brown rats

[allotment10]

is it right that a brown female rat can produce 5 litters a year (between 6-8 babies) ? and do the foxes really eat them? just wondered as one the allotments further down from me is now deserted & everyone is saying that its overrun with rats! i haven't seen any on mine as the foxes have a den just at the bottom under the old shed, the italians are saying they're going to put down poison to kill the rats, but what happens if one of the foxes eat a poisoned rat ? will it kill them ?

[RATTER15]

You figures sound fairly accurate, don't worry to much about the fox population, A fox would need to eat an awful lot of rats to be affected by thy tiny amount of poison that would be inside a rat, the rat poisons we use these days are specifically designed to limit the risk of secondary poisoning.

[allotment10]

had a inkling you would answer my question, and i'm glad you did, thanks for putting my mind at rest, i wouldn't like to think that they killed the foxes.