How do I get rid of rats in my yard ?

Can you have a pet? Get a cat or a dog, such as a Rat Terrier, or a Jack Russell. Keep the grass cut well, flower beds weeded, container or things they can hide in put up, and eliminate any water sources that are available to them. Make sure any food scraps are not dumped in the back yard (ie, compost pile---put it in an enclosed composter). If you already have a dog or cat, make sure their food bowls are picked up, if they are not emptied. Basically, you want to eliminate anywhere they can hide or nest, and any food/water source.

Call your health dept--they may have a rat abatement program that will help you! Make sure you do everything you can to make your yard & those of your neighbors as unfriendly to rats as possible then trap &/or bait. Here's a site with lots of good info: https://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/rats.htm

Also, remove any bird feeders. I love my birds but when I saw a HUGE rat hanging from a feeder outside my living room window in broad daylight it freaked me out! Remove the feeders, no more rats. I do miss my birds though. 😢

Git tha gun Ellie Mae!

Kidding! But sometimes I feel like the Beverly Hillbillies over here!

The reality is that rats are destructive, impossible to irradiate completely and are freaking persistent!!! It sometimes takes a village, which means your neighbors can no longer be in denial. Rats don't know from fences.

First things first: close off any tiny entrance to your home.( read up on the web)

second: eliminate food sources. ( this is where neighbors MUST participate by keeping fruit trees pruned and picked etc) Rats use citrus as hydration.

third: call a professional exterminator. They can help with choosing the correct plan to keep the population down. ( also where neighbors must participate, and most exterminators will give a neighborhood deal)

Eliminating rats is IMPOSSIBLE!!! But keeping them out of your home and diminishing their population is absolutely possible with Committment, but it's exhausting.🙄

Ps: we've also had some success w those plastic owls you buy on Amazon.

and some friends have actually screened in vegetable plants .🙄

also don't put meat or dairy products in compost heap as this can attract vermin.

Don't have a heart, set traps and kill them. All rats and mice are born pregnant even the males (at least that is how I think of them). If you are feeding the birds stop. If your neighbors are feeding the birds ask them to stop. There are not many natural preditors that will kill rats so their numbers will just continue to grow. Empty buildings are a haven for them. I am not a fan of poison, but if other animals can't get to it go ahead and poison them. I have heard that dry oatmeal and raisins mixed with plaster of paris is effective. KILL, KILL, KILL!