Hi Paulinep
Sorry to hear about your rat problem. It is really frustrating, and annoying having rats around when you really just want to give the hogs some food
In my experience not feeding the birds probably had most impact. But there will always be rats around and what may deter one, may not deter others, so sooner or later it’s quite likely one (or more) will turn up again. Then the deterrants have to start all over again!
But make sure they don’t set up a nest in your garden – that would be bigger trouble and you could end up with loads of them. If possible if you find any holes – bolt holes or otherwise – fill them in asap and cover with i.e. bricks so they can’t redig in the same place.
Supervised hog feeding can be quite fun (although cold!). The rats here have been more sensitive to slight noises or light than the hogs. I used to sit with my feet on a footstool (with the outside light on) so the hogs didn’t seem to notice I was there (they don’t have very good eyesight) and carried on as usual. Then I used to clear up any food afterwards, so the rats didn’t get any. The drawback is that the hogs only have limited time to eat, but they did get to know what time to turn up. Sometimes a rat would creep up, but small taps, which didn’t seem to scare the hogs, seemed to work on the rat.
Good luck. I hope you find something that works for you and the hedgehogs.
