My friend has discovered a rat run in her garden and has seen them during the day. Is there anything that is kid and dog proof she can use to get rid of them?

Is there anything that is kid and dog proof she can use to get rid of them?

I think you mean 'kind'. Just put a little notice up saying 'No Rats Here Please', thats not to offensive so won't hurt their feelings to much.
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Does she know what they are travelling to is it a food source if that can be removed it might help. I am a lover of Fancy Rats but can see that the wild variety can be problematic.

May have to call out pest control they will be able to deal with problem safely. Please no glue traps though horrid things and not safe for kids or pets

We live in the middle of a field. I saw rats near one of our bird feeders. Husband put out bait boxes and thought the problem was solved. This week I went to the garage to get some camping gear out. They had eaten a cloth generator cover, brand new caravan awning flooring, the awning and a fabric dog crate.

Called insurance- not insured against rodent damage. Called rat man who discovered 17 active rat runs which are all now baited with poison, they have got into the garage roof and the cavity wall. I am assured by them that IF the dog were to find a dead rat and eat it it would not be harmful. The only fortunate part of this is that all the activity is not where the dogs ( 4 terriers!) have access to. It is breeding season so the problem has to be dealt with swiftly.

Remove whatever it is they are after (bird food is a favourite) clear any rubbish away from buildings, check if there is a compost bin which is attracting them, if you have a compost bin they do not like the smell of urine as that signifies another predator. Feral cats normally sort them out too.  

Forgot to say that our rat man said that as soon as you see a hole appear fill it in.

Even though we have 2 Patts that are great ratters we still have the 'Rat Man' come out on a regular contract. He puts the boxes in safe places that cannot be reached by our chickens, goats, sheep, horses and 6 dogs. The pest control people are usually very careful where they place the boxes when other animals are around. Our dogs still find rats etc in the woods under fallen trees etc but the everyday rat runs are now gone, so the stables and barns are rat free.

Don't have much to add to the good advice already given - except to sympathise with your friend!  Rats are a nuisance in so many ways and, much as I admire their tenacity, need to be controlled!

We've had trouble with them from time to time and again recently since our cat died.  Fortunately only outside - so far.

We use baited locked boxes and put slabs over the boxes to weight them down.  Our dogs are never near them unsupervised but we also make sure to use the kind of poison which is solid and which threads onto a rod in the middle of the locked bait box.  This means that even IF the box got moved somehow (not really possible where we place them) the poison cannot fall out as it could if you use the pellets/grain type.

We've tried to remove any possible food sources and sadly have stopped feeding our wonderful wild birds as this was just attracting the little so and so's onto the patio directly outside our patio doors - not acceptable !!!

The latest lot of poison seems to have worked but we are not complacent!  Good luck to your friend.

I think you mean 'kind'.

No, I think she means 'kid and dog proof'. In other words, something that will harm/kill rats but won't harm/kill dogs or children.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm seeing her later and will let her know. She backs onto a field and the rat run is alongside the boundary wall. I know they can be hard to get rid of as we had to use poison but I could control the area and the stuff we used said once it killed them would be harmless to dogs, I hated coming across a dead one unexpectedly but hated seeing them around during the day even more. I've read that peppermint oil is a deterrent but I think they're very tenacious and not sure if it would get rid of them.

Yes - I think most poisons available for domestic use used would be harmless to dogs if they consumed part of a dead poisoned rat - but obviously something to be checked carefully.

I don't like using poison but I really don't think there is any other way to control them properly.  You know you are getting on top of the problem when, after checking the boxes regularly and replenishing the bait, you find that no more bait is being taken ...

I walked past what I thought was a dead one in one of our flower borders, told husband, he went out got it on shovel and it came alive so he shot it. I have been checking every time I let the dogs out as the rats have been discarding the poision sachets following the bait being laid last week :( We too live backing on to and surrounded by fields. I have removed one bird feeder and haven't seen any rats but had to leave one out as it is by the nesting boxes which are occupied.

My only neighbour has shot another 4 :( Rat man returning this week to rebait.

There is a poison called Eradi-bait which is non harmful to birds of prey, cats, dogs and kids.
http://www.eradibait.com/

It works by drying out the rat or the mouse from the inside because they eat so much of their body weight whereas the other animals would have to eat crazy amounts for the same affect.

Had a dog in at work who'd eaten loads of a tub too with no effect :)

We have a problem with rats in the walls of the house -have horses, chickens etc next door so always rats around. Used Eradibait and unfortunately the rats don't like it!! So spent a small fortune (they need to eat a LOT of it) for no use at all as they won't eat it.

I tried Eradibait too some years ago, rats didn't touch it either.
Off the shelf stuff I've found to be most effective is Noroxine Gold.

I know of two Sibes who died from eating poisoned rats, so do please be vigilent. Certainly one was due to 'the rat man' not following correct procedure nears the dogs :-(

I've always wondered about that Sarah, I only use bait now if absolutly necessary, mainly because of that very concern,although Daisy wouldn't touch dead rats, we have owl's and an otter that visit our garden, I certainly wouldn't want to end up poisoning them.

The rat man visited again yesterday to check activity. I told him that we had replaced the bait back into 3 holes as they were pulling it out, he said he had never seen that before- trust us to have unusual rats :( Thankfully the baited area is nowhere near where the dogs have access to but I still check first thing in the morning before I let the dogs out. I again asked re dangers near dogs and he again assured me that the dog would have to eat an awful lot to be affected. I do not know what the name is of the bait but I saw on the bucket "pasta rat bat"

He hopes that next week when he visits we should be clear :)

Google pasta rat bait and lots come up

Someone in the area must be using poison as I found a present of a very dried out rat on the front doorstep, it was only identifiable by the tail. I think the wildlife is abundant just now, not only rodents but major numbers of wild rabbits and pigeons around.

These work with all the species they are designed to eradicate.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?client=opera&q=sonic+rat+repeller&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
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