Garden Pests

This weeks Stories From Nature

Unwanted Snails? You Need One of These

Not every garden visitor is welcome around the plants and vegetable patch!

Slugs and snails can munch through young seedlings overnight, aphids gather on tender new growth, rose sawfly larvae can strip rose leaves, and the caterpillars of white butterflies often feast on cabbages, kale, and other brassicas.

The good news is that nature provides its own pest control. Frogs and toads help keep slug and snail numbers in check, while song thrushes are well known for their fondness for snails. They break them open on stones, helping to reduce snail populations in the garden. Hedgehogs will forage through grass and soil for ground-dwelling insects such as caterpillars and cranefly larvae, while ground beetles and birds also play an important role in controlling a range of garden pests. Ladybirds, hoverfly larvae, lacewings, and small birds are excellent aphid hunters. Parasitic wasps and birds can help reduce sawfly and cabbage white caterpillar numbers.

A wildlife-friendly garden with ponds, log piles, native flowers, and plenty of shelter creates a healthy balance where predators and prey can thrive together.

Sometimes the best pest control is simply making room for nature.

Rebalancing Seasonal Pest Pressures and Rats in a Wildlife Food Garden

No photos for this update. Usually I would include pictures from the garden, but this situation has been too harrowing to document. Over recent weeks I've found increasing evidence that rats have become firmly established here. What started as occasional sightings has escalated into something much more troubling.

I've discovered dead birds around the garden, and one of the biggest shocks was finding that rats had been using my hedgehog house as a store for their kills. Watching wildlife struggle is never easy, but seeing birds attacked in what is supposed to be a refuge has been particularly difficult.

The Reality of Rising Rat Activity and Wildlife Pressures

The weather probably has a lot to answer for. There is a feeling this year that many species are operating closer to the edge than usual. Alongside the rat takeover, I've dealt with a badger attack on a hedgehog, and there have been reports of hedgehog skins appearing around the village, something that seems highly unusual compared to previous years. It feels as though wildlife is making harder choices in harder times. Predators are taking opportunities where they find them, scavengers are becoming bolder, and animals that would normally keep out of sight seem increasingly willing to take risks. The rats are simply taking advantage of the same pressures that appear to be affecting everything else.

Why Traditional Rat Deterrents Fail in a Wildlife Garden

The problem is that lately it feels as though all my efforts to support wildlife have been benefiting rats more than anything else. So, for now, action has to be taken.

One thing I've learned while dealing with this is that there isn't really a perfect solution when it comes to rats. Poison can move through the food chain and affect other wildlife. Electric traps and other devices don't always discriminate between rats and the creatures I'm actually trying to protect, such as young hedgehogs, mice, and other small mammals. And personally, I have no desire to spend my evenings emptying traps or drowning captured animals. That's simply not in my nature.

So my approach is different. Rather than trying to kill rats, I'm trying to convince them that my garden is no longer somewhere they can relax. If they feel exposed, unsettled, and constantly disrupted, my hope is that they'll move on and find somewhere more suitable in the wider landscape. The aim isn't to wage war on rats; it's to stop my garden from functioning as a luxury rat resort at the expense of everything else.

How to Deter Rats Without Poison or Traps

To that end, I've been making the garden as unappealing to rats as possible. Hedgehog feeding stations have been updated to clear plastic so moonlight can get in, helping to make the rats feel more exposed. The feeding stations have been moved into the middle of the garden where they are fully visible and are shifted slightly every night. Rats thrive on routine and predictable food sources, whereas constant change makes life harder for them.

I've also disrupted the sheltered spots they were using to rest and ambush birds, emptied and temporarily closed off the hedgehog house, and blocked access underneath it so it can no longer be used as a hiding place. Nest holes are being filled in as quickly as they appear, which in time will force the rats to expend energy digging new ones elsewhere rather than establishing themselves more firmly in my garden.

Managing Ecological Balance in Land Recovery

It's a frustrating balancing act. Wildlife gardening is often presented as a simple matter of creating habitat and letting nature take its course. In reality, it sometimes means stepping in when one species begins to dominate at the expense of many others.

For now, the goal isn't to remove wildlife from the garden. It's to restore some balance. Hopefully, with fewer safe hiding places, less predictable food, and constant disruption, the rats will decide that somewhere else offers an easier life.

After all, this garden was built for birds, bees, butterflies, hedgehogs and all the other creatures that need a helping hand. It was never meant to become a luxury rat resort.

Long Term Solutions

I'm currently researching long-term solutions and am leaning towards the Goodnature bolt trap as the most practical option. One of its advantages is that it can be positioned to help safeguard hedgehogs and other wildlife, and I believe there are also accessories available to further restrict the entrance size and reduce the likelihood of non-target animals accessing it. Any rats it catches can still be left for owls, kestrels and other scavengers, allowing the nutrients to remain within the ecosystem.

My thinking would be to move it around as needed—outdoors during the day and in the garage overnight—adding an extra layer of protection for hedgehogs and other wildlife while still targeting the rats that are causing the problem. I take no pleasure in the idea of killing any animal, but sometimes living closely with the land means making difficult decisions. The life of a wolf isn't always easy.

I'll keep you updated on how the battle for the garden unfolds.

Behind the Lens

Slow Shutter - Wild Land

Until next time...