apart from rat poison is there anything i can put down to stop them from coming to the garden!?

Question

I DON'T THINK THEY LIVE THERE BUT i LIVE AT THE BACK OF A RAILWAY LINE WITH A HORSES FIELD IN THE MIDDLE, SO THEY ARE BOUND TO BE AROUND, BUT I CANT PUT POISON DOWN BECAUSE OF MY PUPPY DOGS

Answer 1

Get some cats too!!!

Answer 2

yes you can put down poison. I breed and show chickens. Where chickens are, there are rats. I also have 7 dogs, 12 cats and several free range rabbits and guinea pigs.
What you need to do is go to your pet shop or try online for pest control, and buy a 'bait station'. Then buy some poison blocks. The bait box is opened with a funny key and the poison is in the form of wax poison blocks. They have a hole in the middle and inside the box is a bar onto which you push the blocks like a kebab. Then snap the lid shut. Nothing can get into the box except rats. None of the poison can get dragged out and spread about. They go in, nibble the bait, then go down their burrows to die. If by chance you find a dead one, there is no secondary poisoning. I.e. if something else eats the dead rat it won't get poisoned.
The bait box will cost you around £5and a small bucket of the poison will be around £15 but will last you for ages. A year or more. Once you have got rid of the rats, keep the bait box filled and check it weekly because once you've got rid of one lot, you create empty territory for new rats to move in. You need to position the box against a wall or fence or under a shed and leave it in position at least 2 weeks because rats are nervous of anything new and will just watch and sniff it at first. It takes about 2 weeks before they start to go inside. During this time, do not move it as you will make them start all over again. If you can afford it, depending on the size of your garden I recommend that you get at least 2 boxes and place them at different points in the garden. It's the only way you will keep the rat population under control. Also contact railtrack and tell them you are having a problem with rats coming from the track. In the meantime, ensure that you don't leave food around outside. If you feed the wild birds, do it up on a bird table, don't just chuck it outside and keep the dog food indoors. Rats can make your puppy very sick and perhaps kill him from leptospirosis so keep his innoculations up to date. Your local council may also help with baiting your garden for free. Make sure you tell them you have a dog and you don't want any loose poison as I know they do have bait boxes but are loath to leave them in private homes as they cost money. Best thing is to get some boxes and poison yourself and contact railtrack too.
Have a look at the lionk I've provided and in particular the first item on the page and the 5th.
traps will not help much outside and there is a real risk of killing or maiming a wild animal or pet. Live traps are no good as you need to shoot the rat inside and you have to have good aim and a gun (illegal in the UK). Bait and a bait station are the cheapest, easiest and most effective way to keep a rat population under control without risk to any other animals or birds.
23 years as a poultry keeper, battling wild rats has given me this experience.
BTW I actually like rats and have 2 pet ones named Bodger and Dodger who I am very fond of and who share my toast and marmalade in the morning.

Answer 3

I have exactly the same problem with rats, except we call out the local pest officer who puts down poison. There are types of poison that would be fine with dogs around. Normally there is a blue grain which is put by holes where the rats gain entry to the garden. This grain obviously needs to be covered to stop other animals eating it. However, pest officers from the local government have green boxes with solid blue blocks of poison firmly attached to wires inside. The boxes have small holes allowing rats to get inside, but not any other animals.

I hate using traps as it is far too problematic, and simply not nice. With poison, the rats will usually die in their own nests. I have cats and dogs, and the rats still continue to come. The best thing is to make sure that no food is present in your garden, this includes bird food or even black bags. Make sure all rubbish and food is secure in dustbins.

The only other solution is to physically prevent the rats to get into your garden. The rats were getting under our shed, so we poured concrete all around the shed to prevent them from getting under. We also have blocks of wood and stone to block up any other accessways. The issue in our case is that other peoples gardens are messy causing rats to come in the area, but they still visit our garden even though we make sure it is tidy and clean.

Answer 4

Further to that and way more difficult, how do you keep neighbours cats from coming in my garden and crapping on all the earth I have recently dug over, or even worse, the earth I am about to dig over for the winter... If I wanted a cat to crap in my garden, I would buy one(!)
Goodluck with the rats - the puppies should chase them!

Answer 5

Cayenne pepper! It will keep bunnies out as well. It might take a lot of pepper, but if you place it around the perimeter of your garden (far enough away as to keep plants from absorbing) it works well. If you have the stamina, you might dig a small (1 inch or so) trench to put pepper in so that it doesn't wash off easily.

Answer 6

Put big signs up saying "Rats keep out" or place a hoover in the garden as I know rats are dirty creatures and hate doing the cleaning

Rats wont come into the garden once they know dogs are there because the dogs will beat them up

Answer 7

I see rats in my garden so long has they stay outside I will leave them alone.They seem to be living under neighbours garage like you I have a huge field out my back,luckily no train line.I would leave them when your puppies get older they will chase them assuming you do have them.

Answer 8

The only thing I can suggest is that you make sure there defo no food about, no bird seed or anything in your back garden they only go where the food is, make sure they cant get in your bin, they are clever, they will go anywhere in search of food.

Answer 9

you can but repellants that plug in wall they are harmless to other pets but stop rats mice coming any wehere near house garden. i have one up and one down and I bought mine when they were on offer in aldi for 7.99

Answer 10

Ring council they will send some one round with no charge for rats
If mice they charge you

Answer 11

I had a similar problem and I used one of those ultra sound emitting plug in devices from a DIY store.
It took about 2 weeks to evict them but it definitely worked.
Got rid of them.