Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 80 total)
  • Who will rid me of this turbulent… rat?
  • trail_rat
    Free Member

    No because that would be inhumane, and illegal as such

    According to who ?

    joshvegas
    Free Member

    Pro tip.

    Open the window but take the shot from the back of the room so the rat can’t clock the barrel sticking out.

    SaxonRider
    Full Member

    I don’t want rats in my garden, which I believe is quite reasonable

    It absolutely is. And I agree with the sense of revulsion you describe as well.

    I am a lover of wildlife, and believe that we shouldn’t kill anything at all unless absolutely necessary – and even then, never ‘happily’ – but sometimes other creatures invade space we need for our wellbeing, and they have to be dealt with in the most effective way possible.

    We once had a mouse invasion, and had evidence that they had got all over our kitchen, and even into one of my infant child’s cot. That’s when my ‘live and let live’ approach went out the window.

    Your garden is your living space. There is an invasive, malignant creature in your living space. Learn how to shoot an air rifle and get rid of it. Or look around to see if Wiltshire has a group of people with terriers who will bring them ’round with the purpose of sorting out the problem. I’ve heard of such programmes in Norfolk.

    [P.S. Yes, sure, birds can carry disease, but rock doves don’t present much of a danger when I go outside, and they certainly haven’t tried to move into my house. Rats can do both.]

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    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    There is an invasive, malignant creature in your living space.

    It’s a rat in your garden, it’s not running a bath and using up the hot water for hours on end.

    (can I drop my teenage daughter off 20 miles away?)

    Look, I get you don’t want them in the garden but maiming them with air rifles or hunting with dogs is not the answer. If you don’t want them that much, get a pro in to do it properly, if you aren’t willing to do it properly yourself.

    dyna-ti
    Full Member

    According to who ?

    You have the subject matter, simple task for you away to find out that information for yourself, It may not be illegal to kill trap animals like rats, but it is illegal to do it with a hammer. Certain traps are available, but that is up to the OP, I suggest you ask them.

    finbar
    Free Member

    I’m in the buy an air rifle camp.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    You have the subject matter, simple task for you away to find out that information for yourself,

    It would have been shorter to write you just wrote without checking if it was factual.

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    https://www.rspca.org.uk/documents/1494939/7712578/Living+with+Rats+and+Mice+%2813.06.2017%29.pdf/aee9490c-669d-9053-d248-77ac5c38d32a?t=1553271443232

    Remember:
    Once you know an animal is
    confined in a trap or snare their
    welfare is governed by the
    Animal Welfare Act 2006. The
    person setting the trap has
    responsibility for their welfare
    and it is an offence to cause, or
    fail to prevent, unnecessary
    suffering to the animal.

    As far as we are aware there has been no study
    of the outcome of catching rats or mice and
    releasing them elsewhere. Other rodents show
    very high mortality rates when translocated to
    an unfamiliar area. The same is probably likely
    to be true for many species of rodent: they will
    be unfamiliar with food sources and places of
    shelter; they may face aggression and
    competition from other rodents already
    occupying territory in the new area and are
    likely to be more vulnerable to predation

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    Oh I’m.not in dispute with you Jon I agree with your point.

    It’s Dyna ti’s point that only licensed people can kill a rat that is horse shite.

    Unless the rat happens to be a hazel dormouse….

    esselgruntfuttock
    Free Member

    Might be overkill but at least you’ll be sure It’s dead.

    08D-060

    Or you could have a 13 year old me. Killed loads of rats with that old Airsporter.

    111

    dyna-ti
    Full Member

    Might be overkill but at least you’ll be sure It’s dead.

    Several parts, each of them dead 😆

    Seems like nearly everyone agrees, the imprisoned rat should have his sentence quashed, and not himself squashed.

    ste_t
    Free Member

    If you’re near Malvern I can bring the boys round. Next door said there was always an issue with rats until we moved in and our two cats chased/ate them away.

    The younger one is a right dickhead so I can leave him with you for a while to make sure the rat doesn’t come back.

    bsims
    Free Member

    If you cant ignore it then get an air rifle. Learn to shoot, this will take some time, I would say when you can hit a 5p piece at 6m and a 2p piece at 10m every time then you are ready to shoot the rat. If your garden is bigger than that I don’t think a sub 12ftlb rifle is suitable.

    If you think it really is only one rat then getting someone else to do the job is probably a better bet or ignore it and see what happens.

    burner
    Free Member

    Like grey squirrels, rats are non-native so it is illegal to release them (ie if you have caught them in a live trap).

    Furthermore rats will predate on birds nests and other smaller native rodents etc so they aren’t great to have around if you’re at all bothered by wildlife and even worse releasing them elsewhere. If you live trap one you can shoot it in the trap.

    Poison is indiscriminate.

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    Not true actually, brown rats have been here long enough now that they can be considered ‘normally resident’. Black rats cannot be released by law.

    You still can’t live trap and release anything if doing so may cause it suffering.

    Wildlife and countryside act

    https://www.ufaw.org.uk/downloads/welfare-downloads/guidance-on-humane-control-of-rodents-feb2509v19.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwidwcr3i4LwAhWPgf0HHcvyAGsQFjANegQIHhAC&usg=AOvVaw2y2JvAvVTkDvMugBKZohjk&cshid=1618553344581

    dufresneorama
    Free Member

    Just stop putting out bird food for a while.

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    Nobody would be asking these questions if it was an infestation of kittens

    I have a python and no scruples!

    (can I drop my teenage daughter off 20 miles away?)

    You can but some passing teenage lothario in a souped up Corsa will bring her back, eventually!

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    Problem solved; after the state she left the kitchen in last night I’ve drowned her in a bucket.

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    (can I drop my teenage daughter off 20 miles away?)

    If she’s anything like the teenagers I know, just turn off the WiFi. She’ll move on to a more suitable habitat soon enough.

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    I’ve drowned her in a bucket.

    Tough love is the best love!

    TheDTs
    Free Member

    Surely by trapping and relocating you are just giving some other poor sod your problem?
    Careful if you do try this. My Dad was rehoming a mouse they trapped in their cellar. Was driving along in his beat up old A4 glanced in the mirror to see said mouse sat on the top of the back seats having a wash. The trap had come apart, he spent three days trying to catch the mouse in his car before it ate through the seats snd loom.

    TheDTs
    Free Member

    Learning to shoot after buying a gun? Good nature a24 much cheaper and quicker.

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    Less use when the zombie hordes come shuffling over the hill though.

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    Less use when the zombie hordes come shuffling over the hill though.

    Bit harsh, some of them are still quite spritely and the more infirm will be following the converted landrover in cars anyway…..

    timbog160
    Full Member

    I’m amazed WCA hasn’t turned up with some elaborate device yet…

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    I’m amazed WCA hasn’t turned up with some elaborate device yet…

    Given how he checked the last one over when he’d finished I’m not.

    jambourgie
    Free Member

    Just stop putting out bird food for a while.

    Is the correct answer. However the OP is too stubborn for this. Why should I?

    And so, you must live with the rat. And practise stoicism.

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    We could stop feeding the birds but that gives us an enormous sense of well-being

    PARKLIFE!

    dyna-ti
    Full Member

    And so, you must live with the rat. And practise stoicism.

    Which is a virtue. Rat has enlightened you.

    mt
    Free Member

    What’s needed is an S410

    zanelad
    Free Member

    Mix a couple of rushed paracetomol tablets in some peanut butter and put it where the rat runs. Much cheaper and far quicker to do than buying a gun and learning to shoot.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    Is the rat deleted yet ?

    oceanskipper
    Full Member

    The younger one is a right dickhead so I can leave him with you for a while to make sure the rat doesn’t come back.

    🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

    What an absolutely hilarious way to describe a cat.

    OP could get a cat maybe (the bird feeder might have to go as it would become a cat feeder) although looking at the prices of cats recently (Mrs OS and the kids want one) it would be cheaper to move house.

    dafydd17
    Free Member

    Does the OP know anyone who keeps ferrets? Borrow one for a day, or alternatively get some ferret poo from them and spread it around, watch the rat depart with its suitcase in hand.

    jonba
    Free Member

    bsims
    Free Member

    What’s needed is an S410

    It’s got a built in manometer – so you can confirm how tough you are when killing small furry animals at a safe distance, presumably.

    bails
    Full Member

    although looking at the prices of cats recently (Mrs OS and the kids want one) it would be cheaper to move house

    I’m sure the RSPCA and Cats Protection charge the same adoption fee they always have.

    oceanskipper
    Full Member

    I’m sure the RSPCA and Cats Protection charge the same adoption fee they always have.

    Except they haven’t got any – hence the price hikes elsewhere I guess. £500 for a kitten… 😮

    My guess is that like Christmas pets, once everyone is back at work and the novelty wears off, there will be plenty in the RSPCA so we will wait.

    stripeysocks
    Free Member

    As one or two people have said, the advantage in ratproofing the bird feeder, tidying up the garden, filling holes & generally making the place the equivalent of a Ballardian wasteland for ratty, is that not only does Mr or Ms Tuft piss off elsewhere, but you don’t then get their cousins moving in.
    If on the other hand the attractions are still there, the vermin will be too…

    stripeysocks
    Free Member

    Btw am I the only one wondering if dyna-ti managed to escape the mOuse Issue somehow? #nosy

Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 80 total)

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