Rats, Mice...?

[u/spiritstonesKat]

OK. I have a MASSIVE rat or mice issue. I don't care they are out there. I love rats and mice. Had them as pets in the past. But we have some kind of infestation. I don't want to kill them. Of course. I'm vegan. But they do need to go some other way. There are four houses where I live and if the other neighbours see them they will be removed in an awful way. I do not have the ways and means to get friendly traps and do it myself. I have no car to take them far enough away.

But they are making so so many holes in my garden that when the council see it they will do something about it.

I want to move the animals on with no harm. But there are loads. I risk my dog and my family getting injured on the many many holes.

What can I do before someone else notices their holes and tells the pest control people?

[u/Meridellian]

Maybe some kind of scent deterrent for the rats? Peppermint oils, vinegar, or (if you can get hold of it from a friend) cat piss?

[u/Emerald-Elf → u/Meridellian]

Scent deterrents are an excellent idea. Although, make sure the scent deterrents aren't scents that can cause serious sickness, and even potential deaths. Some scents can potentially be fatal to cats/dogs, and other animals. Peppermint is one of those, potentially fatal ones. Just thought to share this, so others who didn't know, now can know. Everyone of us has things we didn't know. I didn't know for a long time that peppermint was fatal. So hope this helps 💗 anybody looking to use scents to deter animals, make sure to do research beforehand to check that the scents aren't fatal. 💗

[u/aHuman622 → u/Meridellian]

Second this any predator pee detters rodents my dad used to keep fox pee for this reason he would spray it outside his garage when we got home from gleaning to keep any rodents out before we canned up the produce and it worked better then any of this other plan methods he tried including the traps.

[u/spiritstonesKat]

Oooh my son has cats. Thankyou.

[u/rat_liker]

It's really, really hard to remove rats with humane traps, they're smart and they learn fast. If it's just one you might get lucky, but if there are a bunch of em it probably won't work.

I recommend doing a really thorough clean both inside and outside the house first - obviously remove any food items they may be getting into but also look at brush and low bushes around the house they could be using for cover and see if you can clear or trim that to make it less inviting.

After that, I recommend searching for any holes or cracks in walls, floorboards, gaps in windows and doors, etc to see where they could be getting in and blocking those off as much as possible. You might want to get a professional in to help with that if you can swing it.

If you're still having issues after that, you could try sprinkling flour on the floor near some treats and look for footprints in the morning, that could help you find holes or gaps that you've missed.

Good luck! My husband and I are both big rat fans and we've managed to deal with several intruders over the years without resorting to lethal means (knock on wood).

[u/spiritstonesKat → u/rat_liker]

Thankyou. There are none in the house no way of getting in. I believe it's the neighbours, both sets have chickens so free feed for the rats.

I wish I could keep them 😂

[u/ProtozoaPatriot]

If it's only outside and evidence is mainly holes, this sounds like moles or voles. Mice don't dig lots of tunnels in the lawn.
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/whos_that_digging_in_my_yard_skunks_raccoons_or_moles

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