Hole in flowerbed - rat??

T

Toby

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We have decking out the back that is flush with the house and the lawn and flowerbeds. There are no gaps anywhere where where something could crawl under the deck.

Today I found a hole in the flowerbed near where it meets the deck and I'm wondering if its an entry/exit point for something thats getting under the deck :( Its about the diameter of a tin of beans.

Is this likely to be a rat? If so what should we do? I'm reluctant to use poison in case the thing goes and dies under the deck and cos of risk to kids also. Would some kinda trap be a good idea or is it worth calling Rentokil or the like? Thanks.
 
i'm afraid it's a rat. sounds like your decking is laid the same way as ours. we put down poison and they ate it. we put it under the decking, in the hole and under our garden shed. our neighbours set 2 rat traps and caught 2 big fat rats. yuk! no sign of any more since them so we hope we've got them.

we disinfected everything and dug a big trench along the length of the decking and hammered mesh wire along it, then filled it in again. it means that if they try to burrow they will hit mesh.

hope this helps.
 
neets said:
...hammered mesh wire along it, then filled it in again. it means that if they try to burrow they will hit mesh...
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Mesh won't act as a deterrent for rats I'm afraid, they'll just chew through it. Rumour has it that the only effective rat barrier consists of concrete with finely broken glass mixed liberally through it.

scuby said:
cat maybe ?
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You had to put the puddy-tat in - I was going to say toad and we'd have been on our way to a Wind in the Willows story.
 
Rats seem to like nesting under decking. You could try blocking the hole with a tin of beans.
 
Seems to be some weird holes appearing in gardens around the country.
How about this 1 metre deep hole dug straight down. [broken link removed]
No moles in Ireland as far as i know.
 
Irish Garden said:
...
How about this 1 metre deep hole dug straight down...
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I don't agree with poster on other forum about it being an intra-terrestrial, although s/he makes a good case (of poitin, apparently).

In truth the one-meter deep vertical excavation shown is typical of those made by a "digger rat" aka Ratus antepodenus, a species that has a very limited tolerance of our lack of sunshine, Foster's and barbies, and digs straight home (hence the vertical shaft) at the first opportunity.

Irish Garden said:
...No moles in Ireland as far as i know...
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I dunno, I thought the Bertie-gate tribunal featured a few moles. They keep media-types as pets and feed them on secrets and leaks.

If I'm wrong and we have no moles, a Wind in the Willows feature is fecked now altogether as we have no toads either.

Which brings me nicely to an alternative suggestion for Toby, the OP here. Instead of poison, Rentokil, etc., get yourselves a cat , a viscous hungry female and she'll clear whatever rodents are in the vicinity.
 
Just to clarify the situation (re: Wind in the Willows):

We have no moles in Ireland, but we do have toads (of the Natterjack variety) in some parts of Kerry. We don't have weasels either, but we do have stoats, pine martens and minks. And don't forget badger - rakes of those!
 
Thanks guys for the clarification re moles: I wasn't exactly sure if they lived here or not, but knew they were hole-making-culprits elsewhere! I Googled them, and couldn't find much about them in Ireland. That'd explain why!
:)
Nicola
 
Yes, It's a rat. I found a similar hole in my garden. I set a big rat trap and next morning it looked like a murder scene - blood everywhere, on soil, flowers path, wall etc ................ but no rat. I reckon a magpie took it off the trap. No holes or rats since.
 
ophelia said:
Yes, It's a rat. I found a similar hole in my garden. I set a big rat trap and next morning it looked like a murder scene - blood everywhere, on soil, flowers path, wall etc ................ but no rat. I reckon a magpie took it off the trap. No holes or rats since.
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The rat probably ran/limped/crawled off with the sprung trap attached.
Traps would disappear in a similar fashion on my parents farm , but it all stopped when the trap was chained to an immovable object.
Trap and rat present in the morning. :)
 
ugh, only checked in now and I was hoping I'd be told "no don't be paranoid rats don't dig like that". Most unsettling to think of a rat so close to the house and deck where my 2 year old merrily picks food off the ground. Off to buy a trap this weekend then....

There are actually two neighbours' cats prowling around our garden most days but they don't seem to have done the trick - or maybe this is why they are so fond of our garden...
 
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