Ok it had to happend. I have been feeding the birds for about 5 years now and last week the cat brought a rat in the house - thankfully dead. We have many mice (goes without saying when you feed the birds). The cat brings these in too (alive) but we are adept at catching them and have a special container that we use to catch and release them again. I'm not squeamish but even I had to take a step back when dealing with the size of the rat.
Can I just digress at this point and say the rat was actually caught by the cat when trying to eat the hedgehog food. I have since stopped feeding Mr Hedgehog (which is a shame as I often start feeding them around this time so they have a chance through winter). I have also fitted trays under the bird feeders but this has now opened up another issue.
Before, the hanging feeders were left for the smaller birds and the ground feeders for the larger but since I have fitted the trays the larger birds now have a platford on which to get to the hanging feeders. Hence my bird food is going twice as quickly, sometimes within an hour or so after I have put it out. Obviously the good thing is that any more rats don't stand a chance but my pocket is going to suffer!
If anyone has any ideas on how to restrict the hungry hoard from my hanging feeders I would be most grateful.
Regards
Kerry
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kezmo6310/
Thanks Lloyd for your advice. I will take on board what you say. I have since cut down the amount of feeding and put some of the feeders out of reach of the bigger birds, this has helped somewhat, but they are persistent and it's quite funny to watch their acrobatics! I get home too late to put more food out so I'm afraid one serving is all they get. I will, however, look at the feeders you suggest as some of mine could do with renewing anyway.
Many thanks