• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Rats - update. In our garden now too. AGH

DDD

Mama Doe
This morning, whilst looking out of our back bedroom, I noticed a rather large rat in next doors garden. It was going under their rabbit hutches and running across the garden. I was wondering what sort of damage a rat could do, as their rabbits are free range during the day. Mine are in a Thistle Hall during the day (week) and in an enclosed run the rest of the time.
 
Last edited:
Like any wild animal, they can carry germs/diseases, though it's not like every rat will.
They may chew at the hutches and cause them to become unsafe.
In some cases, they may attack the rabbits themselves. I used to live on/surrounded by farmland and would often hear a rabbit screaming in the garden to go down and find a wild rat attacking it - usually baby ones though so not sure if a rat would attack a fullygrown pet rabbit.
I'd advise them if you can to make sure there's nothing to attract rats in the garden - clean up spilt food, perhaps give any food/hay to the buns near the house so the rats have to brave coming a bit closer to the house to eat, make sure that any hedges etc are trimmed down as overgrown areas are good hiding/nesting spots for wild rats.
 
i was always told that was one of the reasons to cover the hutch at night in case rats were around,as they would scare/kill the rabbit.
 
i was always told that was one of the reasons to cover the hutch at night in case rats were around,as they would scare/kill the rabbit.

It's unlikely a rat would go to all the effort of breaking in to a hutch to kill a rabbit unles food was really really scarce, but given time (if there was something else encouraging them to stay, e.g. a nice source of food if kids feed bun and drop some on the floor or a cosy nest near to a nice water source) they may chew their way into a hutch. Doubt covering makes a difference though as the rats could smell the buns anyway (they have pretty poor eyesight!) and vice versa so they'd be aware of each other's presence anyway
 
Rabbits carry Weils disease which can certainly kill humans. It's why people are advised not to drink from cans or bottles, because invariably some pubs and/or warehouses may have rats in their cellars and the rats will urinate against the bottles etc. Put that to your lips to drink from the bottle and you will be seriously ill and possibly dead. If they leave their urine and faeces around and your rabbit eats it or ingests it in some way it could certainly make your rabbit very ill.
 
Rabbits carry Weils disease which can certainly kill humans. It's why people are advised not to drink from cans or bottles, because invariably some pubs and/or warehouses may have rats in their cellars and the rats will urinate against the bottles etc. Put that to your lips to drink from the bottle and you will be seriously ill and possibly dead. If they leave their urine and faeces around and your rabbit eats it or ingests it in some way it could certainly make your rabbit very ill.

Some rats - as can some wild rabbits, mice, foxes etc. (and you can contract it from infected water too), even cattle can carry it.
Wild rats don't automatically carry it, I lived on this farmland for 20 years, we had wild rats in the garden (and sometimes in the house, as it's an old farmers cottage and the neighbour had a few bricks missing in their outhouse which led straight into our house) and none of our family have suffered from Weil's disease. Given that we all wandered around the garden barefooted as kids (and adults), trundled all over the farmland through the mud, played in the old farm outbuildings and house (before it became too dangerous), etc we're certainly have been exposed to our fair share of wild rat urine ;)
Leptospirosis is rare in the UK, and the more serious cases of it (Weil's disease) even rarer - only 44 confirmed cases in humans during 2006 in the whole of England and Wales. Yes, there's a risk but any wild animal can transmit Weil's or other diseases so it's best to discourage any from making home in your house/garden, not just rats
 
Last edited:
Update

Update - rats have been seen in our garden this evening. Have had to remove all the bird food as they were climbing the feeders! Will call the council on Monday.
 
We live in the countryside, so have many rats about. They usually stick to staying in the field, but when we first moved in, they used to burrow under the runs and get into the bunny runs that way. As far as I'm aware they did no harm to the bunnies.
However, we now have mesh attached to the underneath of the runs as well, which seems to have solved the problem.
Please be careful if putting poison down, as it then gets into the food chain and can harm whatever eats the rats (like owls etc) which is a shame.
 
Rabbits carry Weils disease which can certainly kill humans. It's why people are advised not to drink from cans or bottles, because invariably some pubs and/or warehouses may have rats in their cellars and the rats will urinate against the bottles etc. Put that to your lips to drink from the bottle and you will be seriously ill and possibly dead.
:shock: :shock: I didn't know that! I knew about Weils disease as that's why I stopped water skiing in England. Beer tastes so much better out the bottle :(
 
Back
Top