Elizabeth my husband solved my "rats at the feeder" (safely for the birds and nearby pets) with an enclosed personal rat feeding station.

We usually leave the critters alone, but these guys were so bold they used to play in our carport at night - entertaining the neighbor! Mine is placed under low-growing palm fronds where the birds don't venture. It got rid of both the pack rats and desert rats.

They are called "Rat Bait Stations" - you put the poison inside, lock the box and place it near where they run. We got ours at the local hardware store, but I think you can find them on line. We use bait blocks in them, not pellets, so the rats gnaw off their "meal" and go back to their nest to die. If you use pellets, they tend to carry them out of the box, endangering other animals.
Sue