How Do You Feed Wild Birds Without Attracting Rats ?
If you feed birds, you will attract other creatures – squirrels, chipmunks, rats, mice, raccoons, possum, etc. Please ignore the suggestion to poison the rats. Anything you use to poison them would also poison the desireable animals, including the birds, not to mention any neighborhood pets or children that might get into it. Because of the fact that it is not species-specific, poison must be used carefully, and is generally illegal to use outdoors where any animal could ingest it. There are ways to reduce the attraction of rats, but it can be labor intensive. Use hanging feeders rather than ground feeders. Put smaller amounts of birdseed out more frequently. Instead of feeding heavy once a day, feed light in the morning, and wait until the birds have eaten the majority of the feed. Then, refill the feeders, several times throughout the day if necessary. Clean up wast seed that accumulates on the ground. Do not leave bird feeders out past dark – the birds do not feed then, but the rats
