And what will you do with the rat when you catch it? Release it somewhere else so it becomes someone else's problem?
Sorry, but sad as it seems, rats need to be killed. There are ways of putting down poison which will neither affect the hedgehogs (hibernating by now surely?) or your dogs. We have cats and so far they have had no problems with us putting down rat poison, in the correct manner.

Hi there, thanks for your response Owdboggy, would willingly kill the rat but as hedgehogs are still awake and in the garden don't want to leave poison out. If anyone knows of a rat trap that will catch the rat (and not hedgehog) I will ensure that the poison is given in a more safer place ie garage.
Firstly need to catch the little blighter!

If you get a specialist pest controller in (they don't cost a fortune) they will ensure your pets and hedgehogs are safe. The only humane traps I have used are like a cage but you will be in danger of catching hedgehogs in them and its all right being humane but you will have to dispatch the rat somehow. My friend is going through the same problem at the moment and the pest controller is being retained for 3 months for one small payment under £30.

Personally ,unless the rat was in my house I would not kill it.

In fact, if at all possible, even if it was in the house I'd catch it, make sure the entry point to the house was blocked up and then release the rat outside.

Imo too many people have a knee jerk reaction that things have to be killed.

I'm not religious but "thou shalt not kill" is my motto

I imagine I will now be lectured on the evils of rats and how they're vermin( a word I despise) but this will make not a jot of difference to my views so I will not be reading any further comments on this question!

:^)

It's a shame you can't hire terriers by the day - they'd certainly leave hedgehogs alone, and any ratties would be dispatched VERY quickly.

Well I for one have had the garden crawling with a large nest of rats and I don't ever want to go through that again - knee jerk reaction or not!

My neighbour is a farmer and uses a long drainpipe, he pushes a tray of bait to the middle and then puts tile or something either end, leaving enough room for the vermin to get through

In the stables they ate n. shapes in the doors to get at the food store, we kept everything in metal bins, under bird tables is another favorite place, we stopped them climbing up by using one of those on a pole with hanging feeders that have trays under to catch the bits. I,m afraid being humane in the case of vermin is a problem, their reproduction rates like mice is incredible

Living in the country with loads of farms around us, with their stores of grain and animal feed, and chicken houses with eggs, is a recipe for disaster where rats are concerned. There's a reason we encourage feral cats. We have never, ever seen a live rat, either inside the house/cellars or outside - just the remains. We know they are around in their hundreds - we find their runs in the compost heap and see their droppings around our neighbour's barn. Hedgehogs, however, are accepted by the cats and feed from their dishes with equanimity. It's a bit of useless information as far as you're concerned, though, Glampuss (love your name) I expect. Sorry!

hi glampuss if you have one rat believe me you will have lots more about they look for somewhere warmer to nest in winter ie in houses and if they die of old age the smell is horrific the only way to get rid of them is to kill them and the best way is a cat it will bring you little presents just pop them in a bag and put them in the bin as i did this morning happy hunting

Putting cooked food scraps out attracts them.