As autumn comes in, people are putting out food for bird feeding, but a tricky problem holds them back – rats, an expert shares simple tips to keep them away and continue feeding garden birds
An expert has recommended tips on preventing rats coming to your bird feeders(Image: Trudie Davidson via Getty Images)
The colder months are settling in and that means more people are keen to leave food out to support garden birds. But many stop doing so because of one pesky problem: rats.
This expert shares that you still can do both, feed birds and not entice rodents. Lucy Taylor from Vine House Farm Bird Foods, shares easy steps that you can take to do so.
Taylor says, “Brown rats – or Common rats as they’re also known – are never a welcome sight in the garden. It’s easy to see why: this non-native species, accidentally introduced to the UK around 1730 on ships from Asia, can cause significant damage, spread disease, and breed at an alarming rate.
The good news is there are simple steps to prevent them from settling in your garden, starting with the most important one – removing their main food source, and in this case that means bird food”.
Rats can be attracted by bird feeders(Image: imageBROKER/Helmut Meyer zur Capellen via Getty Images)READ MORE: Keep pigeons away from bird feeders with this simple 5-minute daily taskREAD MORE: Brits warned over simple mistake leaving food out for birds in October
The three steps that Lucy advises to prevent rats while still feeding garden birds:
Don’t put out cheap bird food seed mixes
This can be a big cause for attracting rats to gardens. This is because bird food mixes that have cheap fillers; wheat or pulses, are not eaten by most birds, and will be pushed out of bird feeders and drop on the ground. Some birds may eat it like, Wood pigeons and Jackdaw, but it is most likely that they will remain there and attract rats at night.
The advice is to buy good quality seed mixes or straight foods like sunflower hearts. Both will minimise the food amount that drops to the ground and all in all, a better use of money.
Use a metal feeder pole or feeding station
The expert says: “Although rats can climb and would probably have little trouble reaching a feeder hung from a fence post or tree branch, they will struggle to get up a smooth metal feeder pole or that on a metal feeding station.”
Another suggestion is adding a plastic baffle to the pole which goes below any feeders. They work for Grey squirrels but will work just as well to stop rats.
Bring in ground trays at night
Taylor shares: “With species such as Blackbird and Robin ideally needing a ground tray or dish to feed from (as ground feeding species they struggle with hanging feeders), leaving this type of feeder out overnight could be an invitation for rats.”
Bring in the trays at night and store it in a garage or another safe place. Put it back out in the morning and this risk is removed.
The expert concludes: “In summary, now is the time of year to increase the level and variety of food you put out in your garden for wild birds. Rats are generally only attracted to gardens by bird food if precautions aren’t already put in place, with the absolute key one being to avoid cheap seed mixes and only use high quality bird food which therefore minimises waste.”
The three simple key steps will make sure your garden birds remain content and fed, and keep rats at bay.
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