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Well it could be if I left the kitchen door open but up to now it's in the garden, munching on fallen bird seed that the pigeons don't get.
To kill or not to kill? That is the question.
& indeed, how to kill? 1st option is the ancient but trusty old Airsporter, in which I put a new & stronger spring in about 20 years ago & have never had it on a chronograph (& can only hope it's under 12ft/lbs).
2nd option is a trap of either humane or none humane variety.
I'm edging for option 1 but I'd have to lie in wait & 'snipe' the little (large actually) git.
What's the general consensus?
Hoof it in the slats.
Nuke it from orbit...
Sure it’s a rat ?
Kill it dead.
Plenty of nasties they carry..
I had two in my shed, bought a rat killer feed thing from BnQ and dead within a few days.
Shudders.
Borrow a Jack Russell, nothing makes toby happier than digging out and chasing rats on a mates farm,
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Wrap it in a jumper and put it in the washing machine.
If your in West Yorkshire I could bring my puppy around, he's a Yorkie/shitzhu and will eat literally anything, if it tries to run away, that increases his appetite.
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I could easily borrow Bella, my mates old JR but Ratty McRatface is coming & going through a small hole in the fence, close to the food source, so a dog wouldn't be able to nab it. I know the garden needs digging over but I don't want a dog doing it!
Live and let live 🙂
But if it starts causing a nuisance then feel free to remove, humane trap then dump in the river...
The gun.
Toby looks hard as ****. Likes.
Air rifle.
“Live and let live”? Whatever.
Shudders.
Have you considered fixing the hole in the fence? Crazy, I know.
In the kitchen? Bleach everything in the kitchen. Traps down, kick boards out and check behind etc.
Assuming you didn't actually invite it in through the door you need rid of it and you need rid of how it got in (doesn't need a big gap, about a 10p peice for a rat if i remember rightly). Where there is one there are more.
Ooh and stop feeding the [s]birds[/s] rats.
Not the gun. If you can't guarantee a clean shot don't take it, even vermin deserves a humane death. Besides, 12fpe is overkill for ratting, a close range gun should be in the 8-10fpe range as you have to consider where the pellet goes afterwards. I've even seen people use pistols with shoulder stocks (6fpe).
Also, do yourself a favour and make sure its legal, a chrono costs less than a firearms offence. Find out if someone local has one you can send few pellets through, if it's hot then its no harder than taking the spring out to keep it legal.
Lastly rats are a bugger. My folk got some, they were happy enough with mice in the garden but rats were another league. Burrows everywhere. Poison sorted them out but be aware if there is something worth having they could well come back. It was the bird feed they were after in our case as well (plus chickens didn't help).
Oh, another thing, they can't see in red light. I'd be taking full advantage of that fact to track them, they are creatures of habit.
Petrol and matches! Surprised it's not been suggested already 😀
Aye, Toby looks like a doggy you don't mess with..unless it's for cuddles.
Borrow a Jack Russell, nothing makes toby happier than digging out and chasing rats on a mates farm,
This ^.
It's over in a split second.
nuke from space
humane trap then dump in the river...
Drowning is 'humane'?
Isn't the big spring trap better?
I presume (hope) he meant dump it out the trap and into the river. They are very good swimmers so it will be fine.
Put down a glue trap and bait. Inhumane but effective.
Borrow a Jack Russell
Or shake your head slowly at your German Shepherd as he watches a rat come out the kitchen, saunter up the hall, take food out of his bowl not two feet away then sidle back under the dishwasher again.
I caught the rat the next day with a mixing bowl, he went to "live on a farm".
I've got a cat as well, equally useless..
I presume (hope) he meant dump it out the trap and into the river. They are very good swimmers so it will be fine.
Yep, that's what I meant - I'd rather try and "re-home" rather than destroy if it all possible.
i had one. trapped it and beat it to death with a tz250 clip on.
Kill it in the face with fire?
Open the door and let it back out?
Shovel, whack!
I've got news for you rats are not solitary hermits and they like to live in compost heaps with their pals.
You ok with spiders?...
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[url= https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat-on-a-stick ]Rat-on-a-stick?[/url]
Snap trap,bait it with peanut butter and bacon. Place it next to a wall.
Rats stink.
Kill 'em before they breed.
How many of the dogs did he get with the pitch fork?
We had an issue at work.
Advice from Rentokil
Remove any source of food.
Remove any free standing water if you can (It was summer)
Poison traps and snap traps.
Block all holes, and I mean small holes.
Have you considered fixing the hole in the fence? Crazy, I know.
Have you seen the fence? It's more like a net.
Also, have you considered the fact that even if I fixed the fence, ratty can climb over?
If I take a shot It'll be from the conservatory window (or the book suppository) range will be a massive 10-12 yards.
Mrs Egf keeps opening the kitchen door & shouts 'bugger off', which it does for 10 mins then comes back.
Mrs Egf keeps opening the kitchen door & shouts 'bugger off', which it does for 10 mins then comes back.
Better behaved than many dogs.
Take it in and give it a name?
Gavin,I like Gavin.
Or shake your head slowly at your German Shepherd as he watches a rat come out the kitchen, saunter up the hall, take food out of his bowl not two feet away then sidle back under the dishwasher again.
I have that face in my head. The ears pricked up and look of curious bemusement. I bet it even looked up at you with a look of "what should I do?".
For such intelligent dogs they can be incredibly thick when it suits them.
@porter_jamie.....what a fab life you have! TZ spares littering everywhere 🙂 i am jealous. Wish i still had my RS 🙁
Lay a wellie boot down against the wall then get broom and drive the rat round the room and into wellie boot.
Grab top of wellie and close the opening then shake out of the bedroom window.
A well practised drill at 03.00 am when a cat brings one in.
For such intelligent dogs they can be incredibly thick when it suits them.
He can look pretty thick too..
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Oi poopscoop - no one calls me a rat!
Trap or poison. I’d be careful of the poison option if you have pets though. As someone else said, remove food water and shelter if you can.
gavinpearce - Member
Oi poopscoop - no one calls me a rat!
😛
As for the picture of the pooch above, in all fairness you probably caught him on his bad side when he wasn't ready and didn't even bother to airbrush the pic either!
I blame the owner personally.
😉
if the rat is that brazen in the middle of the day they'll be everywhere...
Ive got one/ some raiding my chicken run again despite a decent campaign against them a while back. Airguns, poison, snap traps, live traps, spaniel, pitchfork... I've been there.
They just love wood stacks and the cavity in my two skin wooden garage wall.
This one is a burrower and seems cleverer than the others, avoiding the peanut butter loaded snap traps and the live trap and preferring the chicken feed to the bait box warfarin cocktail. The chickens are that old they're not even laying anymore, I wish they'd just eat the chickens so I didn't have to put food out for them!
Can't even see it or get near it to take a shot. Its like an SAS rat.