We've somehow got rats in our garden, I keep seeing holes and tunnels everywhere. My neighbor already suggested poison, but I'd rather avoid that because we've got hedgehogs and birds around too. Is there a solution that actually works?
Rats need food and hiding places - if you take away both, they'll leave on their own. Remove fallen fruit, store feed and compost in closed containers, and keep your garden tidy without wood piles or dense undergrowth. Traps (the lethal kind) or live traps are an option if you want faster results, but the really sustainable way is to starve the rats out. You won't harm hedgehogs and birds that way.
the thing with the tunnels and holes is tricky because rats feel really comfortable in them - but you can deliberately flood the burrows or pour boiling water over them, they hate that and take off 💧 combine that with what others have already mentioned (remove food, seal everything up) and you create an environment where they just don't stand a chance of staying. one more practical tip: live traps work pretty well too, so you can take them away relatively humanely if they're still around - just release them somewhere far away, not too close to your neighbors obviously 😅
Log into answer.
