Prevent rats from being 'attracted' to your garden by adding 1 thing
Rats can be attracted to garden bird feeders by the way you are feeding the birds - here's how you can keep your garden free from rats with expert advice
As the weather turns chilly, it becomes a tad more difficult for our feathered friends to find their own food, making a bird feeder in your garden a real saver. However, this can also draw in some less desirable guests.
Leaving out nibbles intended for birds can end up being eaten by rats instead, which is certainly not what you want. The presence of rats in your garden could lead to them venturing indoors, posing a serious health risk.
But according to Lucy Taylor from Vine House Farm Bird Foods, there's a way to feed the birds without rolling out the red carpet for rodents.
She explained: "Brown rats - or common rats as they're also known - are never a welcome sight in the garden.
"It's easy to see why: this non-native species, accidentally introduced to the UK around 1730 on ships from Asia, can cause significant damage, spread disease, and breed at an alarming rate.
"The good news is there are simple steps to prevent them from settling in your garden, starting with the most important one - removing their main food source, and in this case that means bird food", reports the Express.
One of the key things you can do is to only leave out top-quality feed for the birds.
Lucy has cautioned that cheap bird food seed mixes can be a major magnet for attracting rats to gardens, whilst also being a waste of money as far as the birds are concerned.
The explanation is that bird food mixtures containing cheap bulking agents, such as wheat and pulses ,aren't consumed by most birds and will instead be discarded from feeders onto the ground.
As species like Blue tits and Greenfinches sift through the blend searching for the occasional palatable piece.
The feed then remains on the earth beneath the feeder, and whilst some varieties like Wood pigeon and Jackdaw might consume portions of it, the likelihood is it will stay there and consequently be accessible to a wandering rat during nighttime hours.
Therefore purchase very high quality seed combinations, or simply individual foods like sunflower hearts, as both will reduce the quantity of feed which drops to the ground.
Another specialist-advised suggestion to stop rats from loitering around your bird feeders is to ensure you're taking them indoors overnight, particularly if you're using certain types.
Lucy explained: "With species such as Blackbird and Robin ideally needing a ground tray or dish to feed from (as ground feeding species they struggle with hanging feeders), leaving this type of feeder out overnight could be an invitation for rats.
"So by bringing it in and storing it in a garage or other safe place overnight, then putting it back in your garden the next morning, the risk is removed."