Help us to keep the rats at bay from our award-winning parks

Rats are attracted by food and the council removes any potential food sources from parks by using control measures such as habitat management and litter picking. In the main, pest numbers such as rats are kept down by natural causes including falling prey to larger predators such as foxes.

In the past, and as a last resort, secure bait boxes designed for rats only have been used, but this is very rare. The location of the boxes is carefully considered, so local pet owners need not worry about their pets ingesting the poison.

The council does not employ individuals to catch rats and asks that residents do not attempt to do so either. These activities continually take place to prevent vermin seeing the parks as a food source.

Here is how you can help:

• anyone feeding ducks in our parks, please avoid using bread and instead use sweetcorn, peas or shredded lettuce. Not only are these food sources much preferred by ducks they are also better for their digestion. Bread tends to be discarded and this creates a food source for rats, who typically leave their nest at night to look for food.
• put all rubbish and uneaten food in the bins provided. If rubbish is left behind rats can easily rip open plastic bags or packaging to look for food and this will only encourage more rats to live in the parks.

Cllr Meg Davidson, deputy leader and cabinet member for environment, said: “I'm so proud of our award-winning parks and thank our parks team for the daily work they do to make sure they are pleasant places to visit.

“Feeding the ducks is such a lovely way to help people of all ages connect with nature, so I hope the guidance provided is helpful. Thank you to everyone that disposes of their rubbish responsibly, this really does help to ensure our parks do not become a food source for animals we do not wish to attract.”

Photos of our parks and gardens can be found on our Flickr site.