Let Battle Commence!

[melv16]

A 'king rat has gnawed through my shed floor to get at the bird seed.
Traps have been set and an air rifle is to be borrowed.
I'll get the little ***

[RATTER15]

Did you put poison down?

[melv16]

No ratter, I'm persevering with the traps at the moment. Thankyou for asking.

[RATTER15]

Adult rats are not easy to catch in traps, if its working keep going.

[melv16]

Melv 3. Rats 0 :-) All the ones I've trapped have been young rats. How many are usually in a litter?

[scorpiojo]

28 ;o)

[melv16]

OMG ;-)

[scorpiojo]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_rat#Reproduction_and_life_cycle

[jourdain2]

You can borrow our terrier, if you like, melv. He hasn't been ratting since we left France and I think he misses it. Poison is safe if you put it under something the cats can't move as someone's already said, I've often used it when the numbers mounted - and they do!

[melv16]

I'm not keen on using poison for killing anything, jourdain. If I'm going to kill an animal I believe it should be quick and done as humanely as possible. My next door neighbour had a rat in his lounge and he borrowed a jack Russell to catch it.

[murraymints]

I keep bird seed in the plastic bin council gave us for food waste !! shuts tight and is safe from weather/damp and rodents !!

[melv16]

I keep mine in a plastic bin as well, mm. But I dropped some on the floor :-(

[murraymints]

ah...good luck with the eradication procedure !! feels like a battle of wits at times ! lol

[Bathsheba]

Lol @ Melv's scores!
You have my sympathy, we had squirrels in our loft many years ago and the scratching and scuttling nearly drove us insane. If I remember correctly, we used a cage-like trap, and I don't wanna know what happened to it when Sgt Troy took it outside, then a sonic plug-in thing has been up there ever since, with no more problems.
Good luck melv.

Baths
x x

[RATTER15]

Adult rats are not easy to catch, this is why I suggest poison. If you dont catch them effectively you will not reduce the numbers as they will produce faster than you can trap them.

Most rodenticides contain either Bromadiolone or Difenacoum, which are anti-coagulants.

These poisons affect the rodents blood clotting response, so after a few days the rodents will die as a result of internal haemorrhaging. The poison effectively thins the blood to the extent that blood seeps internally from tiny blood vessels and organs quickly resulting in heart failure which ultimately kills the rat.

Dying in this manner rarely causes pain and suffering. Poisons these days are specifically designed to eliminate suffering as much as possible.

[RATTER15]

Certainly nothing humane about shooting with an air rifle, many rats shot this way will still scurry down the nearest hole and die in agony, often many days later.

[-SharonA-]

I've seen giant rat traps in the shops!! They're as big as a shoebox.

[jourdain2]

You should see the size of a pregnant female rat, Sharon!

[Arksided]

... good luck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fePU5CIHpas

[mazie]

We have a rat (rats) in the garden the nest seems to be beside a bush full of sparrows. A couple of weeks ago was outside talking to the neighbours when a rat took one of the birds. Never heard or seen that before. Ratters have you? The husband got some rat poison blocks and nailed them inside a small drain pipe. Seems to be working

[-SharonA-]

No thank s Jourdain! A tiny mouse has me screaming!!!!