they are a problem.
And as the last thread reader mentioned, try positioning the food away from where it is easy for rats to get food. But remember, they are wonderful opportunists and will go to great lengths to get at bird food. Like squirrels, they love a challenge. No word of a lie, I saw one jump a clean five and a half feet off the ground to get at one of my nut feeders. I'm just under six feet tall, so that was some leap.
Good luck and enjoy the forum.

Si.

 

[Adam W]

or get a liscenced air gun.

Dont even need a licence as long as its under 12ftlb which is all you would need or want to deal with this problem.

It is a very effective(and dare I say quite fun) way of dealing with this problem though I do understand that it may not be to everyone's taste.

 

[annschuster]

Hiya, I pretty much feed the birds all year around and at various times of the year I do get rats. As previously said the food on the ground is the bulk of the problem. I keep the container lids from the fat balls and only place food on those for the ground feeders and invested in some ground guardians from CJ Wildlife. At the end of the day once the birdies have retired I take up the lids. The less food on the ground they do tend to go off elsewhere eventually. But my neighbour noticed them climbing a tree to get at the Suet balls so what he did was hung them off the branch by string. But the rat duly cut the string with his teeth and ran away with the fat ball. I agree that poison shouldn't be used as it gets in to the food chain with serious consequence for our wildlife and is a horrible way for anything to die. Farmers in our area put it out for foxes and birds of prey and it is a serious problem. Authorities need to clamp down on the uses of poison. But a final thought our pet shop in Dungarvan had a white rat and said that they are one of the most intelligent of the pets she sold. He used to push up lid on his cage and hop out and go investigating. She would go Uh Oh and wag her finger at him, he would hang his head knowing he should be out, hop back up lift the lid and go back in his cage.

Welcome to the forum, I only joined yesterday too.

 

[Monahawk]

Hi Annchuster. Welcome to the forum. Yes rats are intelligent whether they are pets or wild, but not too many people keep them because of their tainted reputation,[ they breed like mad, they spread disease, they're destructive, they bite, they pee everywhere ]. Some of these excuses are unfair and predjudiced. I don't mind the odd one lurking about my garden, after all my dog or my in laws cat next door will undoubtably deal with them given the chance. Only yesterday my dog killed a whopper of a female rat near my compost heap. Just think, it's not birds that attract rats, it's humans. Despite the uneasy alliance, wherever there is man there are rats. We feed the birds but forget other creatures take advantage of this like unwanted rats,mice and squirrels. We just have to try and outwit these animals when feeding the birds the best way we can [ and generally we fail ].
On a slightly different subject, if you know a farmer is using poison to kill birds of prey in your area then this should be reported to your local wildlife and countryside ranger or to a relevent department at your local council.
And Adam if you are still following this thread, thanks for the info on airguns. [Not sure I'd want to use one though].

Si.