Garden Railway Forum

So over the past few days of noticed a few things on my railway have been knocked over .a few little plants have gone missing .yesterday I saw a rat .then today I got a phone call at work from my wife .there are rats on your railway. She got a very good video that I will share with you later .I then spent the rest of the day deep cleaning all the kids toys chairs /slide bikes etc .I have a 3 year old and a 7 mouth old. The garden that backs on to mine is very very overgrown the women keeps ferrits and there is a massive pile of old bedding etc in the garden. I have taken all the buildings off the railway and I could see the rats in her garden moving about .I have now filled in most of the holes in the bottom of the fence .I also told her about the rats .not good hav ing rats in the garden with kids my friend who's a pest control person is coming tomorow morning to put some poison down. I have also had a word with the other neighbours who have also seen rats in there gardens .4 sperate house holds have now reported it to the council. Not something you need at the moment and the smell from the ferrits is not good if the wind is going in a certain direction

That's a real shame Jim, hope you are able to keep your children safe and that the Council actually take some action.
Grant.

Jim, sad to hear. I also keep birds, and my garden back on to a railway and noticed rats not long after moving into the property, and called the council out, who's "rat catcher" attended a couple of times (at a cost). Bottom line, if you have a compost heap, feed wild birds or in any way provide food for them they will never go. My fence now have concert kick-boards, but they will dig under the fence of climb over the fence, if you have a shed of piles of wood they will make a nest. Having made my garden as "rat unfriendly" as I can, and discourage them, I now have bait stations around my garden, and I see very few, but they are still there, don't become complacent if you think they have gone, once they have found your garden, they will find it again.

Sorry to hear about your rat problem Jim, especially with your young children playing in your garden. It isn't confined to country living though, rats are survivors in any location, especially where there is a supply of food. This has been mentioned on the Forum previously and, as Jimmyb says, they will always return to a known food source. ( They must have social media accounts!)
When we moved in to our house we were not aware of rats in the area for many years, that only means they saw us first, so hid! It was only when we began to feed wild birds the rats became more obvious and I have no option but to shoot them as bait boxes would inevitably take out other wild creatures which I would have no desire to harm.
There are no barriers to rats it seems, they will dig under, or climb over fences etc. as Jimmyb has experienced. We have seen them climb trees to reach bird feeders high off the ground, so their sense of smell is good enough to seek out food even from a distance.
None of this makes good reading Jim, but just moving house is not a solution to your problem.

Nasty! I must say I'm no great fan of rats either. They say you are never more than 10m away from a rat, no matter where you live.

I've not seen them in the garden, but no doubt they are there. There are two places under our perimeter fence where it's clear that rat-sized creatures gain access. I have thought of blocking them up but the other night I saw a hedgehog scurrying around in the garden, so I think I'll leave the access points open for now.

Rik

My two young male cats regularly catch rats from the areas they roam.

ge_rik wrote: ↑Wed Jun 03, 2020 12:38 pm Nasty! I must say I'm no great fan of rats either. They say you are never more than 10m away from a rat, no matter where you live.

I've not seen them in the garden, but no doubt they are there. There are two places under our perimeter fence where it's clear that rat-sized creatures gain access. I have thought of blocking them up but the other night I saw a hedgehog scurrying around in the garden, so I think I'll leave the access points open for now.

Rik

Rik, I did have hedgehogs, but the rat problem got so bad the rats made a nest in the hedgehog house, sadly I had to get rid of all the "hidey holes" and had to sink concrete blocks around the aviary shed to stop them nesting under there, so now I know they don't "live" in the garden, but continue to transit.

Thanks for the the replys. Got one rat in the trap tonight and trap replaced .iv been out in the garden tonight and there are quite a few out there in the garden with the ferrits and if seen them coming in to my garden I have also seen them going in and out the shed where the lady keeps her ferrits .

It sounds as though the main attraction for the rats are your neighbour's ferrets and this could be a public health issue? Perhaps a call to the authorities might result in a visit and an enforcement notice for her to resolve the problem at her expense, not yours!
It is well worth a try.

Yes, I agree with Peter, a call to your local Environmental Health dept is a good plan.

philipy wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:15 am Yes, I agree with Peter, a call to your local Environmental Health dept is a good plan.

Good call (no pun intended)

Peter Butler wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 12:19 am It sounds as though the main attraction for the rats are your neighbour's ferrets...

that would be new to me... it's a bit like mice being attracted to cats

...this could be a public health issue? ...

how do you prove that it is ferrets that caused rats infestation...

...Perhaps a call to the authorities might result in a visit and an enforcement notice for her to resolve the problem at her expense, not yours!...

you should be so lucky

disclosures:
I keep no ferrets

btw although ratting with terriers is more popular sport, there are also people using ferrets for ratting
so I would guess, having a word with a neighbour to ask for ferrets to have a go at your rats... might be a better idea (than "reporting to the authorities")

jim@NAL wrote: ↑Wed Jun 03, 2020 11:54 pm I have also seen them going in and out the shed where the lady keeps her ferrits .

Appropriate time for a memory jogger!

Rather than being 'attracted to the Ferrets', I suspect they are after whatever your neighbour feeds them with. Presumably she's not got the ferret food in sealed containers, and if smell from the ferrets is an issue, it may be that she's not keeping on top of her ferret husbandry.
I've not noticed rats, thank goodness, in my garden, but backing onto a field, we are plagued with mice, despite the best efforts of neighbours cats.

Thank you for all ypur kind messages .rat update cought 4 then not seen any for a week .I sealed up all the holes in the bottom of the fence and replaced my railway all good ...... then I come home on Monday my wife and kids are in the garden and you can guess what runs past my 8 mouth old who's on the floor.i have now taken up all the decking and scafolding boards and found a new place where they are coming in .i have blocked up more holes in the bottom of the fence and just about wrecked the garden .we have put more traps down and im now replacing all the decking

I do sympathise with you Jim, once there is a food source, your neighbour's pet food supply in this case, they will continue to visit, and worst of all, breed!
We have a few rats dropping in from time to time following a stream which runs through our land. They're attracted by the wild bird feeders which hang over the water and have made holes in the banks there..... remember, they can dig. At least I know where they are and can keep them under control..... I have shot two this week!
I still believe your neighbour should be made aware of your concerns, particularly for the sake of your daughter.