Author Topic: Rats  (Read 5106 times)

andrea66

  • Not So New ...
  • *
  • Posts: 14
Rats
« on: July 04, 2014, 15:44:01 »
Hi
First year allotmonteer so unsure what to do.
Whilst watering my plot yesterday a rat casually walked around my raised bed sniffing in the air approx 8 feet from me.
I mentioned it to the committee that I would inform the council for them to take action. The committee informed me that the council won't do anything about it ??
I have just checked the council website and it states that they will charge £66 for dealing with a rat.
I thought they had a duty to deal with it as it's a risk to public health - am I wrong ?
Any advise appreciated
 

Flighty

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,680
    • Flighty's Plot
Re: Rats
« Reply #1 on: July 04, 2014, 16:10:11 »
You'll probably find rats on all allotment sites, especially ones where livestock such as chickens are kept.  Our council, who own the site, won't do anything so the rats are mostly just accepted although one or two plot holders do put poison or traps down occasionally.
Flighty's plot,  http://flightplot.wordpress.com,  is my blog.

I support the Gardening with Disabilities Trust, http://www.gardeningwithdisabilitiestrust.org.uk

Redalder

  • Half Acre
  • ***
  • Posts: 132
  • East Cornwall, mostly clay and stones.
Re: Rats
« Reply #2 on: July 04, 2014, 16:50:42 »

I thought they had a duty to deal with it as it's a risk to public health - am I wrong ?


Councils used to deal with rats, wasp nests etc free of charge (I think it was a statutory duty but not sure) but not any more. Ours just refers enquiries to Yellow Pages and advises strongly that we shouldn't deal with these things ourselves.

ancellsfarmer

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,335
  • Plot is London clay, rich in Mesozoic fossils
Re: Rats
« Reply #3 on: July 04, 2014, 17:31:19 »
They are not to be tolerated (rats nor councillors!). For the rats, buy a Nipper rat trap. Set it discreetly ,bait with a peanut. Its quite a good idea to wire the trap to something heavy to prevent foxes and cats carrying off any rat still within your trap. Check at least daily. The last thing it does is Nip !.
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

Ellen K

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,175
  • Loughborough, Leicestershire
Re: Rats
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2014, 07:17:57 »
You might get a few rats in a trap but they seem to get wise pretty quick (unlike mice) and stay away from it.

You need a proper rat bait box and poison, I'm afraid.  The stuff with bromodiolone (sp?) is better than the Coumadin based stuff and you can buy it from these pound shop type places.  Buy loads and keep filling up the bait box until no more bait is taken.  Persevere and you'll get them in the end. 

These days, lots of people say live and let live and point out that cats and raptors can get secondary poisoning from eating dying rats but what else can you do?  Let the place get overrun with rats?  Man up and deal with them.

goodlife

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,649
Re: Rats
« Reply #5 on: July 05, 2014, 13:07:22 »
We have rat cage set up permanently and baited with wheat. Rats are indeed clever and they might be interested of some fancy 'flavours' but seem to be very suspicious of it...bird seeds and wheat...just plain and ordinary and over here they seem to fall for it  :icon_cheers:
This spring we have catched 9 already!..not all adults though. Cage traps cost  around £15 but they will last for yeeeears...though if you catch something..you have to deal with the live rat. We have that many cats, dogs, foxes, birds of pray etc. around here that I don't want to chance it with poison...

macmac

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,873
  • weston super mare
Re: Rats
« Reply #6 on: July 05, 2014, 16:02:33 »
We have had our plots approx. 10 years,They back on to a rhyne where we often see rats. Apart from the odd shredded carrier bag in the shed, which could even be mice, we have had no problems. Some plotholders have said they have nibbled stored spuds but we bring all produce home. We have several cats on site so no doubt they take the odd one. There are mallards and moorhens who all seem to thrive. I guess I'm saying I'm with the live and let live group  :happy7:
sanity is overated

ancellsfarmer

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,335
  • Plot is London clay, rich in Mesozoic fossils
Re: Rats
« Reply #7 on: July 05, 2014, 22:02:01 »
Ones major concern is that as we are living in ever increasing density, with growing urbanisation, that "vermin species " are allowed to increase without intervention by apathetic citizens and "hard pressed" councils thereby putting us all at risk of a "modern plague" Such disease as Weils is commonly carried by rats, to potential danger to us all.
http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/Leptospirosis/GeneralInformation/lepto005GeneralInformation/
The only good rat is a deceased and buried rat.
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

Robert_Brenchley

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 15,593
    • My blog
Re: Rats
« Reply #8 on: July 05, 2014, 22:37:00 »
Rats are far more of a problem since water privatisation; before that it was clear-cut. They were always the council's responsibility, whether they were down the sewer or on the surface. I've had crops and hives damaged when I didn't control them.

ancellsfarmer

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,335
  • Plot is London clay, rich in Mesozoic fossils
Re: Rats
« Reply #9 on: July 06, 2014, 20:23:04 »
You could remind your local authority of its rsposibilities as they  have a statutory duty under the 1949 Prevention of Damage by Pest Act to control vermin within the Authority's area. They do not have to have an "in-house" team.
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

willsy

  • Half Acre
  • ***
  • Posts: 192
Re: Rats
« Reply #10 on: July 08, 2014, 23:56:33 »
I too have been having trouble with rats, caught 5 up to now. Have laid poison and traps, hate the nasty things. I have binned all my strawberries as they have been taking them.Such a nuisance but ha ho another year.Seems to be the year of the rats.

andrea66

  • Not So New ...
  • *
  • Posts: 14
Re: Rats
« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2014, 10:28:29 »
Thanks for all of the comments and advise,because of this I have got a rat trap - the cage type. Not so keen on the nipper as afraid I could catch something else.
Even if the rats are wary and don't go in the cage at least - hopefully - they will move on.
I have spoken to a couple of the other allotment holders and there is a stream running alongside the plots and they believe they are living there (makes sense).
Makes me wonder why we pay our council tax when things like this crop up ??  :wave:

ancellsfarmer

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,335
  • Plot is London clay, rich in Mesozoic fossils
Re: Rats
« Reply #12 on: July 10, 2014, 20:45:25 »
Be carefull how you despatch any you trap, both in terms of self protection from bites etc, but also you have a responsibility in respect of not "causing undue suffering ". It is totally unacceptable to release them "up the road"etc. Anyway they could be back before you are!
I once had the pleasure in supplying a "humane " live capture trap to a particularly sensitive lady customer who had this to say when I asked her how she was going to act in the event of succeeding with it.
" I shall release it the other side of the A24 dual carriageway. It will never get back  from there alive."
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

antipodes

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 3,366
  • W. France, 5m x 20m (900 ft2)
    • My allotment blog
Re: Rats
« Reply #13 on: July 11, 2014, 12:31:12 »
Be carefull how you despatch any you trap, both in terms of self protection from bites etc, but also you have a responsibility in respect of not "causing undue suffering ". It is totally unacceptable to release them "up the road"etc. Anyway they could be back before you are!


This is quite true. In France you can trap animals classed as vermin (which unfortunately also extends to foxes, stoats etc and capibaras) but you must kill them humanely once they are trapped. A trapper demonstrated this to us at a country fair. He explained that the traps are made in such a way as when you start to open them, the poor beast must stick its head out. This guy was a big strapping fellow and as soon as they stuck their head out, he whacked them on the head to knock them out then again to break their necks and kill them outright. I have no doubt that it was very quick, but it does seem to be unduly nasty. Not sure how quick you would need to be with a rat...
2012 - Snow in February, non-stop rain till July. Blight and rot are rife. Thieving voles cause strife. But first runner beans and lots of greens. Follow an English allotment in urban France: http://roos-and-camembert.blogspot.com

ancellsfarmer

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,335
  • Plot is London clay, rich in Mesozoic fossils
Re: Rats
« Reply #14 on: July 11, 2014, 20:22:08 »
Quicker than the rat, clearly.
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

grannyjanny

  • PMs
  • Hectare
  • *
  • Posts: 4,513
  • Lives in Cheshire. Light sandy soil. Loves no dig.
Re: Rats
« Reply #15 on: July 19, 2014, 20:05:08 »
Not an allotment problem but indoors. SiL has seen a rat in the house, they have a river outside their house & another area of water across the way. My question is are they like mice in their toilet habits, as in doing as they go along. They haven't seen any droppings but a loaf had been nibbled on a work top & food nibbled in cupboards. Her OH has put poison down & he says it's taken half but it didn't kill it because it came back the next night, how he knew it was the same one I don't know. Any advice welcomed.

ancellsfarmer

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,335
  • Plot is London clay, rich in Mesozoic fossils
Re: Rats
« Reply #16 on: July 20, 2014, 23:08:46 »
You will need to continue with the poison bait for a number of days, until it (they!) take no more. Often in garden/household situations there are likely to be a pair at least, and if not removed quickly, an extending family group !
If there is access to a supply of peanuts , as in bird feeding, or your neighbours bird feeding, care in selecting poison is needed as the most common variety containing bromodeine will be negated by the vitamin K that peanuts contain.I can assure you that with a "balanced diet" of both, you can grow some very fit specimens with very glossy pelts.
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

grannyjanny

  • PMs
  • Hectare
  • *
  • Posts: 4,513
  • Lives in Cheshire. Light sandy soil. Loves no dig.
Re: Rats
« Reply #17 on: July 21, 2014, 09:00:40 »
Thank you ancellesfarmer. I'll pass on the info. Let's hope they can  :wave: to them.

percussionman

  • Not So New ...
  • *
  • Posts: 7
Re: Rats
« Reply #18 on: July 27, 2014, 12:38:54 »
hi. rats and mice are a menace on all allotments. some councils will bait for rodents free of charge if you are over 60 years or on benefits but this will only be done at a private dwelling. Not all councils have the same policy or same charges, they all differ. We have an abundance of rats and mice on our allotment site, most of us use traps either nipper or cage traps. When caught we tend to burn the carcass so not to poison the two feral cats that are resident on site also. I was told by a local pest controller,  the best bait to use is chocolate. Some of the lads on site dispatch as many as 12 or so rats in a month. We have to remember that there is a rat every 12 feet away from you at all times obviously not on the surface but in undergrowth and drains etc.
I think it should be made law that the council deals with this dangerous vermin that can carry 20+ deceases including the deadly Weiles virus which is also carried by other small animals even the fox can carrie it. Having said that, not all the animals are infected with the deceases. So to put it into prospective= always use disposable gloves inside gardening gloves wash your hands thoroughly and trap rats on a ongoing basis encourage your gardening mates to do likewise. happy gardening :sunny:

Palustris

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,357
Re: Rats
« Reply #19 on: July 27, 2014, 17:42:29 »
In answer to the question Rats communicate with each other via urine trails, so everywhere a rat has been it will have left a trail behind. So, one in the house and on work tops will have contaminated a large area, especially along the wall. Bleach it!
Gardening is the great leveller.

 

SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal