While having any feathered friend come to visit is a delight, putting out food for birds can also entice some more unwelcome visitors. Bird feeders can be an attractive sight for garden rats, and they can be inclined to help themselves to the feed. While bird feeders don’t necessarily cause rat problems, if a rat perceives your garden as a reliable source of safe food, it might be inclined to overstay its welcome. To avoid these pests making a home for themselves in gardens, experts at Really Wild Bird Food recommend doing one thing.
Although this isn’t an ideal solution, avoiding putting food scraps and bird food out for a few weeks can be used as “a last resort solution for trying to stop rats from scrounging around your garden”.
They explained that not putting bird food and scraps out for a while can stop rats from thinking of your garden as a food source.
After a few weeks of no food, “the rats should stop coming”. If you’re going to use this method, it is recommended to do this in the summer months when there are many alternative food sources for wild birds.
For this method to be “truly effective”, you also have to be cautious about leaving any other food sources for rats.
If you can help it, don’t eat outside, and if you do, ensure you take all of your mess with you, and don’t leave crumbs or food that might encourage rodents.
It is also worth noting that if you have any holes in your bin bags or wheelie bins, rats can gain easy access to them, so cover them with something solid or cover them with plastic sheeting.
Leaving any holes or open spaces for them to enter will just cause more trouble in the future.
Also, keep your garden free of leaves and other debris, as this is where they will nest if given the opportunity.
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