If the OP ever thought of owning a dog, it’s time to get a lowly Rat Terrier…
I thought this article may help to clarify some issues surrounding rat extermination source from the U.K. government website.
‘Controlling pests yourself’
You can:
- only trap or kill permitted animals
- use permitted methods to kill animals
- only use poison to kill the pests it’s intended for - this will be written on the packaging
- only use traps that have been approved for use with the species you want to control - you must follow the instructions for use
You cannot use the following control methods for any wildlife:
- self-locking snares
- bows and crossbows
- explosives (other than legal ammunition for a licensed firearm
- live birds or animals, known as ‘live decoys’, to attract pests (unless you have a licence)
NB The use of bows and crossbows is expressly forbidden, even if you have the shooting prowess of Robin Hood.
Glue traps are another source of concern.These traps are one of the cruellest methods of rodent control. Animals caught in these devices can suffer for days as they frantically try to escape, often tearing off their own skin in the process. … Using glue traps to catch mice and rats is, shockingly, still legal in the UK, despite the devices’ inherent cruelty
Another issue arises from trapping , it is illegal to trap a dormouse whether intentionally or not.
That list doesn’t expand on this, which is the key question. A quick look on gov uk myself just found this:
Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017
The prohibited means of capturing or killing mammals are:
- the use of blind or mutilated animals as live decoys;
- tape recorders;
- electrical and electronic devices capable of killing or stunning;
- artificial light sources;
- mirrors and other dazzling devices;
- devices for illuminating targets;
- sighting devices for night shooting comprising an electronic image magnifier or image converter;
- explosives;
- nets which are non-selective according to their principle or their conditions of use;
- traps which are non-selective according to their principle or their conditions of use;
- crossbows;
- poisons and poisoned or anaesthetic bait;
- gassing or smoking out; and
- semi-automatic or automatic weapons with a magazine capable of holding more than two rounds of ammunition
- any other means which are indiscriminate and capable of causing the local disappearance of or serious disturbance
Drowning, shooting with airgun, or a heavy fast blow to the head, are examples of things not in that list so presumably not prohibited a s means of dispatch - though of course that list is not in itself the law, and at this point I haven’t had he time to search further, nor look at my locally applicable law.
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Thanks fo this updated list, I still wouldn’t assume that the omission of drowning means that it is an approved and legal method of dispatch. There are several internet articles about prosecutions for drowning mammals.
I hope I never have to kill another rat, but if I do, I will obtain a trap from my local red squirrel protection group, bait it, then shoot the animal with my air rifle. I will not be sitting all day in my garden with the hope that I can take a pot shot at a moving target.
Great to see that we’re on the same page around here with reference to cruelty.
As well as poisons being a drawn out painful death for the rat itself, there’s the issue of secondary poisoning when scavengers take the poisoned rat.
There’s never a nice way to deal with these things, so dealing with the food source is the long term goal.
When the food source is removed, the rats will eat each other.
On a lighter note, I’ll never forget seeing the alpha male of our little feral cat colony (A deaf, 3 legged cat with no teeth) clinging to huge rat, almost riding it across the garden.
Rip Limpy. Such a character.
A friend of mine still lives on the same estate and deals with them using an air rifle. He’s quite a talent. I nick named him the Pied Sniper.
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However, when the food source they have chosen is the desired and deliberately cultivated food source for humans, the only choices are exclusion or removal of the rats. Exclusion of the rats from the area available for cultivation is extremely difficult, to put it mildly, given that rats can burrow, climb or gnaw through most barriers.
My old neighbour had a nightmare trying to deal with them. In the end we built her a poly tunnel but had to board the lower portion up to about 18 inches high and have traps inside for the ones that did get in.
It’s as if the ones that were finding the good stuff were teaching the others.
By removing the wise ones, we were breaking the cycle.
Being a grower myself, I know how heartbreaking it is when your crop is taken by any wildlife.
It was meant in general and not directly at you. My point was that I couldn’t see how torturing or killing anything in the manner that was listed acceptable to anyone.
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Your average suburban moggie might chicken out of a scrap with a rat but country felines bred from good barnyard stock are made of much sterner stuff.
Since last summer these two are have despatched at least thirty rats and squirrels between them.
Judging by leftovers, squirrels are much tastier.
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What a pair of cuties!
But you are probably right concerning suburban cats, let alone indoor kitties! On the odd occasion that a mouse has found its way indoors and met one of ours, the “apex predator hunter killers” don’t know what to do with them…….
Which was why I was a bit caught out by the old codger getting the juvenile rat……I didn’t think he could move that fast!!
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Set the rat trap yesterday, caught a bird……
If you’ve ever seen a rat dying of poisoning, you’ll never use the stuff ever again… unforgettably pitiable
Yet legal! Drowning or, if achievable, a heavy blow to the head, must be better ways to die. Many years ago I read that drowning (for humans) caused unconsciousness quickly, but whether true I don’t know.
The rats in my garden have been avoiding the trap - maybe they recognise it as something that trapped one of their brethren. Rats are clever - I have read that the reason for slow poisons is that they test a new food by eating only a very small amount first and seeing if they get sick - and rats watch each other’s reactions as well. I’ll have to try disguising the trap in some way - maybe lining the bottom with leaves so they walk on that not touching metal bars, and cover it over with leaves as well.
Remember that the more you touch it, the more it will smell of human. The less likely they will be to go near it. They’re intelligent with a very keen sense of smell.
It might be a case of just leaving it for a while until your smell fades and they get accustomed to it being there.
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I’ve tried traps a few times and never had any success.
Might sound crazy, but try feeding them around the trap for a few days, then move the food inside the trap.
Only problem with cage traps is that the bigger fellas won’t fit through the door, but they’re easier to target with an air rifle.
Picture attached, showing my neighbour, from when we used to live in a city centre.
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Cripes that’s a big so-and-so! Looks like a small dog!
When I lived in NYC on Manhattan I was fascinated by the number and size of the rats that I used to see. The largest was one I spied scuttling along the edge of the tracks while waiting for a train home to Greenwich Village from The World Trade Centre. Initially I thought it was a large cat or perhaps a stray dog. However when it came to a section which was slightly better lit I realised it was a huge rat!
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You certainly wouldn’t want to be cornered by it!
@Richard.Dane good job that you didn’t try to stroke it!
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