Many of us are enjoying the outdoors more now that the sun is out, but this also means pests such as rats are likely to be lurking in your garden as well. It may seem easy to use poison to deal with these annoying rodents, but this can greatly harm the local wildlife, neighbourhood pets and is especially not recommended if you own any pets.
Instead, the gardening experts at William James have suggested first removing anything that might be tempting rats to go onto your garden, like bird feeders. They said: “Rats eat grains and seeds, so if you have bird feeders or squirrel feeders in your garden, it’s best to take them down for a while until the rat problem is resolved.”
Rats are very opportunistic, so they will stay in an area if they can smell food, and bird feeders are one of the easiest ways they can scavenge without much effort.
Seeds can fall onto the ground while birds peck at them, and if you hang a feeder near a shed, fence or tree, then rats will have no problem climbing to reach it.
The best way to keep rats away is to not overfill bird feeders and to take them inside at night, as rats are nocturnal.
Some people also put chilli powder in their bird seeder as birds are unaffected by spicy food and can even enjoy them, while it will greatly irritate rats.
However, the best way to keep rats away as the weather heats up is to simply keep your garden tidy so there are no food sources around for them to sniff out.
The expert said, “The first step is to make sure there are no food sources for the rats in your garden. This means clearing up any spilt bird seed or pet food, and making sure all compost bins are securely covered.”
It is also a good idea to cover any water sources in your garden, like a bird bath at night, as rats will be more drawn to them as the temperature rises.
Many berry bushes like strawberries, raspberries and blackberries can begin to fruit in May, so make sure to keep them tidy and there are no fallen scraps for rats to feast on.
Rats have highly sensitive noses are will naturally seek out a place with smells they like, so just be careful to keep any crops protected the closer we get to summer.
Use netting to cover berry bushes, or grow them in a raised bed to keep them safe, but the best protection for any crop gardener may be a cat, as the scent will drive rats away.
The expert said, “Natural predators can be a great way to help keep rats away from your garden. If you have a cat, it can help to keep the rat population down.”
You can also try to attract other natural predators for rats, like owls and foxes, as this will also easily keep rats away without having to use poisonous chemicals in your garden.