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Gardening in the UK

Bird feeders and rats

21 years ago

We set up some feeders for the birds in my mother's garden as she is virtually bedridden and it gives her something to watch. They have been there for a couple of months, one for peanuts and one for mixed seed. The mixed seed tends to drop on the ground and we didn't mind as some birds picked it up from there. However we have now noticed a rat, and where there is one there is probably more. Any ideas how we can encourage the birds but keep the rats away? I fear we will have to take them down permanently. It makes me wonder how much we are encouraging the rat population by feeding the birds in general.

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Comments (4)

robert
21 years ago
I think that it's important with bird feeders to make the birds work hard for their food. This involves allowing a gap between each filling so that the birds have time to clear up well. It's amazing how long it can take for them to do this. Having food lying around on the ground at night is not a good idea. Birds that are too well fed tend to become naughty because they have time on their hands!!! (Should that be wings? Such birds do things like pulling the flower buds off fruit trees just for the fun of it.
sunflower2
21 years ago
The best way to get rid of the rat is to call your local council who will come and lay poison traps. I had the same problem last year. The poison is bright blue grains and not attractive to domestic pets.
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You can always try hanging the feeders independent of the trees. A post set into the ground with hooks for the feeders or the shepherd's crooks they sell specifically for this purpose would prevent any damage hanging feeding appliances directly to a tree might incur. As to the pros and cons of feeding birds.......I agree with Dan on this one. Expanding development has restricted/removed many of the natural habitats and food sources and encouraging birds to the garden is overall a very good thing - they are the best natural insect control available! Plus, they are infinitely entertaining. Planting to encourage habitat and to supplement food sources is desirable, but nothing wrong with feeders either. They can bring the birds up close and personal :-)) If you want songbirds, try a "no-waste" mix. Even if it gets scattered on the ground, it gets eaten too fast to hang around to attract rodents. And sapsucker damage to trees is generally more cosmetic than particularly harmful. Since they have a 'preferred' tree menu, you can always avoid attracting them by not planting the trees they like. And as they tend to limit their diet to insects and tree sap, with supplementation from fruits and berries - the seed feeders are unlikely to create additional problems.
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I just came across this thread and thought I could add ideas. I fought the rat battles for 3 or 4 years, collecting over 80 rats in snap traps along the way (yes, I actually kept count). I tried most everything and have concluded that there is only one effective, sustainable solution: eliminate their food sources. They WILL move into your home if there is food nearby, and if not, they will eventually move on (some of my neighbors are now fighting the rat battles). At one point, the rats were so intent on using my attic as home and breeding grounds that, after I sealed off all access points, they literally ate a hole in a cedar shake to regain access. That's when I concluded that you really can't block all access routes - you have to eliminate there reason for wanting to be there. For me, it was mostly bird feeders. I intend to follow up on scarleta's post about the $100 bird feeder. I miss the birds, but each time I put the feeders back up, the rats are back. I've been without feeders for a year, and the only time the rats returned is when I started putting food scraps into my unsecured compost bin. Good luck!
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Rats appeared below bird feeder!
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Comments (3)
Where is your feeder located? My MIL used to put a bowl of birdseed right on her picnic table, and the rats would climb right up and help themselves. You could try one of those feeders that stick to the window with suction cups. That should keep them from being able to climb up to access it. A squirrel proof feeder might also keep them out. My feeder is located on a post with a stovepipe guard to keep out the chipmunks and squirrels, but no rat would be able to get past that guard either.
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They are constantly checking their territory for new food sources, so one or two of them blunder into the feeder and start eating, other birds see them eating and it's been discovered.
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brian2cv
21 years ago
Ideally the seed feeder should have a dish or tray attached to collect split seed before it falls onto the floor. This also stops the seed waste rotting on the ground and killing off anything growing underneath. Not so much of a problem I guess if it is concrete. Are you using a plastic tube type seed feeder? They spill much less seed than the open mesh type used for peanuts.

Brian
pineresin
21 years ago
Use traps that don't need poison. Remember a poisoned rat can kill any owl that tries to eat it, thereby removing one of the main predators of rats and allowing the rats to reproduce even more.

Poisons are only advisable in situations where the dead/dying rats can't be found by other wildlife, which is mainly in buildings and underground in sewers.

Resin

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