by hannahHow To Get Rid Of Rats In The Garden
Gardens are often a haven for wildlife. Whether it’s wild birds or even mammals, such as foxes or badgers, many homeowners love to see nature up close.
Unfortunately, some wildlife is less welcome than others. Rats are a pest, and can be highly destructive and spread diseases, so they can be a serious issue.
As a leading provider of rat control for homes across Cheshire, Pest In Peace understands how stressful rats in your garden can be. That’s why we’ve put together this guide to how to get rid of rats in the garden for good.
Why Do Rats Enter Your Garden?
Like most vermin, rats look for shelter and food sources, so if they find them in your garden, they will stay and emit pheromone trails to entice other rats to the area.
Rats eat almost anything, so whether it’s unsecured household food waste, badly stored pet food or unprotected bird feeders, if they find a food source, they are likely to stay in the area and breed.
So while seeing one rat in your garden isn’t necessarily cause for concern, it could lead to more rats entering the area and, eventually, a full-blown rat infestation.
Dangers Of Garden Rats
Rats can cause serious issues for homeowners, even if they’re just in the garden. Some dangers of having rats in your garden include:
- Property Damage: Rats can cause significant damage to garden sheds, outbuildings, garden furniture and your home’s exterior. They can also uproot plants and generally make your garden a mess.
- Health Risks: Rats are a significant health risk, as they can spread diseases and parasites including Rat Bite Fever, Hantavirus and Plague. If the infestation is left, the local authorities may get involved, as a major rat infestation can become a public health hazard if not addressed.
- Stress: Having rats on your property can be incredibly stressful for you, your family and your pets.
- Potential For Further Issues: Once in your garden, rats can make their way into your home, causing further property damage and even increasing your risk of a fire if they chew through live electrical wires. As such, it’s key that you start controlling rats as soon as you notice them in your garden.
Signs Of Rats In Your Garden
Rats are relatively large rodents, so the most obvious indicator of their presence is seeing them. However, rats are mostly nocturnal, and scared of people, so here are some other tell-tale signs of rats in your garden:
- Rat Droppings: Rat droppings are dark brown to black, cylindrical pellets that are often found in clusters.
- Paw Prints Or Rat Trails: Rats have four toes on their front feet and five toes on their back feet, which are usually larger. You may see paw prints like these in mud around compost heaps or flower beds, or even rat trails, where rats have dragged their heavy tails through mud to leave behind a large scuff mark.
- Grease Marks: Rats have greasy fur that often leaves behind marks on walls, shed doors, plant pots and garden furniture.
- Rat Holes: If rats are living in your garden, then they may dig rat holes to burrow in. The holes are small and round, going deep into the earth.
- Chew Marks: All rodents have incisors that don’t have any roots, meaning they grow constantly, and they have to chew regularly. That means you may notice chew marks on items throughout your garden.
How To Deter Rats From Your Garden
While there is never any guarantee, there are some simple techniques you can try to rat proof your garden and deter rats from entering:
- Remove Food Sources: Make sure all potential food sources, including stored pet food or bird feed, bird tables and feeders, compost heaps or compost bins, fallen fruit from trees, rubbish bins and other food items are kept secure or removed.
- Block Potential Entry Points: If rats find it easy to gain access to your garden, they’re more likely to enter, so make sure obvious openings, such as holes in your fence, existing shallow tunnels dug by other animals, or other ways rats could gain entry to your garden, are all securely blocked. Also, make sure you check your home, as broken air bricks or ventilation covers could allow rats to get inside and cause even more issues.
- Move Things Around: Rats are neophobic, meaning they are frightened of new objects. As such, if you rearrange your garden regularly, you could potentially reduce your chances of encountering a rat problem in the future.
- Keep Your Garden Tidy: Rats are prey, so they don’t like open spaces and will look for spaces to hide, such as large shrubs or wood piles. If you can keep garden plants trimmed and make sure there are no overgrown areas for rats to disappear into, it will make your garden less attractive to rats.
- Let Your Pets Roam: While you should never get a pet just to deter rats, if you already have one, then you should be aware that dogs and cats are natural predators to rats. So, allow your dog to roam the garden regularly, and even if you have an indoor cat, consider a catio to allow them to spend time in your garden and make the space unappealing to rats.
What To Do If You Have A Rat Infestation
For large rat infestations in your garden, or if they’ve found entry points and made it inside your home, Pest In Peace can provide professional rat control services. Our team have the skills needed to eradicate rats and pest proof the area to stop them from returning.
As rats are often mistaken for mice, or, if they’re in your attic and you can’t see them, squirrels, we also offer support removing all rodents. Whether you need mouse control, squirrel removal, or any other pest or bird control service, we’re the only provider you need for your Cheshire property.
Our team are all RSPH Level 2 Certified, so we have access to rat control products that aren’t available to the general public. These solutions are non-toxic and won’t affect pets or non-target species, protecting your property but also the local environment. We will also focus on preventing rats from re-entering, so that we can ensure other vermin don’t use the same routes as the ones we’ve just removed. As such, working with us is much safer and more effective than buying DIY rat poison and trying to control rats yourself.
If you’re ready to get rid of rats in your garden for good, contact us on 07980 597423 to book professional rat treatment.