[muckyboots]

HI, I dont know If this is the right place to ask but i'v got rats in my compost heap in the garden . I don't put meat on it ,put 2 traps down but the just ignore them.I have had mice before but not rats, is there any thing else I can do or do I have to live with the problem.

[beansticks]

I'm not sure but i think you have to report rat infestations to the local authority,they will sort the problem for you.

[muckyboots]

Thanks beansticks, I'll give them a ring.Don't want them breeding. 

[beansticks]

Thanks beansticks, I'll give them a ring.Don't want them breeding. 

I know rats are disease ridden ,however mice breed 10 times faster than rats.

[richyrich7]

They won't touch the traps as they are feasting on the contents of you compost bin !

[janet12000]

What traps were you putting down? The rats in our garden ignored the traditional snappy traps  , and guess what (being the clumsiest person in the world) I kept getting caught in them whilst setting them!  
I bought a kind of plastic tunnel thing from b and q which had the bait inside. I set it down in the rats run and they were soon gone.

[grinling]

Cover the bottom of the compost bins with wire. Small holes are better, thicker wire as well or put several layers. I use a cage trap and bait with chicken pellets and then kill them humanely.

[digalotty]

please correct me if im wrong but i think its been mentioned that if you keep it soaking wet they dont like it and move on

[Fisherman]

Rats love a good compost heap – nice and warm and plenty of food especially if your putting kitchen scraps in it.
As digallotty says soak the compost heap with water to see if that gets them out of the heap.
Make your compost sides so that the rats can't get into the heap and cover the top. Use close wooden slats, chicken wire or weld mesh. Weld mesh is best as they can't bite through it.
Cage traps can be used to catch them but you then have to humanely kill them. Best bait to use is a bit of kipper or other smelly fish. Rats can’t resist!
If you just use poisoned bait the rats will probably go back into your compost heap and die. This can give you a bit of a surprise emptying the heap when your fork prongs stick through a shriveled up rat or two (happened to me)!!

[hamstergbert]

.... but you then have to humanely kill them.....

Of course, in this context 'humanely' includes introducing them to the business end of an old fireman's axe.

[bailey]

peanut butter on the trap is supposed to work better then anything else on the trap..

[Joseph]

Had exactly this problem ourselves this and last winter.  The council would not treat the problem as it was not domestic.  The only sure way is to place generous amounts of rat poison where you can see activity, best under an old piece of carpet on top of the heap so other wildlife does not touch it.  It will need topping up every 2 days until the bait stops being taken.  We dig our heap annually in late autumn and have never found the carcasses.

[MOLUSC]

rats love chocolate, a bit of mars bar in whatever trap you use never fails.
(you can add poison to the mars if you want to )

[Christine]

Question - where are the rats coming from? If you get rid of this lot will there be more to come? Trace back to source and cure at source if possible.

[Paul Plots]

Question - where are the rats coming from? If you get rid of this lot will there be more to come? Trace back to source and cure at source if possible.

Problem is there are rats all around us - where-ever we are there will be rats not far away.... tracking the source could be difficult but useful.

As for finding them dead in the compost heap - not so bad when using a fork.
I discovered one I had dug into the plot (must have been in the compost and I "forked it" as I moved the compost - whoops!!). Not so nice digging a planting hole with your hands and finding a tail.... wondered what it was.....one big pull and up it came......... straight over my shoulder.... maybe I over reacted just a bit ??

Not sure where it went............It's nice to share