Help , I've got a rat problem

Just caught one – quite a large beast really

Congratulations, you have a live rat!

Now what?

I think I’m going to take it for a walk

Insane that anyone would consider going to all the trouble catching a rat, then release it within close distance of where you caught it.

Personally, humane traps make no sense to me. Either get one that snaps its neck or get one that catches them them smack the vermin with a shovel.

Cant think of anything worse than having to listen to a rat ripping the house to bits from the inside.

Congratulations, you have a live rat!

Now what?

Whenever any of my customers proudly show me a live capture trap I always ask them the same thing. Many of them can’t come up with an answer; and no, it isn’t legal to drown them in the cage.

To the OP my advice would be to consider a mix of poison bait and maybe a couple of break back traps. If there is a decent sized hole try getting hold of some pasta based bait and placing it directly into the hole. Rats absolutely love it in my experience and you should top it up as soon as it gets eaten. When the bait stops being eaten the rats will be dead.And don’t go messing about and buying the smallest tub you can find. Get yourself to a farm suppliers and buy a decent sized tub as you most likely have a burrow near to/ under your shed and you will have many rats to kill.

Any traps you use should be placed against the regular runs along the edge of walls. You can always cover them over with piece of wood or slate to stop the dog taking an interest.

Isn’t it illegal to release them? That’s the case with squirrels.

How far do I need to go before letting it out? I had this trap anyway but didn’t want to risk catching my son or a chicken, didn’t think it would work as too big for rats but this rat is big enough.

^^ they are vermin, who on earth would you let it out somewhere ? 🙄

great pic that mudshark, it seems to be posing for the camera!

How far do I need to go before letting it out?

Depends. Who do you know who wants a rat?

More seriously,

You do know how fast the buggers breed, don’t you? A pair of rats will have thousands of babies before they cark it, and the babies are ready to make more from about 3 months old IIRC. How many of those cages have you got?

Stop fannying about with cages and wipe them out with extreme prejudice, it’s you or them.

I have this killer

Hence why we have meeces in under the shed 😐

Isn’t it illegal to release them? That’s the case with squirrels

It is indeed illegal to release squirrels but not technically illegal to release trapped mice and rats. However, if the release of the rodent into a different area could be seen to be having an impact on its welfare (i.e. to an area where there is no food, a recognisably harsh environment etc) then it could be seen as inhumane.

Far better to shoot captured rats or whack ’em with something lethal (my favoured tool is a mallet). Besides, as said above, they will more than likely find their way back home if not released far enough away.

What you really need is one of these:

I’m trying to justify the cost of buying one at the moment…

Well I released it 30 mins walk from home in a secret location in woods not far from fields so hope it has a good chance of making a new life there. I checked a few times and pretty sure it didn’t follow me back.

Are you sure the rat didn’t recognise your “secret location”? They are very good at bluffing.

Got a small petrol engine handy?
Strimmer, chainsaw etc will do – put a pipe from the exhaust into the rat hole. Start your engine and go get a cup of tea. Petrol fumes sink into the burrows – no more rats.

Did you spin it round three times first?

Mudsharks home later on

I like the chainsaw idea.

Can borrow my boa constrictor she is due a feed! But more likely to curl up on the couch. Lazy snake.