Yesterday started cleaning up the garden after the winter and found a hole at the very back behind the greenhouse around 3 inch in size , first thought 'rat hole' decided to fill it in and see what happens ..today the whole is back ...worried now as the dogs do go up the back of the garden as they like to mooch around  the bushes ...should I >get it sorted< or leave it ..we have a cat and the neighbour has 4 cats .....so worried about putting poison down.... I also dislike killing any animal..... if it was mice I wouldnt be bothered....

Any thoughts....

If it is a rat it is likely to move on once the dogs are using the area, are they likely to dig it out?

Oh no,  I didn't know they dug!!  I found two holes about that size in my garden!!!

Haven't seen any rats though, thank goodness!!  The dogs don't use that part of the garden though.  We've got a cat though.

Is there anything else it could be?

*Worries*

Paula ... depends really where you live as to what else it could be.. we live in the suberbs of a city..if you live in the country there is more choice as to what it could be!

We're in the suburbs as well!!!  Aaaaargh!!!

probably a squirrel or hedgehog

Ah, now we do have squirrels, haven't seen any hedgehogs.  I know it's ridiculous, but I don't mind squirrels, would far rather it was them than rats.

I didn't know they dug though?

well funny you mention squirrels as we have two who reguarily visit but thought they lived in the trees only bury thier nuts in the soil or grass ...this isnt a small hole like they leave its a neat circular hole  around 3 inches wide. Have filled it in again so will see what we have tomorrow!
Have considered digging it out but will scream like a banchee if a rat run out!!!!! LOL

Think I'll do the same tomorrow and see what happens.

Let me know how you get on Starryeyes

:)

Hate to tell you this but it probably is a rat. We had one that had gone under one of the slabs in our path. My dad kept filling in the hole and the next day it was back - and we had two dogs at the time. We got the council in and they put down poison under the slab where it had a little store of dog food that it had stolen from their run! OH decided he had to see this for himself and lifted the slab - the rat ran out - I ran in the opposite direction :-D - he dropped the slab and it cracked in half! Anyway suffice to say within a few days ratty had gone to rat heaven.

Since then we have owned rats but I still cannot bear wild ones.

{{{shivers}}}

Well, they've been filled in today!!  If a rat comes out of either of those holes, I'm going to have to get a rat dog and I won't be going out there until it's a deceased rat!!!!

*Shivers with Starryeyes*

Squirrels don't live in burrowed holes.

By the size you describe, it is most likely rat burrows and there won't be just one rat! Each nest typically has about 8-10 rats. From experience, one rat burrow quickly becomes two, five...ten...!! There's no point in filling them in - rats are amazing burrowers! I found, last year, they had tried (almost successfully) to burrow under my foundations and up through concrete!!

I have tried trapping...useless

Eventually went for a professional pest control company. They reassured me that the bait they used would have to be eaten in large quantites for it to effect my dogs and cats. The bait was placed inside the burrow and the hole back-filled. All rats gone within a week and no return :)

Did this very thing yesterday......just waiting now as it takes 3/4 days for the rats to expire. We were advised by the Council to take in bird feeders ( which attract rats, ours can be seen climbing the trees!!) and also peanuts as they are an antidote to the poison.

Hubby filled in the holes on Saturday, haven't been out to see if they've been re-dug, but after reading Colliecrew's post, I feel quite queasy!!  Am going to bring in the bird feeders today.

Aaaaaaaagh!!! 8 to 10!!!!

This is a very scary thread that I wish I hadn't opened, as we've had holes in the garden.  OH assures me that we've not had any in quite a few years, but I think he's just trying to placate me!!!

I had rats last year and tried all sorts to get shot of them without killing them, unfortunatly none of them worked, I did try live trapping and caught two in the first week ( which I drove ten miles away and released in the forestry ) but after that they made a wide berth round the trap, I then got the council in who put down three bait boxes and that got rid of them, I now keep a bait box out all the time which I hate doing.
Spud actually caught a huge one and he had quite a battle on his paws, it somehow managed to swing itself onto his back ! that really put the wind up him ! somehow he stunned it and I stepped in with the shovel and made an end of the poor thing.
If you are going to put bait boxes down they should go next to a wall or similar, as this is the most likely route a rat will take, they hate being out in the open, they are also very wary of anything new in their enviroment so any bait boxes put down may take a while to be used.

cant you feed the rats too? i feed the mice under my shed the squirrels and all the birds including the magpies and crows

I guess you could :)

Don't want the disease ridden pests running around my garden though. They are one creature which disgust me - think it finished me off when I was contracting on a farm and saw rats gnawing on the rear end of a sheep.

> cant you feed the rats too? i feed the mice under my shed the squirrels and all the birds including the magpies and crows

Rats help to spread Leptospirosis - Weil's Disease in humans - and I wouldn't want myself, my family nor my dogs to catch this dreadful disease

http://www.rospa.com/leisuresafety/adviceandinformation/watersafety/weils-disease.aspx

Just read through this thread and as I hate rats I can state with hand on heart that the only good rat is a dead rat!!
My mother has a canal at the bottom of her garden and rats sometimes came into her garden,took a major battle to get her to stop putting food out for the hedgehogs.

Kind Regards

My neighbour (now moved away thank goodness ;-) ) blamed me for having rats in my garden. Funny how, when he moved his shed, the holes were underneath it :-) I have a cat that hunts anything small and furry, and 4 dogs that would have caught and killed anything that moved in the garden so don't know how he thought I was to blame.

You lot are NOT making me feel any better, argh!!

Paula - they are easily dealt with relatively inexpensively by professionals so don't worry about it too much :)

Phone a reputable company (our council doesn't do it but it seems others are able to get this service) and they are out within 24 hours to assess the problem. Tell them you have dogs so they can take that into consideration when deciding on most suitable bait etc. They will be gone within no time :)

It's not something I would ignore for a period of time though - the quicker dealt with the better.

I can contend with mice no problem but rats....euuurgghhh. They are the only animals not welcome in (or around) this house!!

update on the whole in my garden ...sent OH down the garden to take a look he poked about a bit flattened it said there wasnt anything there....I have checked everyday since it hasnt changed so whatever it was seems to have gone..... I still think it was a rat hole...

Its amazing how you miss read things could have sworn starryeyes you had written that you had sent oh down the hole to have a look !

Call up Rentokil and they will deal with it.
We've now got rid of ours through killing them. Interesting to read that peanuts are an antidote to poison, will remember that if we get them back again. Horrid things if in the wild...

i still think it could be a hedgehog!

Hedgehogs don't make tunnels ...

I know that squirrels live in dreys in the trees but am now concerned that I havent seen our two squirrels since I asked my hubby to 'take a look' at the whole.. just being ridiculous I know... but they are usually sitting in the trees or running around the garden... :(

> I know that squirrels live in dreys in the trees but am now concerned that I havent seen our two squirrels since I asked my hubby to 'take a look' at the whole.. just being ridiculous I know... but they are usually sitting in the trees or running around the garden... :-(

Well if they've been buried in the hole it's their own fault for pretending to be rats :-D - if they are grey squirrels then they are just rats with fluffy tails anyway - if they are red squirrels then get him to dig the hole out immediately and set them free :-D :-D

HA HA HA .... off out with me spade right away.... he he ..no they are only grey squiggles...but I love watching them... have a pic  of them on my profile page..

We had an older house and we loved feeding the birds, to the extent that we bought seed by the sack load. You guessed it one day I looked out and saw the rats climbing the bird table. So we stopped feeding - to cut a long story short we had our tumble drier in the garage and one day I flew in and the damn rat jumped at me.
I refused point blank to dry the washing and my OH took over loading the drier - one wet day he went in to about 10 rats all over the show, on the floor up the walls------ then he took notice and we installed various traps being so careful of our two dogs, friends are farmers and have evil stuff.

Now we have knocked down the garage, house, shed and everything but I still want to feed birds when I get back home on 26th of this month - so I will start slowly with one table and have it on the patio - first sign of rats and that will be that.

I hate the things my first dog (a scottie called Sweepie) died when I was 11 from a rat bite (44 years ago) but Im welling up now remembering... Yet I love squirrels which are (in effect) tree rats.

oh my fanny aunt...I do feed the birds reguarily ... :(

actually hedgehogs can dig holes, i was looking on the hedgehog site

Yes, hedgehogs can tunnel/burrow. However, they are far more likely to burrow into a pile of leaves and nest there. They can tunnel, but these are very shallow and not of a great length (normally to get themselves under a fence). Rat holes/tunnels are far more complex and dug deeper.

I've lived in the country all my life and have never seen a hole dug/lived in by a hedgehog. Invariably, they are rat or voles (easily identified by the size difference).

Unfortunately, where you feed birds, you run a very high risk of rats. You would think someone would have designed a rat proof feeder by now!! The compromise I have made is to only feed peanuts in a feeder rather than seed which is scattered by the birds. I do know of people who have seen rats dangling from peanut feeders though!!

There are not many cats who would take on a rat so be careful of assuming that because you have cats the rats will be dealt with. Rats are quite ferocious creatures. I once had a cat who brought home a rat once. I couldn't believe the size of the rats teeth!!

I remember when i had my first boxer working up at the kennels one day that i got her from she was running around couldn't see her so called her then wished i hadn't because she came round a corner with a huge rat in her mouth so big it was trailing across the ground still alive.
The bloody thing must have been 3 feet long including its tail.

I really really want to move house now!!

We live next to woodland, our neighbour on the other side of us has a pile of wood for his log burner and the rats live amongst the logs, but use our garden to scurry through looking for food.  Probably 4 or 5 times a year we contact the council who come out and put poison down (away from where the dogs can reach it) they come back every week for about 5 weeks until evidence of the rats has gone (until next time) thankfully our council doesn't charge for this service.

Rabbits?