While having any feathered friend visit is a joy, placing food in the bird feeder may also draw some more unwanted guests. Have you ever met some rats in your garden? Don’t be afraid of it since this article will help you find a solution about “How to keep rats away from bird feeders?”
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Why do you need to keep rats away from bird feeders?
How bad some rats will harm your garden and your house? You should keep rats away from your bird feeders for two main reasons.
First, all of your bird food will be stolen, leaving nothing for the birds. Your bird feeder serves no purpose if it is stolen.
The second reason is that rats may enter your home if they get used to living in your yard. Please do not let this intrusion into your home. Your family, your pets, and these pests are all at risk for health problems. Your home’s structural integrity is also harmed by rats. Your cabinets, insulation, drywall, and electrical wiring suffer physical damage as a result of them. Rats chew on nearly everything thanks to their tough, constantly developing teeth. Burrowing rats may also erode the structure of your house.
Does feeding birds attract rats?
Rats are not drawn to bird feeding in and of themselves; rather, they are drawn to seed or other food that falls to the ground. Therefore, the rats will be interested whether you are providing food for your pets or feeding birds. The most typical strategy is to stop the seed from ever falling from a feeder and then install a baffle or another similar device to stop rats from climbing up feeders above.
How to keep rats away from bird feeders?
As I previously stated, rats will typically consume bird food from the ground because it is the simplest and most common manner for them to do so. This is typically a seed that the birds have spilled, and it is directly underneath the feeder.
Here are 5 strategies for the question “How to keep rats away from bird feeders?”:
Keep the ground clean
The trick is to keep this space beneath the feeder clean. You can regularly sweep up any extra. Or use one of these ways:
- No Waste Mixes: These mixtures include shelled seeds as well as occasionally fruit and nut fragments. At the feeder, a greater portion of the seed is consumed, and what little is left behind is typically swiftly scooped up by doves and other ground-feeding birds. Waste-free mixes are produced by Wagner’s, Kaytee, Wild Delight, and Lyric. Alternatively, hulled sunflower chips are an option if you just want to feed sunflowers.
- Trays for catching seeds: You might be able to buy a tray for catching seeds that clips onto the bottom of several of the nicer mid-priced tube feeders. You can also purchase trays that dangle underneath your feeders, fit on the feeder pole, or are attached to the feeders themselves.
Rat-proof bird feeders
The installation of a rat-proof bird feeder is an excellent strategy to stop rats from consuming your bird food, even if it might seem quite obvious.
The use of ground feeders and other feeders that could make it simple for a rodent to access would be discouraged. Choose something taller instead, like a feeding station. Metal or glass feeders are other options that are effective at keeping rodents from consuming bird seed. Rodent-proof feeders are more frequently made of metal or glass. They are more difficult for rats and squirrels to chew through than plastic.
Offer unappealing food
There are still some varieties of birdseed that are less enticing to rats, despite the fact that they will consume practically everything. Pepper oils are used in several feed bends. Birds cannot taste the spice, but rats detest it. Additionally, try to select bird seed that has peanuts or sunflower seeds rather than a lot of grains like millet or sorghum. These fillers’ husks frequently fall to the ground and are a rat magnet. Pick a premium brand of bird food that doesn’t contain a lot of fillers.
Store bird seed properly
It’s essential to store your birdseed properly to avoid a rat infestation. Birdseed should be kept in a metal container because rats can gnaw through plastic ones.
Avoid leaving bird seed in your feeders overnight, if at all feasible. Nocturnal animals and rats are most active at night. Rats won’t be able to eat the seed if you store it in a metal container at night.
Use a weather-proof feeder
Weather guards provide the added benefit of keeping the seed in your feeder dry in addition to keeping the birds dry while they eat. This dryness is necessary to avoid mold, which can be dangerous for birds. You can use weather guards to stop rodents from climbing onto the top of your bird feeder because they work similarly to baffles in this regard.
What shouldn’t you do when keeping rats away from bird feeders?
If you want to keep rats from accessing bird feeders, you should stay away from a few habits:
- Overfill the feeders: Rats may be drawn to spills on the ground from overfilled bird feeders. It is ideal to only fill your bird feeder with enough food for the birds to eat in one day.
- Place the bird feeders right next to your house: This can tempt nosy rodents to look for new food sources within your home. For easy bird observation, it is preferable to install bird feeders at least ten feet away from your home in a prominent location.
- Use platform trays: Platform trays are non-exclusive bird feeders that include a straightforward square or rectangular platform with side pieces to help keep bird seed from spilling over. Platform trays provide rats with simple access because they are open and flat.
- Use a PVC pipe or wood as a bird feeder pole: The ideal poles are made of metal since they are robust and challenging for rats to climb. Rats can scale wooden or PVC pipe bird feeder poles. Additionally, rats have been known to gnaw through wooden or PVC poles, sending the entire feeder tumbling to the ground.
There are things we can do to answer the question: “How to keep rats away from bird feeders?” such as rat traps or rat-proof bird feeders. Making it yourself won’t cost you a fortune and will still be just as effective. Hope you can be successful in keeping rats away after doing the following tips!
