Hey everyone. Me and my partner have recently bought our first house about 6 weeks ago, we’ve always wanted our own back garden and the first thing I bought for it was a hanging bird feeder that hung up under our beautiful tree. The day later our next door neighbour asked if we had hang one up cause of the increase in bird flying through their garden and they go right over their garden table, we live right next to a railway line that’s surrounded by bushes that the birds live in, so they fly over cause we’re about 4 houses down. I left it another day and bumped into her outside, she then mentioned it again saying “we’ll figure something out” so I moved the feeder away from the tree and put it closer to our back door so they wouldn’t be going over her table to reach the feeder. A couple of weeks pass and her husband asked us if the old tenants told us about the rats… they never did, they said one of the neighbours up from us used to feed the birds but then rats started to appear and told them to stop feeding, however he has said that he doesn’t know how many his rat traps have in them now, so I’m assuming this has been going on for some time. Then today happened… he came to our door and my partner answered, he rudely asked her to meet him in the back garden, she goes out and he shows her this rat, and aggressively asks us to stop feeding the birds, I’m absolutely distraught, I have severe anxiety and just recently been diagnosed with MS so I don’t really go out the house that much and I love wildlife especially birds they bring me great joy. I’m so sad i just thought I’d post here and I don’t know what to do, I have 2 feeders (hanging one and a bird table) I always go out and sweep up any leftover seed musks. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I haven’t stopped crying and severely depressed as it is :(
Rats and residential (also commercial) properties are always going to be a contentious issue.
We're never far from rats, the difference is how visible they are.
To every problem,.there is always a solution, it is just time to find that right manageable solution.
Rats like any other creature will always look for easy food sources, and bird feeders often provide that source in more ways than one. With proper and careful management, rat sightings can be controlled, but not removed.
Probably one of the best, and noting the MS diagnosis, which I'm sorry to read of, depending on your mobility and your partners mobility, keep the feeding area as clear of fallen feed as possible. The less food there is on the ground for rats to feed from, the reduced opportunities for them to visit.
You don't mention whether the garden is large or small, grassed, paved, or even with lots of trees or bushes, so it might be worth considering a slabbed area under the feeder(s) which will aid keeping the ground seed free.
It would also be prudent to engage a professional pest control person to help with keeping the rat population under some form of control. They should be able to help with any humane trapping devices, plus advice on how to keep the rats under control.
We have feeders here, and the occasional rat sighting. Often keeping the feeding area clear, and when they do make a visit, the feeders are removed for 2-3 weeks which helps to deter, but not prevent, future sightings.
regards
John
Cin J
Regards,
Ian.