Hi Deanne, I would place a free standing feeder post with a fitted baffle dome beneath and attach seed catchers to each feeder, this way the rat cannot climb up to the feeders and any fallen residue will land into the catcher which is like a saucer attached to the bottom. i have a photo of my free standing feeder to give you an idea of the baffle dome but you will need to add the seed catcher to the underneath of each feeder (and don't leave any seeds out on ground at all) .........
Good luck, hope it solves the problem.
post edit: you are completely right about not using poison as not just your dogs but other wildlife/birds could suffer as a consequence.
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Regards, Hazel
Thank you Hazel, I have ordered a baffle and will see how it goes. I'll see how it goes and may get the Seed Catchers too. My only hesitation with those is that we get a lot of ground feeding birds. The Blackbirds, Robins and Chaffinches seem particularly keen to feed from the ground rather than the dangling feeders.
Besides, I am not sure how effective a seed catcher would be up against the population of up Parrots. We get up to 8 at a time and they make the most frightful mess!
yes, I can see the problem if you have the parakeets ! we have wood pigeons here so they tend to use the seed catchers as an easy perch, however, if you just try keep the ground beneath swept up each night then this should solve the problem of the rat without having to revert to the catchers. The baffle domes on the free standing posts are brilliant, we have three fitted as we have grey squirrels that are a constant nuisance and it is the only device that prevents them reaching and eating the food lol
post edit: I notice you have fat balls in nets Deanne. It is advisable to remove the nets as birds can often get their feet caught in the netting with drastic consequences . You can buy cheap fat ball holders for £1.99 so I would opt for that and remove all netting. Manufacturers are slowly getting the message not to wrap net around fat balls as often folk don't know these can prove dangerous to birds and wildlife. I used the same hanger for netted fat balls as you when I first started feeding the birds until a fellow forumite advised me of the dangers of nets.
I have the exact same multi feeder as you Deanne, May i ask do you ever have bother with the penut feeder un twisting and tipping the peanuts everywhere? As i have had to get rid of my peanut one due to this, and since peanuts are toxic to dogs (my dog is a hoover) i need to keep them away from her.
Lucy, No, I've not had that issue, but I do see how it can happen. I always make sure the tops are on good and tight.
As for Peanuts, from what I have read, they are only toxic to dogs in the same way that they are toxic to some humans. Ours are fine... in fact we use a spoonful of peanut butter to keep them occupied while they have their nails clipped so never had to worry about them spilling.
Thats interesting, I was always told Peanuts is a big NO NO lol! its really interesting to hear something different but no doubt mine would be one of those that would react lol!
Yea i always tried to keep them as tight as possible but my Crows kept swinging on them and shaking them lose to the point they fell off (its now located in the woods where the red squirrel now unties it and takes all peanuts lol)
Your Parakeets are beautiful! we don't get them up here. Very Exotic looking birds :)
I'll trade you 4 Parakeets for a red squirrel any time!
Train you dogs to chase the rat? My aunts dog "dealt" with a rat problem at a relatives house (on the advice of the rat-catcher who wasn't so efficient!).
Millie & Fly the Border Collies
Interestingly, they have become more and more aware of the issue. They have scared it good and proper a few times but the Rat still comes out at all times of day.
Haha, Well if i had loads of red squirrels like how others have loads of greys i'd ship them down to you lol! but atm i have only seen 2 reds in this set of woods :) I bet there very characterful birds.
I too would advice training and rewarding your dogs for chasing the rats, the more praise they get the more they will seek it out, Like previously mentioned making sure there is no more feed left around would help too, (have you thought about trying to catch it in a humane trap?
I heard once from someone (or maybe i read it on the internet) that if you mark the garden in cat wee then it deters the rat as there is a "preditor" in this area, not sure if this works or not as i'v not had a rat problem (as far as i am aware of anyways...)