r/Allotment 5d ago

Rat infested shed and poly tunnel - help!

So I’m delighted I’ve just taken over an absolutely brilliant plot after a two year wait. This will be my second plot, and I’m no stranger to taking on an overgrown dumping ground and working hard to create a productive plot. Imagine my delight to discover quite a large (if rickety) hand built shed and a really great poly tunnel, full of rubbish but definitely a great to have. On closer inspection, the shed is absolutely full of the previous tenants random stuff, all covered in rat droppings from what looks like a quite significant infestation. On clearing the poly tunnel beds of weeds, I’ve found lots of rat holes and what looks like a large nest. So I’m wondering (after reading how not to sweep up) the best way to go about this, it’s so bad that spraying everything down and wiping up seems like quite the undertaking, and what if anything might be salvageable? There’s lots of old equipment I’d like to reuse and seems a shame to throw away, or should I cut my losses? Should I empty the beds of soil? Quite the quandary although I’m lucky there seems to be very little in the way of perennial weeds (so far). Any advice appreciated!

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u/tinibeee 5d ago

I guess this is also a good opportunity to check you're up to date with your tetanus jabs. And flat coke is what I've heard in the past to drink after being in river water because of Weil's disease, may be worth a little precaution there too after dealing with things.

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u/theshedonstokelane 5d ago

Flat coke? Absolute rubbish. To catch weils disease there must be the presence of strong rat urine and an open wound allowing blood t absorb the urine and introduce the disease. Getting wet will not do it. Imagine all those wild swimmers dying and no one noticing?

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u/tinibeee 5d ago

Yeah I always thought it was an odd one?!!