Rat or mole?
Megan4
Posts: 14
I'm looking for a pest identification if anybody can help?
Something is tunnelling into the stone wall outside our house (see photo). We first suspected rats, but our neighbour seems to think mole, as his garden has been dug up by moles.
I haven't noticed any other signs of rats, apart from that the peanuts in the bird feeding station have been eaten a lot faster than usual, and the seeds thrown on the ground have all been eaten, when previously I have been sweeping up the dropped seed.
We have only just moved into this house and garden, the previous owner didn't mention anything regarding rats etc. But we did find rat poison in the shed. I don't want to kill anything, I think it would be best to deter them away before resorting to poison.
Any advice would be appreciated, on either which animal we are dealing with, or how to deter them from digging up our wall!
Thanks,
Megan
Posts
That’s a rat. You really need to kill then, they are not pets and can spread disease, they multiply very quickly, just one pair of rats can be 2000 in just one year.
it is your duty to get rid of them.
Yes that's rats ... if you don't feel capable of dealing with them yourself you need to get professional pest controllers in ... they are living in your lovely stone wall and will totally destroy it by making tunnels throughout it.
You cannot deter rats ... you have to get rid of them ... the least unkind way is to use proper professional strength bait in locked bait boxes that pets and children cannot get into.
It may be that you need to repeat this every autumn/winter as the rats move from the fields towards houses, looking for easy food and warm dry homes. Just a fact of life.
It's pretty easy to identify mole damage and you may get it if your neighbour does. First you may notice mounds of dug soil, not just in grassy areas but in borders, too. As you walk over your garden you will become aware of strips that suddenly sink beneath your feet. In summer, some plants may be unearthed but not eaten, others will wilt for no obvious reason. When you dig them up you will find tunnels running under them, breaking off roots and leaving them exposed to the air. There is no way to deter moles but they do not carry disease or harm people in any way so your response will depend on how much damage they do and how much you can tolerate. A professional will deal with them for you.
A good post Posy, but the OP has rats, not moles. And it needs to be addressed for all of her neighbours sakes.
True, Lyn, but the OP has been warned of moles to come so I thought it would be useful to know the difference.
Anyone know how big a diameter tube would be needed to put rat bait in.
I have ordinary snap traps in boxes but not caught a rat yet,so thought I might try poison instead.
Looking at a few spec sheets on rat bait boxes they typically have an entry hole between 57 and 65mm.
After a bit of Googling I have found that rats do not really like going into tubes but prefer something like an old wooden box where they can eat sitting up.I shall be looking around for something suitable.The hole would need to be the size suggested.The right size for a rat but not for my hedgehogs!
We live in splendid isolation in rural France but became inundated with rats and mice. We found that poison and traps could not kill them fast enough and we were becoming quite despondent - but help was at hand. A beautiful young male cat sauntered down our drive and decided to stay with us, Apart from becoming a wonderful pet he quickly established himself as chief mouse and rat exterminator. There is now no trace of vermin.
Unfortunately our cat's rodent extermination does not extend to moles, and our land, which is mostly set to lawns, flower beds and veggie patches, is becoming decimated by them. I tried a solar powered electronic deterrent device in the middle of a veggie patch and the moles seem to be attracted to it !
Any ideas please ?