RATS!!

Rollin said:
I used to have a Bedlington terrier and was told years ago, that they can no longer be used for ratting, their speciality as this is 'hunting with dogs'. I don't know if this is correct.

I would simply contact Pest Control at your local council and ask what their recommendations are for poison, traps etc.
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i think rats and rabbits are allowed?
 
We've got a rat problem too this year, for the first time at this yard. YO started feeding the outside cats elsewhere and the rats arrived in the feedroom. She doesn't want to go back to feeding cats in there as another cat steals their food but so far I have lost a bucket and a dustbin to the rats, both chewed to shreds, as well as them getting into the bins etc. We have a humane trap and have caught and dealt with one but the others aren't falling for it. One of the cats did, however.
 
If the cats aren't going to catch and eat them after then poison in bait boxes would be ok.
eradibait is non toxic but essentially works like sugar beet so they pop internally, not terribly pleasant way to go I should think though we have used it and rats have taken it fine.
ratting with dogs is totally legal and yes you can pay someone to bring their dogs to you. As shown on the thread currently labelled 'ratters'
It was a PITA when my old YO got a new younger cat (no worries about the oldies catching them) and she stopped baiting. The useful terrier had died by then too and the youngster was keen but non functional :p.
 
We've had a rat or two over the winter. Put some feed out on the feedroom floor late at night, hide out in the land rover by the door of the feed room with a gun and when it's sat there eating the food it gets a quick bullet to the head.
Quick, simple, effect. We ensure the rat dies quickly, I don't like any animal to suffer. But rats carry so much disease and can chew through so many things, including breeze blocks! I'd rather shoot them quickly (I'm not the person with the gun, the shooter has a very good aim!) then let them die by poison.
While some may not agree, it has to be one of the kinder methods. I also realise not everyone has a gun or can hide out to see a rat .
 
You could try putting feed or poision into the bottom of an empty feed bin. They get in, can't get out and you can release them or whatever once caught.

I caught 4 in one go doing this once!
 
MagicMelon said:
Sorry but having had pet rats, Id never poison them - horrid. Id never poison anything, such a horrid painful death. I have the odd rat in my tack room / stables. I keep a humane rat trap bated at all times, I caught one only a few days ago. Then I simply let him go somewhere far away, job done and no deaths. Always shocks me how many people suggest setting their dogs on it or poisoning them with something really nasty - why anyone would want to do that to any animal I dont get.
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agree with you 100 per cent :)
 
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I don't know if it is available yet, but I read a really interesting article last year about a new rat "poison" that was being tested. It was discovered by accident while testing heart drugs. It does not kill the rats, but it causes infertility in males and greatly reduces litter size in females. It was tested in rice paddies somewhere and the NY subway and rat populations were halved within a couple of months.

Ignoring them or releasing them elsewhere is not the answer the average rat pair can have 50 offspring in a single year! Like I said it might not be available yet, but keep an eye out.
 
muddy_grey said:
I don't know if it is available yet, but I read a really interesting article last year about a new rat "poison" that was being tested. It was discovered by accident while testing heart drugs. It does not kill the rats, but it causes infertility in males and greatly reduces litter size in females. It was tested in rice paddies somewhere and the NY subway and rat populations were halved within a couple of months.

Ignoring them or releasing them elsewhere is not the answer the average rat pair can have 50 offspring in a single year! Like I said it might not be available yet, but keep an eye out.
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That product sound like a exciting solution .
I poison ,I do it all year round .
My MIL's friends son died of weils disease while he was working as a groom because of that we have zero tolerance to rodents here .
 
Fairynuff said:
Mrs B,
who gave us the right to decide the fate of another animal ?
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Are you serious!?!

What do you think we do all day, every day as top dog on the planet? (God help it!)

Whether it's choosing between a bacon sarnie or a chicken one, or whether to consume a product with palm oil in it and deforest the orangutans' habitat ... or whether to put a flea treatment on the cat ... or to buy a new bridle made of leather ... or take our beloved pet to a vet to stop its heart because to leave it to suffer would be wrong ... every one of these decisions decides the fate of another animal.

And as for 'the right', it's the same right every living creature has and exercises to survive and thrive. It's called being part of life.
 
There is a certain amount of irony that that comment came from someone who has said they are currently engaged in blistering a livery horses leg...
 
TandD said:
We've had a rat or two over the winter. Put some feed out on the feedroom floor late at night, hide out in the land rover by the door of the feed room with a gun and when it's sat there eating the food it gets a quick bullet to the head.
Quick, simple, effect. We ensure the rat dies quickly, I don't like any animal to suffer. But rats carry so much disease and can chew through so many things, including breeze blocks! I'd rather shoot them quickly (I'm not the person with the gun, the shooter has a very good aim!) then let them die by poison.
While some may not agree, it has to be one of the kinder methods. I also realise not everyone has a gun or can hide out to see a rat .
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This the best suggestion yet but possible a little impractical. I'm surprised the rats fall for it but our rat is getting a bit complacent so he might!
 
Rats are the most disgusting creatures, dribbling infected wee everywhere they go. How can people have them as pets? Peeing in their hair and clothes, makes me feel sick.
I do hate poison and think it is a horrible way to die but we do use it. Mainly though we keep on top of food spillages and try not to nurture them by accident.
 
mandyroberts said:
This the best suggestion yet but possible a little impractical. I'm surprised the rats fall for it but our rat is getting a bit complacent so he might!
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Ah now you say they may be to bright to fall for it but.....we train our rats to expect the feed ;)! Takes 3/4 days of leaving a small pile of mix in the same place at the same time every night with the light on. And Volia! Rat learns to expect feed, pops out and we're there waiting! Not missed one yet.
It works for us as the feed room is the only place they can find food , so are very hungry. Probably wouldn't work if they can scavenge in other places.
 
Fairynuff said:
no, Im not :)
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Ah my bad is recently morally different to currently if you still think it is a valid treatment that works?
Fairynuff said:
worked in an equine clinic back in the 80s and early 90s. Pin firing was very common in the 80s and I helped out with the firing of knees, tendons and hocks. Once they were fired my job was to rub in red mercury paste and then do the after care. Not very pleasent and extremely smelly. Not one horse showed signs of pain (pain relief given ) and not one horse lost his appetite. All returned to their discipline and all remained sound , at least the ones who lived in the area. I recently blistered (on vets advice) one of my liveries. He blew a tendon for the second time so owner and vet decided together the course of action. I have a photographic diary of before, during and after if anyone would be interested to see it. Do I still need to download from fotobucket ? The horse is now completely sound although he could play a whole string quartet with that one leg :D I got hell on FB with some extremely nasty comments thrown in for good measure but I would do it again :)
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ester said:
Ah my bad is recently morally different to currently if you still think it is a valid treatment that works?
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The decision was not taken by me. The horse was blistered on the vets advice and with the owners blessing. What should I have done . Throw the horse and owner off the yard ? What's done is done and no amount of your disaproval will change that or bother me in the least.
 
Rats were the worst at our stables when we had our last cat, they would eat his food, and he would watch them! He lived out his years as a housecat after he was shot in the face (by who we never found out)

We had a substantial rat problem in our house, we went through a lot of poison in our loft for 2 winters when they would wake us up scratching. Ugh. House renovations have removed their entry points and we no longer have the issue.
 
Fairynuff said:
The decision was not taken by me. The horse was blistered on the vets advice and with the owners blessing. What should I have done . Throw the horse and owner off the yard ? What's done is done and no amount of your disaproval will change that or bother me in the least.
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It isn't disapproval it is the hypocrisy I am taking issue with. You chose to apply blister to a horse yet you then come out with statements like 'who gave us the right to decide the fate of another animal' you seem to have exercised that right fairly fully without worrying who gave it to you so why are you worrying who others got it from??
 
ester said:
When you've shot one do any more come out or is that it for the night?
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We only have a one rat at a time problem. Actually only shot 2 this year. Ours have been a good foot long body then a good long tail too. God knows what they've been feeding them around here before we move in 😝😣! So I couldn't say if another would pop out. I doubt it.
 
Fairynuff said:
Mrs B,
who gave us the right to decide the fate of another animal ?
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I'm on the fence about this, how far do you take it? Have you ever wormed your dog or horse? Maybe had to make the very painful decision to have an animal put to sleep. I don't think it is as cut and dried as it at first seems.
 
Just saying... witholding food from cats does not make them better hunters. It is taught by Mum, if they are not taught well they won't make good hunters. Research has show that well fed cats hunt better than hungry cats.
 
ester said:
It isn't disapproval it is the hypocrisy I am taking issue with. You chose to apply blister to a horse yet you then come out with statements like 'who gave us the right to decide the fate of another animal' you seem to have exercised that right fairly fully without worrying who gave it to you so why are you worrying who others got it from??
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Im closing the door quietly Ester. I do not intend to be involved in a HandH head butting competition, however intellectual you try to make it seem :) Sorry !
 
Not quite sure why discussing things is intellectual :rolleyes3: especially when someone posts something on one thread that seems contrary to what they have said elsewhere
 
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Back to the original plot ....
I have just bought a Victor Easy Set Rat Trap which according to various sites is the best and I will be baiting it with peanut butter which apparently is irresistible to rats.
The spring load is so strong I am a bit scared of it to be honest!
I will report back
 
Thank you every one for the kind replies

and even this.. heated ones


sadly the yard is not mine so i can not just buy another cat!

i can moved the tack box either as it is bolted in to the wall, my other half is thinking of putting fill-a-foam in under it so there is no gap for them to g in to, i dont keep feed in it, the feed room is in fact on other side of the yard, but the tack boxes are in groups of 3 which means either livery on one side of me (i am the middle box) could have food in theirs, when asked they said know but clearly some thing draws them in

so lets hope the fill-a-foam works
 
What's fill-a-foam? Just asking as I have a lot of rat holes that need filling and they seem to eat through pretty much everything apart from well placed bricks.

I've had to resort to poison this year, hated doing it but the rats were costing me lots of money by eating their way into feed bins and contaminating brand new food. We used to shoot them, but this year for some reason we were inundated with them - possibly something to do with a new chicken farm that's opened up just a hundred metres or so away? Anway we've had more than ever before and I'm usually a live and let live sort of person, but their eating habits were getting damned expensive and the damage they've done to the wooden outbuildings is pretty major. They've been through the floor and walls of all the buildings and the walls of the stables themselves. Thank goodness all our wiring is at ceiling height, armoured wiring where necessary and well away from the rat runs.
 
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