[Closed] RATS and Air Rifles/ Poison ?

5..Is there any bait that’s irresistible to them that will lure them into the traps I’ve put out

Peanut butter?

Even when I hit them Square in the body and the force Forces them into the air they seem to take the piss and run off.

You should not be shooting any animal, even rats, if you can't make a clean kill. Completely unacceptable.

Feed the birds in a different way? On a table or by hanging a feeder??

Warfarin for the rats, and can't you buy steel pointy .22 pellets anymore?

You should not be shooting any animal, even rats, if you can’t make a clean kill. Completely unacceptable.

^^ This

Try baiting humane traps with peanut butter and then relocating them miles away. If not, stop feeding the birds and the rats will soon bugger off if there is no food around.

.22, domed pellet and a headshot does for them here.

(BSA GRT, Bisley Magnum)

Friend swears by flat heads, but I've found domed fly true and hit hard enough.

Just to try and put Some minds at rest
I’ve invested a lot into the baiting and relocating method
Months of trial and error and many traps have been purchased but with little result

Nutella!

Even when I hit them Square in the body and the force Forces them into the air they seem to take the piss and run off.

headshot or bust.

The thing with poison is that you dont often see the dead ones!

I got some "Pasta" rat poison from screwfix - apparently it is for difficult to kill rats - seemed to work well

Take the bird food in at the end of the day. I was once told food outside during the day feeds the birds, food outside overnight feeds the rats. Bringing in feeders every evening certainly fixed a problem my parents were having.

1..Is my air rifle powerful enough (.22 from around 10m distance)

That doesn't really tell anyone enough to know. Air rifles "power" is normally rated in ft-lbs (other more SI-compliant units such as Nm are available) which is the energy of the pellet as it leaves the muzzle. The legal limit for air rifles (without additional licences in England, you need a permit for these in Scotland) is 12ftlb. .22 just tells you the size of the pellet you're firing not its power.

To do any kind of hunting, I'd expect you'd want something pretty close to the top-end of allowed power.

If you have the model of the rifle, I'm sure someone who knows could tell you if it's up to the job. (It won't be me.. I used to plink a bit with an air rifle but that's all).

Can't help feeling you're not really addressing the problem here.....

Either stop feeding the birds, or do it in a way that the rats can't get to. Seems a bit off to me to be leaving food out that encourages rats and then maiming them by badly executed execution.

I've just sorted my loft critters out, very suspicious didn't take bait or touch the traps with peanut butter, I also tried glue boards, totally useless they shit all over them.
I found they were holes up in the soffits so I removed the extractor fan in the bathroom which was at the other end of the house and droped in some poison blocks, then replaced fan. Haven't heard or seen anything of them for a week, I think it worked because the poison was in a place where they didn't feel suspicious of it.
Catching and relocating 🤣

The thing with poison is that you dont often see the dead ones!

Nor do you see the other dead animals/birds of prey that feed on the poisoned rats and get poisoned themselves

STOP INJURING RATS YOU BASTARD

Even vermin species deserve to be despatched humanely and that means a headshot every time.

Why do you think that a body shot would kill cleanly or don't you give a shit?
You've borrowed an air rifle and think you are competent enough to shoot accurately and consistently at live animals at varying ranges? You don't give a shit do you?

Practice until you can hit a 2p piece EVERY TIME at the typical ranges. And head shots only.

Flat headed pellets (RWS Hobby) are very effective at ranges up to 20m. Larger surface area expends energy more efficiently into the target i.e. the rat's HEAD.

We have the same problem (we keep chickens, so it is a side effect of that). But I have not controlled them for 6 months so now we're quite over run with rats. I have a cheap air rifle that didn't kill cleanly, so am (today) buying a new one. The gun shop I spoke to laughed when I said I had a Westlake air rifle and his words were "that won't kill anything". £150 gets a legal limit air rifle (plus scope etc). Looking at the various blogs for similar problems a good air rifle and a head shot are one way forward.
I also got an electronic rat zapper - delivers 7000V shock which kills instantly. I have used it overnight for the past week with peanut butter as bait and got the 1st rat last night.

Poison is (in my opinion) not a good option. Probably very effective, but also indiscriminate and you never find the dead rat. Supposedly they go into their nest to die, but it's a slow painful death, plus it puts poison into the foodchain. I have used it in the past but am very mindful of it.

Proper spring traps work if you can get the rat to trust them - which after a few kills they'll steer well clear.

Humane traps - I have one and have never caught anything in it. Not sure why but they clearly distrust it. Then you have the problem of where to relocate to.....

Another option is the local terrier club - but I suspect this is an option that may only suit certain locations (maybe not for in-house infestations!).

There is nothing pleasant about having a rat problem or dealing with it. So preventing the problem in the first place is maybe the best option - remove food at night or have rat proof bird feeders (they'll get in if they can get to it - you have to stop them getting to it by having anti climbing measures or suchlike).

Starship
Neither playing god with animals or being called a BASTARD sits well with me
I’ll gladly take any advice given on how to humanely try to resolve a long on going problem
BUT BRING CALLED A BASTARD NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED FACE TO FACE

PM me for a meet

PM me for a meet

How old are you?

BUT BRING CALLED A BASTARD NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED FACE TO FACE

PM me for a meet

Thats so funny, you want to arrange a fight because a stranger on the stranger on the internet called you a naughty word!

Grow up.

- How far are you prepared to travel for this fight?
- Are we allowed to come a watch and shout FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT?
- Will Queensberry Rules apply?
- Will one of you need to throw down a glove?
- Are weapons allowed, will you be bringing a limp air rifle?
- Do you intend to kill Starship or just shot him in the body to allow him to run away in pain?

WE NEED TO KNOW!

Who just turned STW up to 11?

Starship
Neither playing god with animals or being called a BASTARD sits well with me
I’ll gladly take any advice given on how to humanely try to resolve a long on going problem
BUT BRING CALLED A BASTARD NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED FACE TO FACE

PM me for a meet

BUT BRING CALLED A BASTARD NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED FACE TO FACE

PM me for a meet

This did make me chuckle...😂

Also, shooting animals and clearly not caring if you don't kill them cleanly marks you you out as an absolute dick....no two ways about it im afraid.

Try baiting humane traps with peanut butter and then relocating them miles away.

You know releasing vermin is a legal no no don't you?

As for the rats. If they're outside leave the things be.
Take bird food in after feeding them and remove other things that will attract them but ignore them.

If you must deal with them shooting is the right thing to do but invest some target practice. If you can't hit consistently a 20p piece at the relevant range do not point your rifle at anything which breathes. (be prepared for looooong days of shooting too, they're not exactly rare)

If they're in your house poison amd traps. Wear garden gloves when handling any of it preferably the ones you forgot to bring in in June thar have gone green and slimy and you don't really want to touch. Traps in a bucket of rain water for a day or two before you bait them. Don't set them until the bait has being taken every day for at least a week.
Foot poison use a bromide based one, ideally it should look (amd smell etc) like something rats would eat, like grain etc. Do not use poison or traps outside.

BUT BRING CALLED A BASTARD NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED FACE TO FACE

PM me for a meet

brilliant....post of the week!

Put the gun down. You haven't got the knowledge or the skills to use it.
You'd be better off getting hold of the thin end and hitting the rats with the fat end.
Stop leaving food lying around. The birds and the rats will find it elsewhere.

That went well.

Definitely agree with most of the points raised above. You need to be consistently hitting 2p sized target before trying to hit a rat or other vermin. Extra strong mints are great for practice too! Again practice, practice, practice and watch your backstop. Any stray pellets into your neighbours garden may get you in trouble

You'll want to make sure your scope is zero'ed for the distance you're shooting at and for your pellet of choice too. Flat heads like Hobbies are perfectly fine as are your domed pellets.

Bait wise, I used peanut butter mixed with some chocolate spread and veggie oil. Works well.

Have you also considered using a Goodnature trap?
https://goodnaturetraps.co.uk/humane-rat-traps/

Use a humane trap, and then drown them while still in the trap.
Put their body in a sealed plastic bag before putting in the bin.
Wash hands.

Humane trap - so it doesn't catch a leg/tail and then bite it off.
Drown - so no blood/faeces etc.
Seal bag - no maggots in your bin

snap has gone quiet.

I assume he's getting in some target practice.

snap has gone quiet.

I assume he’s getting in some target practice.

I reckon his mum has sent him out to feed the birds again

Echoing the thoughts of everyone saying you should not be shooting them as you clearly don't have the knowledge or competence. FWIW you have also admitted a wildlife crime on a public forum, vermin or not you would still be liable for prosecution if someone was so inclined. What you are doing is cruel and completely unnecessary.

Either stop feeding the birds or clean the area up. As long as you have food the rats will keep coming back.

I can just see Mr Starship's conversation with the wife now..'sorry dear, the family holiday to centre parks is cancelled. Instead we are having to travel half way across England to meet a random off the internet in a Car park, so he can extract some form of face to face retribution for the dastardly slur I bestowed on him.. Btw It may end up in a fight...you ok with that?'

One of the first things I was taught about the internet..Don't challenge strangers to a fight from behind the safety of your keyboard..As sure enough one day someone may call your bluff, and then you look a bit of a tit..

Get a cat

surely easier just to sort the bird feed mess out? Probably either the type of food used or the type/position of the feeders. Just google it, loads of tips/tricks so you can do it without attracting rats.

Defo a late front runner for thread of the week tho 😃

I think we're going to need a video of the meet-up

Get a cat

Headshots only, though.

Get a cat

Headshots only, though.

From 10m out you'd have to be pretty good with a catapult

Use a humane trap, and then drown them while still in the trap.

Erm but, I mean. You know. Erm

Oh never mind.

Goodnature A24 trap kills them well dead then kills the next one etc. Expensive, but highly effective. The lure they supply is chocolate flavour btw.

These things: https://goodnaturetraps.co.uk

Have you also considered using a Goodnature trap?
https://goodnaturetraps.co.uk/humane-rat-traps//blockquote >

Use a humane trap, and then drown them while still in the trap

There's the thing with that. WTF do you do with a pissed off scared very alive rat once you've caught it? It's all well and good catching the blighter humanely but then you've to get rid.

Choice 1) shoot it. Not so easy when it very definitely won't sit still.

Choice 2) take it out of the trap and whack it over the head very hard with something heavy. Trying to handle it is really not advisable and you're not going to manage it when it's in the trap.

Choice 3) let it go. It's illegal to release vermin once caught and, that aside, the whole reason for trapping it was so that its not where ever you just let it go.

Choice 4) kill it inhumanely which rather defeats the point of a humane trap and is entirely reasonably against the law. (dunking rats in buckets is just like drowning unwanted kittens which I can't see anyone being likely to advocate or even begrudgingly accept)

 

A local fox sorted ours out.

Is the fisticuffs still on and will it be Queensbury rules?

Goodness me. this is peak stw isn't it. Can we have confirmation of the vw van model driven and the wood burner, and bring some hate for that too?

If you want to shoot them and have practised enough to hit them in the head every time try standing a paving slab upright and then putting peanut butter about 20 cm off the floor. The rats will stand nice and still on their back legs licking the peanut butter giving you an easy shot that is the same every time. You also then have a backboard to stop pellets damaging anyone down the garden.

Get a staffie. It will be like setting a T-Rex amongst sheep, and instant death.

I've seen one at work, for such friendly little chaps, they have a real killer instinct.

Or learn to shoot properly. There is a youtube of a bloke who does this professionally if you want some tips. He doesn't take chance shots.

Get 10 tins of pellets to begin and then get practicing, evaluate you accuracy with the last 20 or so of the last tin. Start with a rest so you can get your breathing right, the rest will keep the riffle in the same place. The move on to holding the gun. After that try in a cross wind. Only when you are shooting hitting a 20p every time move on to rats.

I been isolating for 8 days now so am happy to turn up for the fight in place of D Starship, anything for bit of physical activity, you'll have to wat till next Thursday though!

We clipped catch trays to the bottom of our feeders. We didn't act like a dick and just wound them to run off and die.

Neighbour traps them and his dog finishes them off. A rather sad side effect of this is his dog now tries to finish anything off including Hedgehogs (I've had to deal with some badly maimed ones missing limbs etc, which all died in agony as a result).

The whole killing things thing never ends well.

Rats
It is important to note that the species listed in section 9 of the WCA is Rattus Rattus – the black rat. The species commonly found in the UK is Rattus Norvegicus. Although not native, they have been here since the early 1700s so are considered ordinarily resident. Therefore it is not illegal to treat or release them.

https://helpwildlife.co.uk/sick-or-injured-wildlife/vermin/

franksinatra
Full Member
snap has gone quiet.

I assume he’s getting in some target practice.

I reckon his mum has sent him out to feed the birds again

Oooh! You cheeky so-and-so!

That'll be a wine/phone interface on my part due to that!

This thread gives me a sense of enormous well-being.

I'm just registering my disappointment that nobody has posted that gif of Michael Jackson eating popcorn yet.
Will there be a fresh thread for the duel, or just keep it on this one?

I fear Lord Bullingdon has suffered a grave and humiliating insult at the hands of Mr Barry Lyndon. He must have satisfaction.

Oh lordy it's a tough crowd in here! Calibre of air rifle doesn't matter, .177, .22, .25 all good. To a lesser degree neither does power, a 9 or 10 ft/lb rifle will do the job as just well as a legal limit 12 ft/lb one. What does matter as others have said, is shot placement and accuracy. Head shots only, when you have practiced sufficiently to guarantee them. The type of air rifle makes a huge difference, spring piston air rifles are much harder to shoot accurately. It can be done, but takes a lot of skill and practice. They have a very slow "lock time" which means it's easy to disturb the aim between trigger release and the pellet leaving the muzzle. They are also very sensitive to how they are held and any attempt to rest the stock or barrel on anything solid will throw shots off. Pre charged pneumatics (PCP) are much, much easier to shoot accurately. The downside is they are expensive to buy. Chances are the rifle you've borrowed is a cheap springer, unless you can invest many hours in mastering it, buy/borrow a PCP (which will still require practice) or give up on air rifles.

blokeuptheroad
Free Member

Oh lordy it’s a tough crowd in here! Calibre of air rifle doesn’t matter, .177, .22, .25 all good.

Tut tut you missed the best calibre 0.20
Well in my Theoben Rapid 7 & MFR anyway 😉

@MrOvershoot true. As the kids say, my bad...

blokeuptheroad
Free Member

@MrOvershoot true. As the kids say, my bad…

Kids are a hard audience though, not like here eh 😀

I'm genuinely wondering if this is a pisstake.

Snap grow up. Sort your shit out.

What rifle are you using? Scopes or just sights? Some rifles wouldn't blow a coke can off a wall.

Calling some out for pointing out your lack of empathy or skill or even common sense is just shit. How old are you. 12? Put the can of stella down n look in the mirror.

Don't like poison gets in the food chain

So get a patterdale, or a jack or invest in a proper air rifle and this is the important bit learn to shoot.

Cruelty of any animal is to be abhorred.

Or better still remove the food source

Sauce ?
Snap can aim his rifle at Dereks head and hit him in the stomache. As his air rifle is frankly rubbish all it will achieve is a big bullseye bruise on Derek. Derek can then photograph the bruise and post it up on here. We can then compare and contrast to see if Derek is still the size of a starship or has shrunk since his last photo posted on here

Choice 1) shoot it. Not so easy when it very definitely won’t sit still.

Use a comb to pin it to the end of the cage then shoot with a pistol.

You also then have a backboard to stop pellets damaging anyone down the garden.

I'd be putting some old carpet in front of that slab first! Ricochets are very likely otherwise (again, firearms offence if pellet leaves boundary). To be clear - unlined paving slabs are NOT a safe backstop.

Tut tut you missed the best calibre 0.20

There's always one...

(I had to sell a .20 MFR, was a properly nice gun I never got the chance to shoot as it wasn't mine)

squirrelking
Free Member

Tut tut you missed the best calibre 0.20

There’s always one…

(I had to sell a .20 MFR, was a properly nice gun I never got the chance to shoot as it wasn’t mine)

TBH either don't get used much, pest control work is mostly HW100 & Zbroia Kozak

Thank you all, I literally had to wipe the tears from my eyes to finish reading this thread. It made my Friday just a little bit brighter.

Pm me snap if you want a good air rifle 👍
Also regarding not finding the dead rats it's because they are cannibals and well gone before getting cold. 🍔
Would you like me to come round with the rim fire and night vision?

Poison is bad because other animals may ingest it. Shooting if you can guarantee not to cause suffering, which I doubt anyone could outwith a pest controller with a licensed powerful rifle.

Buy a Jack Russell. It's what these little Terriers are all about.

Interesting thread. Makes me realise why I don't come on here as much as I used to.

However.....I really must get my old air rifle on a chronometer, changed the spring about 25 years ago & barely used it since but we had a rat in the garden a while ago & after I'd shot & killed it I thought, 'Hmm, this old thing seems a lot more powerful than I remember'.

I saved up for it when I was at 14, early 1970's, & bought it from a sports shop in Durham for about £30, brought it home on the bus in a box.
I saw one on a gun selling site the other day for £195!

(the shop was owned by a chap called Neil Cummings, Dominic Cummings' cousin)

https://flic.kr/p/2k1Unh2

https://flic.kr/p/2k1Y8xD

Neighbour traps them and his dog finishes them off. A rather sad side effect of this is his dog now tries to finish anything off including Hedgehogs (I’ve had to deal with some badly maimed ones missing limbs etc, which all died in agony as a result).

Your neighbour sounds charming..

Wtf is wrong with some people!?

I doubt that a forty odd year old tap loading Airsporter would get above 10 ft/lbs essel. Great taste in choice of air rifle I must say. When I was fourteen I dreamed of having a BSA Mercury S!

I doubt that a forty odd year old tap loading Airsporter would get above 10 ft/lbs essel. Great taste in choice of air rifle I must say. When I was fourteen I dreamed of having a BSA Mercury S!

I'd be surprised as well TBH but a lad I used to work with has a chrono so I'll get it checked & let you know.
I used to have an Anschutz 520 when I had my firearms licence, sadly I let it lapse & sold the rifle, wish I'd kept it.

I had an Anschutz XIV carbine when I had an FAC. It was amazing. I had an open ticket and used it for vermin control. Subsonics and a SAK moderator. Deadly against bunnies and corvids.

Yep. If you have access to a chronograph it's worth checking velocity.

@dangeourbrain I’ve got a Goodnature trap. Basically, the rodent sticks it’s head up a tube where the bait is, touches the trigger, then gets smacked in the head by a CO2 powered piston. These are the traps @worldclassaccident had for… other rodents and I think he can attest to the force when he put his finger in the way.

The counter on mine tallies with the number of dead mice, though I note the instructions suggest that if you put their trap up outside, the bodies will be dealt with by scavengers.

I'm the biggest tree hugging save the whales type person but I absolutely love watching the farm videos where the terriers are let loose on rats.

There’s the thing with that. WTF do you do with a pissed off scared very alive rat once you’ve caught it? It’s all well and good catching the blighter humanely but then you’ve to get rid.

Choice 1) shoot it. Not so easy when it very definitely won’t sit still.

Choice 2) take it out of the trap and whack it over the head very hard with something heavy. Trying to handle it is really not advisable and you’re not going to manage it when it’s in the trap.

Choice 3) let it go. It’s illegal to release vermin once caught and, that aside, the whole reason for trapping it was so that its not where ever you just let it go.

Choice 4) kill it inhumanely which rather defeats the point of a humane trap and is entirely reasonably against the law. (dunking rats in buckets is just like drowning unwanted kittens which I can’t see anyone being likely to advocate or even begrudgingly accept)

You're overthinking this, No 4 and I use a water butt which means I don't take the rat out until it's dead.

In fact I can't imagine any situation where I'd want to take a live rat out of a trap...

Really struggling to understand how any reasonable person would use the 'humane' trap then drown them rather than the Goodnature power piston thingy .....

You’re overthinking this, No 4 and I use a water butt which means I don’t take the rat out until it’s dead.

In fact I can’t imagine any situation where I’d want to take a live rat out of a trap…

I shoot and control rats and have no issue in them being killed humanely where they are a problem (an animal is a "pest" because of where it is, not what it is). However, they are intelligent sentient creatures and probably suffer as much distress being drowned as a cat or dog would. Thankfully drowning them is illegal and punishable with significant fines. This link is about a prosecution for drowning a squirrel but the same law applies to rats.

I hope someone reports you to the local wildlife crime officer.

@thegeneralist I thought the Goodnature traps were meant to be humane as its a quick kill rather than poison?

Trini, yes agreed. That's what I said or at least tried to say 😁

I think the Goodyear one looks fine. What I was objecting to is people using the lovelyfluffylookitdoesnthurttheickleratasitjusttrapsit trap and then drowning the poor bastards in a bucket of water.

which I doubt anyone could outwith a pest controller with a licensed powerful rifle.

You don't need a section 1 for ratting, nowhere close. Even shooting rabbits it's only necessary if you need the range. S1 airguns are all but redundant, they're just cheaper to run than actual rifles. A lot of folk use junior rifles or pistol carbines (usually around the 6fpe mark) for barn work as they are small but accurate. You do need to be a consistently good shot though, I agree with that.

In fact I can’t imagine any situation where I’d want to take a live rat out of a trap…

As pointed out before that's what combs and pistols are for.

Interesting how the gun owners are the ones branded as sickos and such in other threads but it's the ones that don't have a clue committing wildlife crimes.

One of the first things I was taught about the internet..Don’t challenge strangers to a fight from behind the safety of your keyboard..As sure enough one day someone may call your bluff, and then you look a bit of a tit..

Like this you mean

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/mar/12/english-boxer-curtis-woodhouse-twitter-troll?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

This thread reminds me of being suitably refreshed, sitting in a mates living room whilst shooting at craneflies with an air rifle. We were using cut down ear pokers for ammo, there was a fair amount of collateral damage from what I remember.