Talkback: Mouse in the compost bin

Gardeners' World Web User

arhhhhh,lovely little story and the pictures cute as well....



i have the larger species in my garden[rats] for ages i thought ohhh its sweet and a loner ....NOT now the cheeky chaps had babies....4 that i know of although lovely,sweet and playful...im just praying they will leave soon as i dont want to get the nasty people in to remove them plus my neighbours might not be happy...however there is a steady flow of food [birdnuts in feeders all around the garden] and if i take them down my birds will lose out..
any ideas people to move them away safely...

Gardeners' World Web User

I have dormice, Kate. They make holes in the hazelnuts which are really plentiful this year. Poppy, your female rat and her offspring will soon have more. Make sure your building is rat proof before the winter, when they like to come in for warmth and can cause fires by chewing through electrical wiring.

Gardeners' World Web User

I have woodmice they live under my shed and under my decking. They use to come out a great deal, we use to love watching them collect peanuts and sunflower seeds we put out for the birds, put cats have found their spot and now they seem to only come out early morning. So I have safeguarded a spot for them, with their own peanuts and sunflower seeds. They hve shared our space for four years now. Like the bumblebees have grown very found of them. Oh! and my leaf cutter insects.

Gardeners' World Web User

I have field mice in the garden as we back onto open countryside, We are fortunate to have a high number of birds of prey which often hunt over the garden, along with the local cats they haven't become too much of a problem yet! So long as they stay outside I don't mind!

http://higgysgardenproject.blogspot.com/

Higgy

Gardeners' World Web User

I've had mice in my greenhouse, one year they ate all my sweet peas. I managed to catch them in humane traps and my husband took them and let them go on the common on his way to work (bless him). This year we have had a rat and it has been caught. Poppy, I think you will have to remove them, they breed so fast and I think the babies are ready to breed in about 5 weeks. I have read on google that a pair of rats and their offspring can produce 1500 in a year. Hope that helps, good luck.

Gardeners' World Web User

oh dear i think im gonna have to get rid of them,happymarion and donutsmrs,i just dont want to kill them,as i feel awful doing that,ive been looking on line so i may buy a pest repellant that you plug in and put 1 in the shed although they are not in shed but just t cover myself [as i dont want a fire] and plug 1 in the garden as i have a power point on wall [just have to keep check of weather...
any other ideas of getting rid of them kindly,my neighbour did say maybe the snake may of controlled them by eating them but that hasnt worked...plus i have a dog,hedghogs and im worried it will harm them....

Gardeners' World Web User

I know how you feel about killing them Poppy, I let my husband deal with it as I didn't want to see it and it made me feel so sad that we had to do that. The trouble is I think they can carry a lot of disease. I know you can get humane rat traps like you can for mice but when you've caught them what do you do with them, so may be the plug in ultrasonic devices will work, keep us informed Poppy on how it goes.

Gardeners' World Web User

Poppy, you may like to hear what i do to be safe from rats. They do like bare ground to did their holes (spherical tops) so I use ground cover a lot in my large garden, although "weeds"left to do there own thing will do it too, but I prefer the pretty ones like yellow archangel, acaena microphylla, perennial sweet peas, the poached egg plant, phacelia, etc. No sign of rat holes when the ground is covered! My resident fox is a great help too. If I ever see a bare patch I rush to plant something in it because I have never forgotten the stench from the dead rat I had once under the floor boards.

Gardeners' World Web User

I recently had a field mouse that found its way from the garden to my sitting room. I purchased a humane mouse trap in my local pet shop (Caterham, Surrey), I put a few pieces of chocolate inside and it worked within minutes. As soon as I heard the mousetrap close, I took it back to the field and released the mouse!.I purchased 3 humane mouse traps, in case there was more than one mouse in my house/garden. Each costs under £4. I believe that a field mouse is harmless, but if in doubt, you can throw away the humane mousetrap after use. You'll get a good feeling about saving the mouse's life!

Gardeners' World Web User

Are you all mad? Unfortunately rats are vermin, carry disease and breed prolifically, you must destroy them or be overrun. I put rat poison into sealed bags laced with peanut butter and put near ratruns( a farmer told me they can't resist it and only rats and mice will chew through plastic) No wonder farmers laugh at us
backyard gardeners, pussyfooting about!

Gardeners' World Web User

hi happymarion,well thats confused me as my garden is full of plants [hardly any bare patches anywhere]
what i think the main problem is ..my garden backs onto farm/woods and im not sure they are even any rat-nests as i cant even find any holes,they just come through the fences....however have today got a plug in rat repellant so fingers crossed......