Rat-a-tat-a-tat

Well I guess she was nest building a few weeks ago as the feeding area is awash with rats now!! There are at least four new faces scurrying around popping up amongst the branches, in the wall and under the leaves. They don't seem to bother the birds but I'm a bit worried that they'll chase off the voles and shrews so I'm planning to cut back on the ground feeding I do and stick to just filling the bird feeders. It may be a bit unfair on the ground feeding birds such as the chaffinch and dunnock but however cute these new arrivals are I don't want a plague of rats.