What Is the Best Way to Deal With Rats in a Huntingdon Home or Garden?

A rat is interested in a property for three reasons: it can get in, there is something to eat, and there is somewhere to live. Every one of those is something you can look at yourself this afternoon.

One: Can They Get In?

BPCA's figure is 15mm — the gap a rat needs to get into a structure. Their guidance is to eliminate gaps around pipes and under sheds. Walk the outside of the building slowly and look at:

• Every pipe and cable entry — under the sink, behind the boiler, where the gas and water mains come in. The commonest route by a distance
• Air bricks, for cracked, missing or badly fitted covers
• Under external doors, especially where a threshold has worn
• Where the floor meets the wall on older property
• Around soil and waste pipes passing through a wall
• The eaves and roof line, reachable from a fence, a drainpipe or a branch
• Gaps into the cavity at ground level
• Drain and gully covers, for cracks, gaps and missing rodding eye caps

Two: Is There Anything to Eat?

• Bird feeders. Spilled seed under a feeder is the single commonest rat attractant in a domestic garden. Not the feeder — the ground beneath it
• Pet food and bird seed in bags rather than sealed hard containers
• Bins with lids that do not close, or bags left on the ground
• Compost containing cooked food, meat or bread
• Fallen fruit left where it drops
• Chicken runs, rabbit hutches and aviaries, and the feed around them
• Barbecues, outdoor kitchens and drains carrying food waste

Three: Is There Somewhere to Live?

• Decking with an accessible void beneath
• Sheds and summerhouses standing on bearers
• Dense ground cover, ivy, brambles and long grass along a boundary
• Log piles, rubble and stacked material against a wall
• Disused outbuildings, unopened garages, old vehicles
• Banks, ditches and overgrown corners

What to Do With the List

Deal with the food first, because it is free and immediate. Deal with the harbourage next, because it is also free and it changes the property permanently. Keep the access list for whoever does the proofing, and do not close anything until the building is confirmed clear.

Where there is already an established problem, the audit will not clear it on its own. It will, though, decide whether you see us once or every autumn.