[rowlandwells]

a friend of ours was quite concerned that rats where invading there garden eating  the bird food  the rats found it quite easy to climbing on the table and on the branch of the tree where the feeders had been placed and food that had fell on the ground

he said he had been told to put a bucket under the table that was quite difficult to catch all the bird seed that fell of the table and under the tree and then told to empty the buckets at night as rats only fed at night that was new one on me as i have seen rats feeding in the daytime when things where quiet and no one around I've put poison in a bucket and seen rats munching away in daylight

so what to do to stop rats eating the bird food without actually stopping feeding birds our neighbour had to stop feeding the birds several days so I could catch the rats which I did after which he relocated the bird feeders and at present we haven't seen any rats [touch wood]  but further up the street another lady said they had rats living in there compost bin again feeding  from the bird feeders and they didn't want to put poison  down because of other animals

so its a bit of a dilemma what to do about rats feeding from the bird feeders because you don't want to stop feeding the birds but at the same time you don't want to encourage rats to nest and breed witch they undoubtedly will do under  sheds or any warm dry place given that the bird food or any other food is in plentiful supply I've got to admit this is one I can't answer and  its definitely a no no to put any leftover food on the ground or table or in the compost bin :(anyone got any thoughts on this ?

[Subversive_plot]

I would definitely not put poison out in any way that could mix with bird seed. You run the risk of killing more birds and other wildlife than rats.

[grinling]

rat traps baited, but kept away from birds. Wire the bottom of a compost bin, might be useful to empty it and put on soil. rats require fresh water, so netting the source

[rowlandwells]

yes I did suggest to my friend  put wire mesh on the compost bins grinling but as there  home made with pallets it could be a bit difficult but not impossible

as far as the putting rat poison down a little bit of common cense prevails so the poison   doesn't  come into contact with any other wild life simple if you know how to do it 

[Goosegirl]

When we had poultry we used to get rat bait and put it right inside a drain pipe so the birds and other wildlife couldn't  get at it. Worked for us.

[rowlandwells]

you had the rite idea Goosegirl my dad would do the same when we kept poultry and yes it did worked