I'd be freaked out too Jujubedoo I think your best bet is to phone the Environmental Health people tomorrow....

When I first moved in to my house, the first thing my 'neighbourhood watch' type neighbour told me about was the rat problem they'd had in the square soon before. I almost stuck the For Sale sign back up shuffled back to Hampstead. So far so good though, no rats in my yard!

Brown Rats

Awww..  sorry Jube..     I can';t give you advise cos I am kinda fond of them!

we have only had a problem with them once..  & I never actually saw the rat..   just heard it in the shed & saw the paper it was shredding in preparation for its nest.     MrD put a bit of wood over the hole in the shed floor which it was coming up through..  & put the bin on top of the wood.   It must have been a fair size..  cos we heard it thudding at the wood..  & by morning it had moved the wood & tipped over the bin.

We were trying to find a humane way of dealing with it..    when I came home from the school run one day & my (arse of a) neighbour was standing out the front looking very pleased with himself.  He then told me he had killed the rat.. with his spade!  In front of my kids, who were then in bits.

Oh.. & I once saw one in my parents garden..   carrying a bonio (large bone shaped dog biscuit) in its mouth.    Got told off by parents for giving the dogs bonio's in the garden! 

(we used to have a pet rat called Buffy)

OMG! If I saw a rat in my garden I'd seriously freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek out. I'mm not a scaredy cat or anything but I really and truly hate rats!

I am giggling away imagining that! 

Hope you get it sorted. There's just something about them that give me the heebeejeebees. I try not to get too spooked out by stuff 

Now - a few months ago we had a field mouse terrorising my kitchen - I really can't believe how much it disturbed me ..............i really hated the thought of something scurrying over my work tops and around the bread bin etc. We have a cat who is worse than useless .............we set traps (apologies to all the animal lovers) but they weren't the humane kind. This little bleeder wasn't going out of the hole he had come in so ....................we had to be rid. Don't want little furry animals running around my kitchen.

THANK GOD!

Could you set something like this up? 

I live a stone's throw away from Westminster. I'm close to hundreds of them 

I had my twins there Croc. Passed the time in labour listening out for Big Ben's bongs  There are some amazing views there in the tower. Best vantage point for New Year's Eve, but who'd want to be in hospital?

The Evelina Children's Wing (where my son has spent some time) is lovely looking but blumming hot, it's like a greenhouse in there. I wish your father-in-law a swift recovery Croc  Now back to rats BLEUGH 

I had mice in my pantry a few years ago and i moved out until they was caught  i feel your pain  they had stored biscuits in the blade cover of the hedge covers 

we have a huuuuuuge rat problem in southampton. Thankfully ive never seen one near anywere i have lived *touch wood* but our bins still havent been properly emptied and they smell and i bet its just a matter of time till i see one

but i do have the two most dangerous killer cats known to man to protect me they were scared of the big spider the other night but im sure that was just teething problems

RATS

I have foxes in my garden...Grrrr hate them....a few weeks ago I saw a rat...Grrr hate them....I was on holiday OH phones and tells me said fox killed said rat....quite like fox....

I like Foxy  

How quickly the rats are fogotten.

yep, thats like my cats, they love my rabbits too

Hip Hip hooray though, the bins got emptied today

not good, even though i love all animals you do not want them to set up home there

Yeah and most of them are inside Parliament!

When I was a kid my much older brother started with the council ratcatcher bloke- for about a month. He couldn't bear to kill the mice.

My Mum was deathly afraid of any small rodents, we were never allowed to have guinea pigs or gerbil etc as pets. She went to the airing cupboard one day during my brothers ratcatching stint to find his bobble hat carefully placed with 4 baby mice in it.

He'd brought them home as the mother had been killed by the householder that had called him.

My Mum was freaked out for months over it - but not as freaked out as he was when she had finished with him

That's exactly what I meant Veggie