Hello,
I've been feeding birds in my garden since just before the big garden birdwatch 2019 and I live in a council owned upstairs flat and I love watching wildlife since I started working from home just over 2 years ago.
The guy below me had mice in his house 3 and a half years ago but he filled in all the vents etc and they stopped. Around 3 months ago he started hearing scratching and laid traps and caught some mice. Due to covid the council said pest control couldn't come out for anything other than rats but after constant calls and the fact after 52 years the guy has moved back into his parents they sent out pest control who put down a bait box 23rd September.
I've had 2 wildlife cameras pointing on the bait box since and on the first day we found a dying rat next to the bait box, I've seen 1 mouse since but it didn't go in the bait box.I moved the camera slightly so it points at a near drainpipe and noticed that we have rats living in the wall next to the drain pipe, they don't leave the house or enter it via this hole, they just come out for a drink and then head back in again. Typically I'll have a video every 20 minutes with the rats drinking, they don't drink much so I think there is definitely more than 1.
This is near to the gate at the bottom right of my garden (out of shot), very far from the feeders (two poles in the far left of the garden and the squirrel feeders are on the left and right fences, both being used in this picture).
Now pest control came out today and said there's nothing else they can do because it's up to the council now to rip up his floors etc. However this is the first time he also said my bird feeders and squirrel feeders need to go. The reason was because they'll prefer this food to his bait.
I suffer from anxiety and as have many people since lockdown turned to wildlife for happiness but it breaks my heart knowing that after 2 years my hard work of attracting the birds will stop. There are 4-5 squirrels that visit every day too, I've seen 3 of them visit since they were babies this year.
I'm going to move the cameras to film around the feeders at night to see if they are feeding from anything on the ground and I'll buy feeders with catch trays if I have to but I buy quality seed so never see any waste on the floor around them, anything that is dropped (jackdaws attacking the fat balls for example) is quickly eaten by pigeons which sit on my roof all day.
I thought I would reach out to see if anyone else has had this problem, or it been suggested that by having feeders attracts rats and it may sound silly but if I do stop feeding them the squirrels and birds will be ok yeah?
Thanks for reading.