How to deter rats from gardens – natural deterrent ‘works wonders’ without using poison – Express

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Rats in gardens should not be ignored as they can lead to bigger problems. In fact, homeowners who see a rat in their gardens should oust the pests as soon as possible. With that in mind, fans of cleaning sensation Mrs Hinch, whose full name is Sophie Hinchliffe, have shared their natural solutions for ousting rats from gardens.
Mrs Hinch, whose full name is Sophie Hinchliffe, is a lifestyle, garden and cleaning influencer with more than 4.5 million followers on Instagram.
Fans of hers have created their own cleaning and gardening groups on social media where they share their own tips and tricks for household problems.
On one such group, Facebook user Katrina Watson asked Mrs Hinch fans: “RATS! Coming in from next door. We have dogs. Any ideas to get rid of them without poison?”
Katrina’s post was inundated with responses from Mrs Hinch fans. The most popular suggestion was to use peppermint oil.
Angela Beattie said: “As already suggested, use peppermint oil, but it has to be the pure stuff otherwise it won’t work, you can buy it off Amazon or eBay.
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“It does work – I can attest to that because it did for us! Saturate cotton wool balls with it (wear rubber gloves or you’ll smell like a strong Polo forever!) and drop it down the holes and if you know where else they’re coming in through your fences, put two or three there as well.
“This is because it destroys the scent trail they leave behind so they don’t like it and will avoid it. Bear in mind that peppermint oil can mess with the respiratory system so try not to place it where birds go, or other wild animals, or your pets (but your dog will probably take one sniff, sneeze, and then avoid it).”
Debs Ambler replied to the post: “Peppermint – they hate it!”
Judith Krendel-Saunders commented: “I have the same problem. Peppermint, coffee grounds and ammonia work well. Then stuff the hole with wire wool.”
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Mandy J Jane agreed and wrote: “Peppermint oil works wonders.”
Peppermint oil can be bought from various outlets online and in local supermarkets.
Calmer Solutions Peppermint Essential 100 percent Aromatherapy Oil costs £1.98 from Amazon.
Tisserand Peppermint Essential Oil Organic costs £1.49 from Waitrose & Partners.
Pure peppermint essential oil costs just £1.99 from Easy.
Other suggestions for ousting rats from gardens from Mrs Hinch fans included using coffee grounds, chilli, soiled cat litter, Zoflora and citrus.
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Pj Devine said: “I have a coffee grinding machine and I put the grounds around where I thought he [the rat] was coming in and I haven’t seen him since. My neighbours have though.”
Rhonwen Lloyd Lewis replied: “They also hate chilli. I was told by a rat catcher that they mix it with Vaseline and smear it where they don’t want the rats to go.”
Kareena Hellard wrote: “I had the same issue! I read online to use soiled litter from a cat tray, so I did… it worked!
“The rats vanished, no more holes since. I couldn’t have poisoned them!”
Kelly Smart suggested: “Equal parts, sugar, bicarbonate soda and flour mixed together. Kills rats. Harmless to any other wildlife.”
Dorothy Wilkinson-Jones said: “I had a problem with moles and rats coming from next door, they were living in their garage.

“I found the centre of the mole run from the hill of dirt. I poured a strong solution of Zoflora pet disinfectant down all the holes.
“They do not like it one bit. When the activity stopped I poured some along the boundary every week or so. Best of luck.”
Daisy Flower commented on the post: “Sonic rat deterrent. Amazon. About £20. Works well at ours.”
Sue Line replied: “We had rats in our front garden where we feed the birds. We stopped feeding birds for a while and they disappeared.
“They were funny to watch though, they shimmied up the bird feeder poles to get seed but if you went out of the front door they pretended to be dead by stopping still and dropping off the bird feeders. Glad they left though.”
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