How can I control (kill) rats in my backyard but not hurt squirrels , pets or wild birds?

I have lots of trees and foliage and don't particularly like poisons.How can I control (kill) rats in my backyard but not hurt squirrels , pets or wild birds?
Build a rat house that has small entrances that only rats can enter (this can be a sturdy cardboard box). Put in rotting food and line the bottom of the rat house with sitcky rat traps. The rats will enter the house and get caught on the traps and die quickly and humanely.





I would not recommend letting rats go, as they will find their way back over and over and over and over..... Besides, rats procreate very, very quickly and carry a multitude of diseases (responsible for the black plaque, remember?), much more than mice. And, because rats will eat decaying matter, they have a high incidence of rabies from eating rabid animals.





A cat will be a moderate solution as simply the presence helps keep vermin down. But. rats are large and most cats aren't interested in rats.How can I control (kill) rats in my backyard but not hurt squirrels , pets or wild birds?
A BB gun will do the trick!
get a cat
You need some cats.
get a cat. squirrels are too fast to get caught. generally.
locate a high profile bait station where the rat sized snap traps can fit inside. It will keep larger animals and kids out and I have never seen a squirrel go inside one. The preference though would be to place bait blocks in them. The blocks lock down and won't easily come out. Avoid the pellets for as mentioned they can be removed and taken elsewhere and I don't trust a rat enough to think he won't drop any.
Go to a good garden center or farm store and ask if they have Ramik Green. You pour the pellets down the rat hole and securely covered the hole with a rock, brick, board, etc.,--something sturdy--you can weight down a board. The rats take it away to their nests and then the rats are gone. I see where you can order this product on line as well.
Don't kill the rats! That's terrible! Try humane traps that would trap rats but not kill them-- you can just release them into the wild.