Recently moved into my grandparents Victorian home in Peoria. Initally concerned about crime, but never knew there was a rat problem in the city. We live adjacent to a restaurant dumpster (it touches our privacy fence) and are certain we have rats living - or spending a lot of time - in the back corner of our yard. There is a hole burrowed under the fence between the yard & neighbor's dumpster & yesterday we found a dead rat about 4' into the yard. Having Critter Control inspect house & property tomorrow.

My main questions are:

1. The yard has several groups of thick landscaping (lillies, bushes) I guess we'll need to remove, as I'm told rats dig holes in these areas & live under the ground there - is this true? And if so, should we remove?

2. If we chase these rats out, how can we stop more from returning since we live right next to a restaurant dumpster?

3. We also have many rabbits & squirrels that I don't want to injure - how can we stop the rat problem & not hurt these other animals?

We've never encountered this before nor ever gave it much thought & are scared about disease, but we don't want to sell the home that's been in our family almost 100 years.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

Sincerely, Brenda

Rats do sometimes nest in shallow burrows (typically less than 18 inches deep), but they are more likely finding shelter in the surrounding buildings. If you want habitat for the rabbits and squirrels I wouldn't remove the lilies or bushes. The overly abundant food source (the dumpster) is what is attracting the rats. Was Critter Control able to trap any of the rats for you?