rat problem

[assasin8or 0]

hi guys

i have just moved into a new house and i have a huge oak tree at the bottom of the garden there is 5 holes around it what i asume are rats. eny ideas how i can catch them i dont realy want to use poison as i have dogs , cats and small kids i have tryed traps but cant seem to catch eny i know they are there as i have filled the holes every time they are open in the morning cant use airgun as the naigbours dont like guns

 

i have even tried filling all the holes exept one and puting traps with a box over the top then puting hose pipe down it with no luck .dont laugh

eny ideas please

[runforyourlife 361]

You can use an air gun in your own garden, wether the neigbours like them or not. And i am sure if you asked which they like best, rats or airguns, they would pick that latter...

 

Have you seen these rats? Ask if there is anybody on here near to you with ferrets, or even better, a smoke machine...

 

Also leave your traps set and to get weathered, they dont work over night. As i learned not long ago at home, it tokk 10 days before the rats started entering the cages..

 

Good luck pal... atb, Russ

[asha 48]

get urself a live cadge trap for rat.put it close as u can to the tree.ive been covering the trap with slates so it looks like a tunnel.bait ive used mars bars and dog biscuits .leave trap out as long as it takes u wiil catch

[Urban Fox Control London 8]

If you have pets in the garden, get an external bait station of ebay, bait it with either difenacoum or bromadiolone whole grain wheat, check it and replenish it until it stops going and then re-sell the bait station on ebay or keep it somewhere safe for future use if necessary.

 

The other possible method is to place small amounts of bait in sandwich bags and poke them down the holes and heel in.

 

This method may not be a good ideal though as rat's have the tendency to drag the bags away and if startled by a cat for instance, may leave the bait exposed.

 

Anyway, there's a few ideas.

 

What ever you choose to do, do it safely

[Matt 160]

Contact your local authority - most offer subsidised, or even free pest control for rat problems.

 

There is no need to worry about your pets being poisoned - the pest controller has a legal duty to prevent access to any baits laid - and anyway, the rats pose more of a health risk than any legal baits available.

 

Don't muck about trying to sort this out yourself - every day that you leave it you are putting yourself, your family, and your pets at risk - contact your local authority for help, it will cost you little or nothing.

[festa 206]

mat is right mate get the pro's in its pointless trying to do it yourself you dont know what ur dealing with like you say u assume its rats ...

 

atb gary

[wirral countryman 2,110]

I wouldn't use poison in your garden mate as suggested by some on here,it might not be a rat,squirrels also like to use the base of oak trees as a safe access ,I've seen them have their young up inside the hollow,but whatever it is you'll catch it with a well placed fen trap,open up the hole slightly if you have to so as to site the trap properly,you may have to block some holes up so as to shepherd the animal towards the open hole with the trap inside,just an idea for you to ponder,atb and good luck,wirralman

[assasin8or 0]

thanks guys

alot of you are saying to get the local authorites invovled do you meen the council as when i contacted my housing assocaiton they told me that it was my responsibilty as set out in my tenancy agreement. i dont think thats is fair as rats are surely a health risk and it would be in there intrest to insure that eny rats/pests were proplery and safley delt with

once again thanks everyone

[Matt 160]

thanks guys

alot of you are saying to get the local authorites invovled do you meen the council as when i contacted my housing assocaiton they told me that it was my responsibilty as set out in my tenancy agreement. i dont think thats is fair as rats are surely a health risk and it would be in there intrest to insure that eny rats/pests were proplery and safley delt with

once again thanks everyone

 

It IS your responsibility as the occupier to keep the premises free of pests.

 

That means that you have to pay to have it done.

 

Your local authority (or council if you like) will have an environmental health department, which will probably run a pest control section. Most councils (all but 2 in England) offer a service, either using in house staff, or a contractor. The councils subsidise the service to make it more affordable, and lots offer a free service for rats.

 

Which local authority area are you in? I'll find some info for you.

[Malt 379]

thanks guys

alot of you are saying to get the local authorites invovled do you meen the council as when i contacted my housing assocaiton they told me that it was my responsibilty as set out in my tenancy agreement. i dont think thats is fair as rats are surely a health risk and it would be in there intrest to insure that eny rats/pests were proplery and safley delt with

once again thanks everyone

 

It IS your responsibility as the occupier to keep the premises free of pests.

 

That means that you have to pay to have it done.

 

Your local authority (or council if you like) will have an environmental health department, which will probably run a pest control section. Most councils (all but 2 in England) offer a service, either using in house staff, or a contractor. The councils subsidise the service to make it more affordable, and lots offer a free service for rats.

 

Which local authority area are you in? I'll find some info for you.

 

 

Not much help in this case I know, but our council here do rats for free. Not that great at it mind, when the fella came to do my mums garden he just chucked a bit of poisoned grain about here & there, no feeding station or other precautions...

Edited May 18, 2010 by maltenby

[assasin8or 0]

thanks guys

alot of you are saying to get the local authorites invovled do you meen the council as when i contacted my housing assocaiton they told me that it was my responsibilty as set out in my tenancy agreement. i dont think thats is fair as rats are surely a health risk and it would be in there intrest to insure that eny rats/pests were proplery and safley delt with

once again thanks everyone

 

It IS your responsibility as the occupier to keep the premises free of pests.

 

That means that you have to pay to have it done.

 

Your local authority (or council if you like) will have an environmental health department, which will probably run a pest control section. Most councils (all but 2 in England) offer a service, either using in house staff, or a contractor. The councils subsidise the service to make it more affordable, and lots offer a free service for rats.

 

Which local authority area are you in? I'll find some info for you.

 

thanks for that mate im in hertfordshire it would be much apprichiated

what enoys me about this is that the house is brand new we moved from our old house as it was an old prefab so only moved to the bottom of the garden

we whatched it being build on waste ground and the agent in charge came around to us and asked us not to put food out for the birds becuse when they started stripping the site there was rats running allover the place and to our knowlage there was nothing done about it

so surely it is down to them to get it sorted i dont mind paying a pest controler to sort it just enoys me how council allways try to pass the buck

Edited May 18, 2010 by assasin8or

[moxy 617]

If you get your local authority to sort it, make sure they give you a full treatment, I know my LA only do one dose free of charge.

So much for free treatment, kind of got you by the balls really.

[Matt 160]

thanks for that mate im in hertfordshire it would be much apprichiated

 

'Hertfordshire' is a county, NOT a local authority. Your local authority is the one you pay your council tax to.

 

For example, if your local authority is Stevenage (http://www.stevenage.gov.uk/environment/pestcontrol/feesandcharges), you will get the problem properly sorted, for FREE.

 

Here is a link to a site that links into all the local authorities in Hertfordshire. If you click your local authority link, and then type 'pest control' into the site search engine, you will find details of their service:

 

http://www.herts.org.uk/lgov.html

 

 

what enoys me about this is that the house is brand new we moved from our old house as it was an old prefab so only moved to the bottom of the garden

we whatched it being build on waste ground and the agent in charge came around to us and asked us not to put food out for the birds becuse when they started stripping the site there was rats running allover the place and to our knowlage there was nothing done about it

so surely it is down to them to get it sorted i dont mind paying a pest controler to sort it just enoys me how council allways try to pass the buck

 

I know it seems unfair, but the law is that if you have rats living on land that you occupy, then it's your responsibility to get it sorted. If the neighbours need re-educating, then the council will be the ones to do that.

 

The 'council' are only responsible for enforcing the law as it stands. The fact that most offer free, or subsidised rodent control is wrong in my opinion as a council tax payer, but right in my opinion as a pest controller.

 

If you are on benefits, then the Social Fund is able to provide interest free loans, or possibly community care grants to help with this type of problem.

 

Don't mess about trying to sort it yourself; the longer you leave it the worse it will get, and the greater the risk to you and yours.

 

Hope that helps

 

Matt

[assasin8or 0]

thanks matt that was a great help

im under horth herts district council and it looks like i will have to pay for it i am going to call them tommorow and get it sorted for the kids sake

 

once again thanks for all your help

atb

martin

[wirral countryman 2,110]

it sounds like you won't be the only tenant in the area with this rat problem,for the treatment to be effective the rest of your nieghbours will need to be involved,I would speak to my local councillor if the problem has been caused by the relocation of housing stock,when you see how much you've got to pay to eradicate this problem you may change your mind,speak to your nieghbours,housing associations have responsibility for new properties,more strength in number's when approaching councils and councillors,hope this helps,wirralman