Rats can be a nuisance especially when they make themselves very comfortable in our homes and gardens.
Keeping them away in the first place can be difficult but a pest control expert has shared a cheap hack that can keep them away from your property.
While your first thought might be to put poison down, there are lots of ways you can keep rats away without harming them.
The Sun reports that a pest control expert has shared a hack which costs £1.79 for a 50ml pot at Superdrug and will make rats think twice about entering your garden.
Expert shares cheap hack to keep rats away from gardens
Pest expert Marcus Mueller from Skedaddle shared that Vaseline can be used to keep rats away as it forms a slippery surface, making it harder for them to reach.
He suggested adding Vaseline to garden fences so that rats find it difficult to enter your garden.
Marcus added some further tips for homeowners, including cutting low-hanging tree branches.
He said: “Rats often enter gardens by climbing over fences [or] using low-hanging tree branches. You can deter rodents by properly maintaining the trees on your property.
“Trim back branches to keep rats from using them as highways.
“You should also collect and discard fallen fruit to prevent the rats from accessing an easy food source.”
How to get rid of these common garden pests
Really Wild Birdfood Co previously shared the Vaseline hack in 2022.
It said that since rats look for food sources in our gardens, including bird feeders and tables, it’s a good idea to use Vaseline to keep them away.
You can do this by putting Vaseline on the pole of the bird feeding station to make it slippery and more difficult for rats to climb to the food source.
It added that taller feeding stations are better as they make it more difficult for rats to climb compared to those that are at ground level.
Referring to information shared by Bird Watching Pro, a spokesperson for My Home Improvements shared that Vaseline can be harmful for birds so it's worth assessing the risks before applying it to your garden fence.
Issues for birds include "feather or fur contamination which can impair their ability to fly or insulate themselves properly" and "ingesting Vaseline can also lead to digestive problems in wildlife".
Is Vaseline flammable?
You might wonder if Vaseline being flammable poses a risk to you or your garden fence.
Recommended reading:
- Homeowners are being urged to try this 5p test to keep rats and mice away
- Which plants do rats hate? Add these to your garden to keep the rodents away
- Have you found rats in your house or garden? What to do if you see rodents
"While Vaseline is technically flammable, it requires sustained temperatures of around 182–220°C to ignite.
"In the UK, even with reflected sunlight from windows or mirrors, it's highly unlikely that Vaseline applied to garden fences would reach such temperatures", the spokesperson said.
"Therefore, under typical UK weather conditions, the fire risk associated with using Vaseline in this manner is minimal."
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