Rats and Creek-Side Yards Along Buffalo Creek

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North Buffalo Creek runs past Lake Daniel Park, Latham Park, Fisher Park and Irving Park, often closer to back fences than people realize. Water and thick cover in the middle of town is exactly what a Norway rat looks for. If you live along the greenway and have started noticing holes in the yard, rats near Buffalo Creek are a likely explanation, and the fix starts on your side of the fence.

This post is about the kind of habitat a creek provides, not a claim that any neighborhood has an outbreak. Plenty of creek-side homes never see a rat.

Where Buffalo Creek Runs

North Buffalo Creek along the Latham Park greenway

Greensboro sits on two main creeks. North Buffalo Creek begins in small tributaries near Spring Garden Street, many of them now piped underground, and surfaces to wind through Westerwood and Lake Daniel Park, then along the Latham Park greenway past Fisher Park and Irving Park before heading east. South Buffalo Creek drains the southern half of the city, and the two meet east of town near McLeansville.

The greenways along these creeks are some of the city’s favorite walking routes. They also form a long, continuous strip of water, brush and soft soil running through older neighborhoods.

What a Creek Corridor Offers a Rat

Norway rats are burrowers that like to live near water. A creek corridor gives them:

  • Water all year.
  • Soft banks and loose soil that are easy to dig.
  • Cover from brush, ivy and fallen wood.
  • Food from seeds, insects and whatever people leave out nearby.
  • Travel routes along the bank, and in piped sections, through storm drains.

From there, a rat’s nightly range of about 100 feet reaches a lot of back yards.

Signs in a Yard Near the Water

Rat burrow under the edge of a deck, a common sign of rats near Buffalo Creek

Rats leave clear evidence outdoors, and most of it is low to the ground:

  • Burrow holes about two to four inches across, often with smooth, packed edges, along foundations, under decks and sheds, and in mulch beds.
  • Runways, narrow paths worn through grass, ivy or groundcover between cover and food.
  • Gnawed compost bins, trash cans or bird-feeder poles.
  • Droppings about 3/4 inch long, blunt at the ends, near the burrows or feeders.
  • Fresh soil pushed out of holes after rain.

Active burrows look used: smooth edges, no cobwebs or leaves in the opening, and fresh dirt nearby.

Your Side of the Fence

You can’t change the creek, but you can make your yard much less inviting:

  1. Bird feeders. Spilled seed is a top rat attractant. Use a tray to catch it, take feeders in at night or remove them for a season.
  2. Compost. Use a closed bin with a solid bottom or a mesh floor, and leave meat and cooked food out of it.
  3. Woodpiles and debris. Stack firewood off the ground and away from the house, and clear old lumber and brush.
  4. Ivy and groundcover. Dense ivy against the house hides burrows and gives rats a covered path to the foundation. Pull it back a few feet.
  5. Pet food and trash. Keep both indoors or in lidded metal containers.
  6. Foundation vents. Make sure crawl space vents are screened with hardware cloth, since a creek-side yard puts more rats within reach of them.

When It’s More Than the Yard

Rats in the yard often become rats under the house. If you hear activity under the floors, smell something musty from the vents or see torn plastic in the crawl space, it is time to act on the house itself. The page on rats in creek-side yards and under the house explains how providers remove them, and rodents under the house covers crawl space repair. For how Buffalo Creek and its tributaries shape other parts of the city, see the Greensboro neighborhoods page, and for the big picture, the Greensboro overview.

Rats Near Buffalo Creek: Quick Answers

Should I fill in rat burrows?

Collapsing and backfilling burrows helps you see whether rats are still active, since reopened holes mean they are. On its own it won’t solve the problem.

Will rats from the creek get into my house?

They can, through foundation vents, gaps under doors and openings around pipes. Screened vents and sealed gaps are the main defense.

Does the city treat rats along the greenway?

Ask the City of Greensboro about public land. For your own property, the work is yours or a provider’s.

Sources: O.Henry Magazine on Buffalo Creek; City of Greensboro greenways; NC State Extension on house mice and other rodents.