RATS 

 The common or brown rat can live anywhere there is a food source and shelter. They live in lofts, basements, under garden sheds, compost heaps and in gardens.

Rats are very adaptable, intelligent, and agile and have an omnivorous diet. They have a prolific breeding potential thus they are one of the world's most successful mammals.

Rats in right conditions can live for 2-3 years, and a female can produce 4-6 litters a year and the young reach sexual maturity between 2-3 months, and produce 6-8 young per litter. They can live singularly, or in colonies, sometimes up to several hundreds.

They are mainly nocturnal and neophobic (very wary of new objects) in their surroundings. They will travel 60-80 metres in search of food. It is essential to avoid re-infestation of rats to make sure there is no food about as rats will eat and drink anything they find, even gnawing and ripping open packets, and then they foul food with urine and droppings.

Good advice is to securely store rubbish. If a garden is overgrown the will be able to nest, and make nests under sheds, wood piles, bricks etc. Rats are very mobile, breed rapidly, and so rat control is a difficult task, unless you are experienced in the best way to treat the infestation.