Aaaow I was going to tell you how lovely ratties are then I read your last paragraph.

Ah i like rats well tame ones that is , i agree with zb get the traps down sharpish before you end up with a few Bobs thats taking up residence and then you will never get shot good luck evicting the little critters xxdk

I can't use the traps in case Georgie goes to investigate Although I'm keeping him well away from the enclosed bit at the side of the house, with my forgetfulness you just never know! The rat man has stuffed the big rat boxes well into the back of the hedge and they're tightly shut with the poison inside, so Georgie will be safe! He would never dream of eating one of the dead ones, so he'll be fine. The man said they hadn't ventured into the front garden at all, even though that big hedge goes all the way down to the front, so that's good. If I hadn't noticed in time things might be different though! I might even have had one popping his little head out of the toilet, as they do! Lol!

EUGHHHHh I feel sick. Get rid of them quick before the whole family comes to stay. I need a pee and i really wish you hadn't mentioned rats and toilets in the same sentence

I hate wild rats, yuk, I grew up on a farm and used to completely freak if I saw one,my parents always had terriers on the farm. .......They loved rats

Hi ZB,
ferrets are great to watch when working, and what can I say about terriers I know China is a blur when she goes after starlings she will flushed them out of the trees and in full flight will grab them out of the air and then spit it out and go for the next one
shiba,
I must be a little bit on the twisted side as I love rat, spiders and snakes and if I was back in my home state I would have a carpet snake living with us

Many years ago I worked as a docker in Grangemouth docks, the rats I saw there were huge I saw one the size of a Jack Russell.

xxdk

A bit of the bird food always gets flicked onto the ground as they eat, that's what ratty is going after. I hate them too, (Even 'tho I told DK how to catch one alive) I think it's from reading 1984 by George Orwell.

I expect Zoundz will be along shortly to tell us all what lovely creatures they are

I bought and froze 4 young rats today for my snakes never thought i'd see the day i had rats and mice in the freezer alongside the chicken.

Awww, I feel for you - we had the same problem a while ago (different house, near open fields). It was also the bird feeder that attracted them in our garden. I once saw one lift a full net of peanuts and run off with it!

Well I guess the expert should know, but rats are extremely clever and it wouldn't surprise me if they could climb up the poles!!

Hope you get the problem solved, the trouble with wild rats are all the diseases they can carry, I wouldn't want them in my garden either