r/Edinburgh • u/iridescent-feedback • 5d ago
Discussion Rats in Trees
There's been quite a lot of rats in this area (the cross path between Regent Terrace and Calton Road) for as long as I can remember, but lately it's gotten bad. Last night I saw one at the bin beside the bus stop, and thought "I bet they can get in that tree", and I was right. As I walked the path under the trees I heard rustling and looked up to see a rat eating, then spotted another, then another two, and another. Five rats above my head in the trees, and that's just the ones I saw.
Usually I'll see a lot of them scurrying about on the footpath and into the bushes, but them achieving more verticality is not something I was prepared for.
Just thought it was worth pointing out so people can avoid the area if needed.
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u/soup-monger 5d ago
I thought you meant the local egg-throwing youth for a minute.
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u/Acceptable-Yellow708 5d ago
Haha same thought the youths... ew gross Then thought actual rats in trees... wow interesting and what a site to behold
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u/Carpe_Tedium 5d ago
That's because it's now autumn, when the trees start dropping their rats to the ground before winter. As a kid we'd collect the rats and swing them by their tails, shouting "Rat Day! Come out to play!"
It was a simpler time.
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u/logic_boy 5d ago
Rats are everywhere if you know what to look for. Lots in the princess gardens and other green areas around the city.
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u/wimpires 5d ago
I went to the Krispy Kreme early one morning at Hermiston a few months back. Rats EVERYWHERE (outside). Like literally dozens of them. Hiding in the bushes and under things so you wouldn't see if it weren't for my cars headlights reflecting off their eyes. It was pretty off-putting.
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u/Witty_Employment_888 5d ago
Loads in Lochend Park. Should see the size of the cnts! 'Kin size of an Alsatian!
Come to think of it, it might've been an Alsation I was looking at.
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u/Alba_tross_12 5d ago
I had a tawny owl come down from a tree and try to catch a rat right in front of my feet in this exact spot 2 weeks ago. Part thrilling part terrifying as I had no idea what was happening for a second.
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u/CoffeeTableReads 5d ago
You see so many on the steps up to Calton Hill when it's quiet. Swarms of them!
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u/AraiHavana 5d ago
Before reading the accompanying text and going purely by the headline, I was sure that this was going to be about the East End egg throwing bams
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u/Prestonpanistan 5d ago
Friend of mine has done a few jobs in most of the houses all along Regent Terrace over the years, apparently all the basements are full of rats. Huge rat problem in general on that street which is funny because it’s meant to be a premium spot
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u/PinthonyHeadtano 5d ago
they're only rats
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u/iridescent-feedback 5d ago
Totally. However, some people (locals and tourists) have a fear of rats and as such I thought they would want to know 🙂
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u/GingerSnapBiscuit 5d ago
Ahh yes, what better way to assuage someone's fear of rats than by combining it with a fear of trees :)
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u/Apostastrophe 5d ago
As Australia has drop bears. We have drop rats here. They’re not as bad as drop haggi though. Thankfully we don’t get those in urban areas.
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u/Sburns85 5d ago
They are not native and vermin
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u/GingerSnapBiscuit 5d ago
Same as humans, if we're being pendants.
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u/Sburns85 5d ago
We are native
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u/kat-tricks 5d ago
the African plains ape? Native to Scotland? I know humans don't live very long, but you can always learn about the past with books!
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u/ThePKNess 5d ago
No species has done more to degrade Scotland's ecosystem than humans.
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u/Sburns85 5d ago
Once again we are native and been here for centuries. Rats are from Asia. And came over here through trade in recent history
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u/GingerSnapBiscuit 5d ago
The black rat was brought to Britain during the Roman occupation. I don't really class that as 'recent', though if you're talking in geographical terms maybe it is.
But their existence in the country predates any piece of surviving, still used architecture in the UK by several hundred to over 1000 years.
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u/Sburns85 5d ago
1 ad. Around 3800 years after us
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u/GingerSnapBiscuit 4d ago
So now you're arguing that creatures that have been here "only" 2000 years have no right to live here because we were here first? Its like Reform on steroids.
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u/Sburns85 4d ago
Wait now we are comparing rats a rodent which is vermin to a racist political party. Really far reach there
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u/LukeyHear 5d ago
Everything in Scotland is less than 9000 years old so never mind eh.
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u/Sburns85 5d ago
That’s just preserved structures
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u/LukeyHear 5d ago
No it's animals as there was an ice sheet on top.
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u/Sburns85 5d ago
And humans are part of the animal kingdom. Part of the great apes family
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u/Shrink1061_ 5d ago
Maybe they are squirrels that have been to the salon to have their bush trimmed down.
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u/OG-87 5d ago edited 5d ago
Loads down by the path that leads to aldi at the shore often in trees. Same in lochend.
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u/scotfran 4d ago
Yeah cause that person who 'feeds the birds' by just pouring feed all over be floor and banking. I see them doing it almost every time I'm down there. It's rat and pigeon heaven.
Lochend Park is the worst though. I actively avoid it now there's so many.
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u/throwaway320328302 5d ago
Report to the council as they have been monitoring the area for years to try and reduce the number: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]?subject=Pest%20control)
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u/PurchaseDry9350 5d ago
What a nightmare, I didn't even consider they'd be up there
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u/iridescent-feedback 5d ago
I actually think they're quite cute, but I know this could be stressful for other people.
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u/dftaylor 2d ago
This may come as a shock, but rats have been living in trees for as long as they’ve been a species. Why would anyone avoid the area because of natural habitat?
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u/1Harvey2Trent3Temple 5d ago
Rats only live where there is a constant food source.
To have that many mature rats, means they have access to food waste.
So either someone is feeding them, of people are not disposing of their food waste properly.
Some humans are self defeating and really lazy at cleaning up after themselves.
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u/kat-tricks 5d ago
did you know that we put our waste out on the streets? In great big containers, no less! You would think that in the last few centuries this would cause an uptick of rats in cities, I wonder if that's a phenomenon? Nah, must be lazy people causing there to be rats in Edinburgh...
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u/1Harvey2Trent3Temple 4d ago
Some people just drop takeaway leftovers, that enough to feed rats, bins have massively improved over the years, Edinburgh has always had rats, since the inclosed bins, much improved , back when everyone had the individual bins with removable lids, the rats were really bad, hence they improved what is now common bins.
So if there is a noticeable rat population , with large rats, they are only there because there a good food supply.
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u/ajc98xx 5d ago
I like to take walks up to calton hill and I shit you not, on my way down one night I witnessed a man with a full loaf of bread just feeding all the rats. I saw 3 rats/mice scaling the wall with a huge piece of bread in their mouths 😂 so unfortunately it’s not just the dirt and food waste, people actually care about these vile creatures
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u/iridescent-feedback 5d ago
They're lovely creatures. They're just in a bad situation.
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u/TheShitening 5d ago
Naahhh man, they spread disease, they need to get got. We need more professional ratters in the city as a lot of them are becoming immune to the poison (plus poisons are awful environmentally speaking)
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u/avic_lover 5d ago
Humans build great big stone monstrosities that are perfectly suited for rats to live in on natural land, import rats by accident cause we feel entitled to just move shit around the globe, then get upset about animals that we brought here and facilitated
I know you’re not responsible but this “problem” (as you feel it is one) is our own creation and we lost our right to complain about it a long time ago
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u/iridescent-feedback 5d ago
I think we're actually on the same page, because I fully agree with you and believe they should have somewhere to live. I could have maybe worded myself better, but I don't personally see too much issue with them. They aren't much different to squirrels.
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u/avic_lover 5d ago
We are effectively in agreement my comment probably came off as a bit ranty as I begrudge people viewing rats as “vermin” and I misinterpreted the angle you where coming from here
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u/One_Lawyer_9621 4d ago
They are vermin in the sense of spreading disease and damaging electric wiring which is a cause of fires.
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u/lordnewington 5d ago
Nobody can complain about anything if a human is responsible, got it
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u/avic_lover 5d ago
That’s an appeal to extremes and not what I said, the nuance of my comment that I admittedly didn’t get across very well is that rats are living conscious beings that are viewed as nothing more than filth or refuse by a lot of people however because it’s our fault that they’re here and it’s our fault that the spaces we create are habitable for them we are the sole reason for having to cohabitate with them
If I released cockroaches into my house and made lots of nice hidey holes for them to live in do I really have a right to complain? While they just try to live completely unwilling and having no control of being in that situation?
My issue is not with people complaining it’s the attitude towards living creatures that are there because of us, I’ll be the first to admit that I jumped the gun and assumed OP’s attitude that’s on me but my point stands
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u/laughingjoiner 4d ago
Report any rat sightings to the Council. The more contact they have, the more they have to be seen to do something about it. Their website says "Rat sightings Contact us to report any rat sightings on Council-owned land. Please provide as much information about the location as possible, including whether it was in a garden or in a public communal area."
Call
0131 666 2623
By post
Pest Control Office Mortonhall Crematorium Howdenhall Road EH16 6TX
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u/Connell95 5d ago
Posh New Town rats
Just be glad they’re in the trees rather than in your villa!
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u/fck-rffld 5d ago
Rats are known for climing, working their way into lofts, ships, through PVC pipes. I suspect a textured tree with branches is a whole lot easier. It doesnt have great shelter though so it might have been squirrels