What's the alternative? Killing all the rats on the planet? Trying to live trap
and move them? They come right back, or more come in their place. You may have
more than you know.

The rats which live on our property are very healthy. They are also marginally
frightened of me when I approach them. Sometimes I get 3 feet near them before
they move away. We have a pond. We're going to have toads, rats, snakes,
birds, and insects drinking from it. What we did was embrace them. No, we
don't love having them. Yes, I do wish they'd go live down by the creek (and
I'm sure they so), but I'm not willing to contribute to the killing of the food
chain to eliminate some rats which pose virtually no threat to me. The ones
which are sick, die.

I can assure you, if you stop feeding the birds, the rats will move elsewhere.
What do you suspect they are eating, underground?


On Mon, 28 Apr 2003 00:31:47 GMT, wrote:

I wish it was that easy, but what do you do if you stop feeding them and
they do not disappear? What happens if the bird seed is the smallest part of
what they are feeding on then what? What if their primary source of food is
something that just happens to be buried where you cannot see it then what?

I really wish it was as easy as "Stop feeding them, and they'll disappear."