Help RATS

[piskieinboots]

could all the lottie holders club together to employ a rat catcher?

[Hilary B]

Um.. I was kidding about the 12 bore. Its an old Jasper Carrot sketch about moles and getting rid of em...... Its very likely illegal

I thought it was probably a joke, but you CAN shoot rats with an air rifle (if they haven't made it illegal), and the reference to a shotgun remnded me of an article in the Air Rifle magazine about someone who refused to consider the air-rifle club to get rid of rabbit problems (because he thought a shotgun was better), and ended up with shredded cabbages......
We used to sit up over 'bait' with air rifles when we had rat problems. It can be effective, to a limited extent.

[Hilary B]

This is from Defra itself:

"Rats are a health hazard and a pest, and dogs are an effective and relatively humane means of keeping numbers down.

The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 places an obligation on both local authorities and occupiers of land to take steps to ensure, as far as practicable, that land is kept free from rats.

On the basis of the evidence available, it is considered that the use of dogs to control rat populations is an appropriate method of controlling the population which does not cause unnecessary suffering

Since shooting rats is impractical, the alternatives (to using dogs) such as poisoning and trapping are likely to cause more suffering to rats and other animals.

For this reason, the use of dogs is regarded as humane and the Act includes ratting as a class of exempt hunting (provided that the prior permission of the occupier of the land is obtained)."


So there you have it.
Defra says that using dogs to kill rats is not only legal, but recommended above poisoning, trapping and shooting.

The ethical argument against hunting with dogs seems to be that hunting foxes is done for jolly good fun, whereas killing rats is not. But that's a different thread, don't let's divert this one

I thought it was something like that, but couldn't remember any details. I SO agree about the 'let's not discuss other aspects of hunting'!

[Maf]

I had rats move in after buying a thistle seed feeder. Apparently they love the stuff !

Called the council and Mr Rat Man sorted for free.

Dunno if it's just my council is nice or cos I'm in a rural area ??

[digthatchick]

I don't know where you live - but in my area, discharging a shotgun on an allotment (day or night) would be a criminal offence!!

[Hilary B]

I don't know where you live - but in my area, discharging a shotgun on an allotment (day or night) would be a criminal offence!!

Probably anywhere. The original comment was humorous (hence the reference to Jasper Carrot), but an air rifle USED to be a reasonable approach to rat problems in some places. We used them in our own garden, well away from roads and other people, over 20 years ago. It may well be that it would be illegal now.

[dandy]

We had a rat problem at work when they used to visit our bird tables. The ranger used one of our landrovers as a hide and shot them early on a morning. It pretty much sorted the problem out, although they (the rats not the rangers!) do like to sit around in the wriggly tin and stare at us when we go in there.

[roadkill]

it is still well within the law to shoot an air rifle in your own back garden as long as the pellet doesnt leave the boundry , I have boarded the shed up again and removed all of the food . I have also been down today to find another thress rats in the trap and one was a right big boy

[Hilary B]

So what DO you do with rats caught alive in the trap? A friend of mine had a '22 rifle, and purchased 'dust' cartridges, which acted like micro-shotgun stuff. When the tip if the gun was poked into the cage-trap, the rat tried to bite the end, so the dust-cartridge made a quick, clean kill (probably less cruel than drowning them). We then fed the dead rat to our cats I hope it gave them the idea that a rat was worth hunting. They did seem to keep the numbers under control reeasonable well MOST of the time!

One story I've heard (no idea whether it is true, suspect not, but a horrible idea anyway) is that if you have 3 trapped, you leave them together with no food until there is only one left, and then let it go. It supposedly will then go on a killing spree and get rid of all the rats in the area........