On 18/07/2010 14:45, Phil Bradby wrote:
Hi

I know it's a bit early to be thinking about winter, but for a while now
I've been planning on getting a bird table this year. I hadn't really
thought there could be much of a down-side to this until I was chatting
to a friend about it recently. She said that in her experience the birds
will scatter seed on the ground which attracts rats and mice. Plus the
amount of bird muck will be phenomenal.

Are these really going to be a big problem? I mean, lots of people keep
bird tables despite these issues... Plus there are a few cats in the
neighbourhood which I don't imagine will let a rat colony flourish.

Does the type of seed you put down make a difference? Or whether the
table is on paving or a lawn? Thanks for any thoughts.

There's always pros and cons but on our's the bird droppings do not
present a problem.

As to the seed scatter the ground feeders tend to take care of that.

In our outer London garden we get loads of different birds, numerous
tits, woodpecker, jays, robins plus an occasional sparrowhawk.

The pros well outweigh the cons.

Geoff Lane