I touched a rat!!!!!

TPO

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Quick question. Those experienced in dispatching rats, what would you have done in the situation i described. A feedbin with over a dozen rats in it, maybe 3/4 adult size.

I use a draining rod; thin plastic tube with a heavy brass fixing on each end (for screwing the rods together). One is set aside specifically for dispatching

A quick hard hit on the back of the head and that's it.

I've only had to do two who got caught in the trap but not killed. I hate doing it so much, my heart and adrenaline go through the roof and once its done I get the shakes. I am not good at that part

The worst was one poor rat somehow got its nose and tail in the trap so its body was suspended in mid air. It was nightmare getting the rod in to do the job. A clean kill in the trap is so much better
 

Crazy_cat_lady

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I'm not squeamish but couldn't bring myself to dispatch one.

It would involve getting close to it- what if it ran at me?! I would also worry about not killing it instantly and having to keep bashing it...

I think one of the liverys dad had to get a shovel and "deal" with one which was staggering around the yard once. I made a hasty retreat!
 

Cortez

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My Absolute Worst rat story is from when I lived in Korea; Asian Black rats are MUCH bigger than common brown rats - they have naked tails that are as thick as my thumb and are the size of a cat. I was fast asleep when one knawed through the ceiling and fell straight onto my chest.....I shot bolt upright and threw it against the wall so hard I killed it outright, but still spent 10 minutes battering it with a shoe to make sure.
 

ElleSkywalker

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Many moons ago I lived in New York state. I was an 'exchange student' at an equestrian centre that was closing down so the house we all lived in was not in the best nick and no one was inclined to do anything about it. We 'students' lived in one side and the yard manger and husband in the other. We were aware there were rats about (wooden houses in upstate New York, not surprising) and had heard a rumour about a rat that lived under the fridge but never seen it. One day, for no apparent reason I was in the kitchen messing about making a drink or something and I decided to open one of the drawers next to the sink thinking it was a cutlery drawer. It was. But instead of cutlery when I opened it a huge rat leap out of the knife section of the drawer and projectile leaped past me and scampered away under said fridge ? I believe I screamed and I certainly leap about as high as the cutlery-rat did ? Thing is I have no idea why I opened that drawer, as although a cutlery drawer, it wasn't where we kept cutlery, and if I hadn't I would have been none the wiser that knife holder dwelling ratty was even in there!

In a separate incident in a different and infinitely better cared for house I lived in while in the states, I also had a bedroom cupboard mouse. Annoying yes, and the cupboard it lived in is where I kept all my food ? It was however far politer than drawer-rat and appart from keeping me awake nibbling boxes, it never leapt out at me and I think I only ever saw it nipping away to hide when I opened the cupboard looking for pop tarts.
 
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criso

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Chucked in a terrier and shut the lid.

Sadly no suitable canines around, even so i would worry about a terrier getting bitten with that many in a small space.

The farmer drowned them in situ, it wasn't nice but no one was coming up with alternative solutions for so many in a small dustbin.
 
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meleeka

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I couldn’t kill one myself. I can’t think of them as vermin, but I don’t want them in my feed room either! I have an electric trap. We’ve caught a couple of big ones lately. They haven’t even touched the bait so I know the end was quick for them.
 

SaddlePsych'D

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Ugh! I can't stand them. Pet ones are fine and quite cute but wild ones are a big load of NOPE! We had one (I tell myself it was only one, there's a good chance it was more than one) take up residence under the floor of our house once. The second we figured out what the noise was I launched myself into the car with a bag (OH came too but was not so fussed) and drove an hour to stay with OH's parents until I calmed down. We did obviously have to go back for work and I drove OH bonkers with spotify 'sleep noise' playlists because my brain was on high alert and I could hear absolutely every little noise in the house. Thankfully the 'rat man' sorted them out quite quickly!

I too think I would lose my poop if I touched one. Blaahhh!
 
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Evie91

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There is a good horror story about a man who is driven crazy by rats. I don’t dislike them but they were too close to the house, cause a lot of damage and the stink is gross, so felt I had to act. The first I drove into the trap I felt awful, first creature I’ve killed, not it’s fault it had taken up residence in the ‘wrong’ place- it was in beautiful condition too
 
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poiuytrewq

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I’m pretty cool about rats, they don’t bother me much but I rarely see one.
However there was one evening last year, after very heavy rain the water meadows below is had completely flooded out and we think that was why, I was in the dark, with a head torch and my cat emptying a barrow on the muck heap when I realised the whole area was suddenly swarming, I mean hundreds. All round my feet covering the muck heap and surrounding yard, myself and the poor cat reacted in the exact same way which was freeze, unable to move til they passed through ?
The most bizarre thing I ever saw.
 

Evie91

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I’m pretty cool about rats, they don’t bother me much but I rarely see one.
However there was one evening last year, after very heavy rain the water meadows below is had completely flooded out and we think that was why, I was in the dark, with a head torch and my cat emptying a barrow on the muck heap when I realised the whole area was suddenly swarming, I mean hundreds. All round my feet covering the muck heap and surrounding yard, myself and the poor cat reacted in the exact same way which was freeze, unable to move til they passed through ?
The most bizarre thing I ever saw.
Wow that is bizarre! but I think your cat emptying a barrow would have topped that for me, but perhaps you are used to it!! Sorry couldn’t resist was just the way I read it!
 

The Fuzzy Furry

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There is a good horror story about a man who is driven crazy by rats. I don’t dislike them but they were too close to the house, cause a lot of damage and the stink is gross, so felt I had to act. The first I drove into the trap I felt awful, first creature I’ve killed, not it’s fault it had taken up residence in the ‘wrong’ place- it was in beautiful condition too
James Herbert, he wrote The Rats, amongst other horror stories
 

Caol Ila

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When I was about 13 or 14, I reached into my tack locker to pull out my saddle, and a mouse came flying out of the locker and landed on me. Not expecting this, I jumped backwards, yelped, and dropped the saddle on the ground. It was an instinctive reaction. I'm not fazed by mice, but I did not expect one to leap off my saddle. A riding instructor, who'd been standing about four feet away, gave me a bollocking, although no horses seemed bothered. She shouted, "You shouldn't do that! You could scare the horses and cause an accident!" I said that a mouse had launched itself at me. "Doesn't matter! You should know better and be more careful!"

The funny thing was that the instructor in question was fkucking phobic of mice, and she would not have done any better in that situation.
 
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