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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: I killed a rat and feel bad about it
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
I hate killing God's creatures! But he was missing up my house, eating through food packaging, pooping on the rugs in lots of rooms, doing who knows what to woodwork or wiring in the attic.
Last night he again licked all the peanut butter off the trap without triggering it. (I just now read to use tootsie roll candy, chew to soften, wrap it around the trigger bait tongue, hook it on, they can't lick it off and pulling on it triggers the trap.)
But this afternoon I heard a little noise when I walked in the kitchen - he was in the kitchen garbage can after the banana peel. Garbage can almost empty, plastic bag lined slippery sides, he couldn't - or hadn't yet figured out a way to - get out.
I was going to throw the plastic bag, tied shut with him in it, in the dumpster, but at some point he'd claw or eat thru the bag, and the trash can has holes, he'd get out and back into my house.
So instead I filled the kitchen trash can half full of water, in my yard, and got him into it and got the rest of the trash out so he has nothing to stand on. Gosh he's a fighter, still trying after 10 minutes to swim and climb the impossible walls.
And I feel horrid! Bad enough to kill God's critters by putting out traps, but this was me directly interacting with him eyeball to eyeball, making sure he finally dies. I hate it, I've lost my appetite.
Anyone else hate killing even when it's in defense of your house?
20 minutes, he's still swimming. I wish I knew something to put in the water that would make it faster and less painful. I hate hurting living feeling creatures! And my big fear is some neighbor will take a look at why is a kitchen trash can in my front yard, and set the poor thing free.
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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Spike
Mostly Harmless
# 36
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Posted
I find this a tough one. I hate the idea of killing animals, even though I spent several years working in Pest Control.
In that job, I could detach myself from it to a certain extent, but when it came to directly killing pest species (as opposed to simply laying traps or poison) I really found it unpleasant.
The thing is, however unpleasant it might be or however strong your conscience may be a line has to be drawn somewhere. 100 rats running free in a field aren't doing anyone any harm, but 1 rat in a kitchen is a potential health hazard. Some people used to criticise me for what I did. I would turn it around and ask if they would shop in a supermarket with rats running around, or feel comfortable living in a house with a large wasp nest hanging from the ceiling.
I know exactly where you're coming from, but sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and get on with it, unpleasant as it may feel.
[ 22. September 2013, 23:12: Message edited by: Spike ]
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"May you get to heaven before the devil knows you're dead" - Irish blessing
Posts: 12860 | From: The Valley of Crocuses | Registered: May 2001
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luvanddaisies
the'fun'in'fundie'™
# 5761
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Posted
Is it a very very wrong thing that this thread's title makes me think of the song "I kissed a girl and I liked it"?
Maybe "I killed a rat and disliked it..."
Er.
Right.
Well.
I'll get my coat.
Very busy. Lots of things to do, you know...
<slinks towards exit>
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." (Mark Twain)
Posts: 3711 | From: all at sea. | Registered: Apr 2004
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
Sigh, any ideas how to actually shorten it's death process? 3 hours later, it's still swimming in the trash can, so I looked up how long can a rat swim? It can tred water three days!
I suppose I could try to push it under water but the web pages say it can hold it's breath 15 minutes! That's a long time to try to hold a struggling rat submerged with a stick or something.
Gotta be a faster way to put us both out of our misery than letting it struggle for 3 days.
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
I know how you feel, BR - living next-door to a house with three cats but having none ourselves, the local mice see chez Piglet and think, "ooh, cat-free zone" and in they come. I prefer to use humane traps, but they do get wise to them - I've seen a mouse more-or-less run over the top of one.
Having said that, we did have a couple of spring-loaded ones, and I was just as distressed as you when a mouse got caught in one - I hated the minute or so before it finished him off. Another one just caught his tail in one and sort of whimpered until I got D. to come and take it away and set him free somewhere.
You have to be ruthless though - it helps to consider them as "vermin" rather than "God's little creatures" - there are plenty more where yours came from!
Good luck! ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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infinite_monkey
Shipmate
# 11333
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Posted
I think the most humane thing to do at this point is probably, well, to kill it directly, if you're not in a position to take the garbage can far far away and let it go. Can you put a heavy thing on top and push down? Do any neighbors have, well, guns? Can you wear extremely thick gloves and do whatever people do to chickens? Would a significant amount of poison in the garbage can work fast enough?
I sympathize: difficult position for both living creatures to be in right now.
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His light was lifted just above the Law,
And now we have to live with what we did with what we saw.
--Dar Williams, And a God Descended
Obligatory Blog Flog: www.otherteacher.wordpress.com
Posts: 1423 | From: left coast united states | Registered: Apr 2006
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
Sorry you went through that.
I hate killing things, too, but I've had to learn to do it.
In case you're thinking of live traps, I used to use them for mice. But
a) sometimes, the mice would get caught in a slight gap in the workings, and die anyway;
and
b) you really need to release the mouse in its new home within about 24 hours. Otherwise, it's apt to die, even if you put food in its cage.
I've never had to deal with rats, other than avoiding one or two sick ones on the street.
![[Paranoid]](graemlins/paranoid.gif)
Maybe there are sites that have ideas? Good luck!
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
All I can think of is a good lot of bleach or pool chlorine in with the water, go away and don't come back for a long time. Or you cold do as others have suggested and put a weight on top to hold it underwater - again, go away and let nature take its course.
Rats are vermin and a real health hazard in the house. Don't feel bad about it.
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Leorning Cniht
Shipmate
# 17564
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by infinite_monkey:
I think the most humane thing to do at this point is probably, well, to kill it directly, if you're not in a position to take the garbage can far far away and let it go. Can you put a heavy thing on top and push down?
Place an earthenware plant pot over the rat (the type with a drainage hole in the bottom)- it will submerge and drown him.
Or a plastic one with a half-brick on top.
Posts: 5026 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2013
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Doc Tor
Deepest Red
# 9748
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
quote:
Originally posted by infinite_monkey:
I think the most humane thing to do at this point is probably, well, to kill it directly, if you're not in a position to take the garbage can far far away and let it go. Can you put a heavy thing on top and push down?
Place an earthenware plant pot over the rat (the type with a drainage hole in the bottom)- it will submerge and drown him.
Or a plastic one with a half-brick on top.
This. It's one thing to be squeamish about killing an animal. It's another to make it swim for three days before it dies of exhaustion.
You've made the (correct) decision that having a rat in your living space is unacceptable - cats were domesticated* for exactly that reason. The logical and humane conclusion is that it is better done quickly. My dad (who lives in the country) catches them in a humane trap*, then drowns them in the water butt by immersing it whole.
*adopted by cats because we provided access to a food source
**other animals do wander in, and he can release them unharmed. It's also illegal to release trapped vermin.
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Forward the New Republic
Posts: 9131 | From: Ultima Thule | Registered: Jul 2005
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Starbug
Shipmate
# 15917
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Posted
Can you take the garbage can somewhere away from your house and then release it? That's what I'd be tempted to do. Or put rat poison in the water so that it drinks it and hopefully dies quicker.
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“Oh the pointing again. They're screwdrivers! What are you going to do? Assemble a cabinet at them?” ― The Day of the Doctor
Posts: 1189 | From: West of the New Forest | Registered: Sep 2010
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
Get several traps. Spring loaded. Vermin with broken necks don't move. Pick up trap, Toss in garbage. If you're not squeamish, empty trap. Reuse as necessary.
Or get a cat.
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Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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Aggie
Ship's cat
# 4385
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Posted
I would hate to kill any creature (except flies and mosquitoes). In fact, I know I couldn't kill anything personally, and when I have been faced with having to deal with a "pest", I have always used an indirect approach to getting rid of it - by calling pest control or getting the cat to kill it as I did at my mother's house in Spain when she first bought it, it had been empty for several months, and it was full of mice. I let the street cats come in and despatch the mice, which they did - all the mice gone in one day!!
At home in the UK, I had used to have a dilemma when my cat Jet - when he was younger and more spry - used to bring in half-dead or mortally wounded birds, rodents and frogs. I knew that it would be crueller of me to let them die slowly of their injuries, rather than kill them. However, I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Fortunately, at that time, I had a neighbour, who was a "country boy", who told me that as a child he used to shoot squirrels and rabbits and often deer, on his dad's farm, so he had no qualms about finishing off Jet's discarded prey.
[ 23. September 2013, 11:07: Message edited by: Aggie ]
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“I see his blood upon the rose
And in the stars the glory of his eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.”
(Joseph Mary Plunkett 1887-1917)
Posts: 581 | From: A crazy, crazy world | Registered: Apr 2003
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Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870
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Posted
luvanddaisies - ![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
I was just about to post something along those very lines until I saw your comment.
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I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
I wouldn't like to kill a rat either. Luckily, my dog has no such scrupules.
(Now if she would only stop laying the dead ones on my doorstep as a trophy/offering.)
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
Necessity pushes the mind. Last night, before some of you posted (and thanks to all!) my awareness switched from feeling sorry and frustrated for his suffering a too long death to -
*I* need him dead before morning because my neighbor who is aggressively curious walks her dog by my house in the morning, she *will* check to see what's in the kitchen trash can in the yard, she *will* set the critter free - in my yard - because she can't stand any hint of cruelty to animals. And the rat will be back in my house.
Sites on line say a rat taken a mile or two away will return! Besides which no one two miles from me would appreciate being brought a rat.
I didn't think of a flower pot - great idea, but I saw a aluminum foil loaf pan in my kitchen, punched some holes in it, put it over the rat, pushed it to the bottom and put half a brick on top.
Then realized I should have worn gloves instead of putting my skin in rat-water. Oh well, that's what soap is for.
Now to buy a dozen more spring traps, because I guess sometimes there's just one but other times there are a bunch.
I hate killing. But they invaded my turf.
Actually, I asked God to please get rid of the rat for me. Would be nice if this one getting into the trash can was God's response and they are all gone? Sigh, more likely God just toughening me up for the remaining killing to be done?
Really appreciate the encouragement, hard to kill something furry that could almost be a pet.
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
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Posted
Please let us know the outcome. This is morbidly fascinating.
Hope you're getting rid of that beastie for good!
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Be it as it may: Wesley J will stay. --- Euthanasia, that sounds good. An alpine neutral neighbourhood. Then back to Britain, all dressed in wood. Things were gonna get worse. (John Cooper Clarke)
Posts: 7354 | From: The Isles of Silly | Registered: May 2004
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
I've thought since young that being made in God's image includes the power of life and death over some of God's creatures. From euthanising family pets, butchering chickens, catching mice in traps, to shooting skunks and gophers (ground squirrels) because they carry rabies and / or plague, to dealing with the over running we're experiencing with white tailed deer, moose and bears, it is burden of being human to have to do some of these things.
It really is okay to end the lives of animals in necessary situations, and to accept that it is a cost of being a human being in God's image.
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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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Amos
Shipmate
# 44
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Posted
Hey, next time try biting his head off. Much quicker, more merciful, and less likely to incite that squeamish feeling which may be the prick of conscience down in the Lone Star State.
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At the end of the day we face our Maker alongside Jesus--ken
Posts: 7667 | From: Summerisle | Registered: May 2001
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rolyn
Shipmate
# 16840
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Posted
"I kissed a rat and I liked it" ?
Don't try that at home folks .
Know anyone with an air-gun Belle Ringer ? Might put a hole in your trash can mind .
I had several dealings with rats. And yes killing them, esp. when they are trapped, didn't give me a good feeling , (and that was before I got God).
God doesn't seem to have too much of a problem with killing in OT despite the 'Thou shalt nots ..."
We have to steal ourselves to kill a creature when it's absolutely necessary . Having rats in one's house falls well inside that parameter TMM .
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Change is the only certainty of existence
Posts: 3206 | From: U.K. | Registered: Dec 2011
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
rolyn: quote:
"I kissed a rat and I liked it" ?
Don't try that at home folks .
I've kissed a couple of "fancy" rats on the head. And I liked it. I find rats bred to be domestic adorable.
I do understand Belle Ringer's dilemma however. Wild rats can be a scourge to the home.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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quetzalcoatl
Shipmate
# 16740
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Posted
Belle Ringer
I sympathize with your qualms. I can't kill anything except clothes moths, so I guess I'm a hypocrite. Well, I eat meat!
I had a ton of rats once in the loft, and a guy came in, and spread poison, result, about ten dead rats.
Doesn't feel great at all, but there is no alternative except a cat. I just go through the guilt, I guess. It has an expiry date.
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I can't talk to you today; I talked to two people yesterday.
Posts: 9878 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2011
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by quetzalcoatl:
... just go through the guilt, I guess. It has an expiry date.
Guilt has an expiry date, I love it!
Rat has been underwater since last night, I guess I need to dump him. Original plan to dump the water with him in it down the street's storm drain, won't work with brick and aluminum can in the trash can too. Oh well. Drain the water, brick and pan and rat in the dumpster.
So, while I was praying to God for the rat leave the house, the rat was probably praising God for providing shelter and food. And last night I'm begging the swimming rat to drown fast while his eyes are begging me for rescue.
Reminds me of a time I was playing chess (or was it checkers?) and mindlessly asking God to help me win, when occurred to me my opponent was a Christian and probably wanted to win himself - whose prayers does God respond to? Thought of that chess (or checkers) game last night. Me and the rat, opposite pleadings to God.
What a messed up world! (And ya'll say "it took a rat to show you that?!)
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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Hazey*Jane
Ship's Biscuit Crumbs
# 8754
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Doc Tor:
It's one thing to be squeamish about killing an animal. It's another to make it swim for three days before it dies of exhaustion.
I heartily agree. It's not a bad thing to rid yourself (and your neighbours) of a creature which could harm your health. But this is not a good way to go about it. The fact is that you haven't killed it yet, it has a long way to go.
If you really can't sort this yourself, phone pest control asap or get someone to help you, but don't make it swim to death if you have qualms about the issue of destroying an animal.
Edited to add: please be very careful how you dispose of it, so as not to cause health issues to yourself or others. See whether there is any advice online e.g. from the CDC.
[ 23. September 2013, 23:12: Message edited by: Hazey*Jane ]
Posts: 4266 | From: UK | Registered: Nov 2004
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Hazey*Jane
Ship's Biscuit Crumbs
# 8754
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Posted
Here you go.
Might be worth adding some disinfectant to the water before disposing of it. And make sure you don't get any on yourself.
Posts: 4266 | From: UK | Registered: Nov 2004
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Heavenly Anarchist
Shipmate
# 13313
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Posted
You poor thing! I'm also squeamish about killing things, we keep chickens and my husband has to do it occasionally, though I guess I could do it if a chicken was suffering and needed putting out of it's misery. A rat would make me squirm far more though. We generally put poison down for rats but they are outside, we put it in their tunnel so as not to kill local cats.
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'I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.' Douglas Adams
Dog Activity Monitor
My shop
Posts: 2831 | From: Trumpington | Registered: Jan 2008
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Hazey*Jane:
Here you go.
Might be worth adding some disinfectant to the water before disposing of it. And make sure you don't get any on yourself.
Wow about the cleanup routine! But the rat (or several rats) and I have been living in the same house together for months, bit late to worry about vacuuming droppings on the carpet.
I kept thinking of one of the C.S. Lewis Sci Fi books where the hero (Ransom?) tries to put a critter out of its misery and finds it much harder to do than he expected. The earlier web sites I read all talked about just dropping or tricking the rat into a bucket part full of water so they drown, one said it drowns in 2 minutes, so that what I expected. At twenty minutes when I checked expecting to see a long dead rat, but he was very active, I thought I didn't have the water deep enough, maybe he was standing on the bottom, so I added water.
Went out again, still active, maybe still not deep enough to be "over his head"?
Then I was expecting him to be worn out and sink - like I would do - and quickly drown - but he was still active.
Took me way too long to think to look up "can rats swim?" and discover he could keep it up for days. Obviously I had to find a way to push him under.
It was my ignorance that it took me so long to learn he wasn't going to die quickly. But also I have learned if I use the water bucket trap method, they don't just quickly drown like all the YouTube videos imply, so if I set up that kind of trap I need to check it frequently so I can prevent excessive suffering.
And yet - if a rat can keep swimming in the ocean for 3 days, a few hours is not physical suffering. Being trapped is the issue, emotional stress; do rats have rat shrinks to help them deal with stress?
Hate killing a furry critter who is almost cute. (I apologize to the roaches too, after I trick them into waiting while I fetch the bug spray. That's mean of me.)
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
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Posted
Forgive my ignorance - perhaps Spike will know better - but if you have had rat related problems for a while, surely there will be more than one rat to be dealt with ?
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All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
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Pyx_e
Quixotic Tilter
# 57
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Posted
At times like this I miss Kenwritez* more and more........
Fly Safe Pyx_e
* he had a recipe for everything.
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It is better to be Kind than right.
Posts: 9778 | From: The Dark Tower | Registered: May 2001
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
(I apologize to the roaches too, after I trick them into waiting while I fetch the bug spray. That's mean of me.)
We had (note the past tense) an ants nest in our garden this summer. I definitely didn't apologise to them as I unloaded chemical death upon every entrance to their home I could find. No. I laughed. The manaical laugh of one who is gleefully snuffing out hundreds (thousands?) of lives for his own comfort and convenience.
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
We get rats after very heavy rain - they take refuge in gardens from the water meadows and are a pain in the arse.
I've managed to construct metal mesh liners for the compost bins but they climb the lower branches of fruit trees (accessed via a wall) and nibble all the fruit.
Outside, rats will gnaw their way through plastic, thin metal, wood, etc and they cause huge damage to crops. They reproduce at alarming rate and can climb - a neighbour had them in his roof and ended up having to have all his wiring replaced, together with insulation, and everything he'd had stored in his loft had to be thrown away.
Inside a house, rats (or mice, for that matter) are particularly unpleasant since they have no bladder sphincter so pee constantly - no, its not just the poop you need to worry about: if you have vermin then every surface they have moved over will have had their urine tracked over it.
Does that make the idea of getting rid of them better???
Best method is poison: and keep putting it down until the bait containers haven't been touched for at least 3 days.
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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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quetzalcoatl
Shipmate
# 16740
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Posted
I live next to a farm corn dryer, which is rodent heaven. But there are a few cats swanning about, which helps. But I agree with the above - they are hell on earth if you get them, and all compassionate thoughts are out of the window. It's you or them.
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I can't talk to you today; I talked to two people yesterday.
Posts: 9878 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2011
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
3 cats plus a plethora of rat snakes, mongoose and other predators in the area keep us fairly free of them, thankfully.
[added mongoose]
[ 24. September 2013, 14:02: Message edited by: Welease Woderwick ]
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
... a plethora of rat snakes ....
**shudders**
I think I'd rather have the rats ... ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
Rat snakes are fine and are non-venomous; when we lived in the rental house we had a pair in the garden, we called them Chuck and Cammie. Snakes are actually rather beautiful.
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
Yup, I've got more rats. Accidentally left a sweet potato out on the kitchen counter last night. It's now a partial sweet potato.
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
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Posted
If you don't get professional help to sort your infestation you will get seriously ill.
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All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
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rolyn
Shipmate
# 16840
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
I've kissed a couple of "fancy" rats on the head. And I liked it. I find rats bred to be domestic adorable.
We used to keep a couple of pet rats too, I agree about their adorability . But having had my prejudices formed early on against farm rats I always held back a bit on cuddling them.
We also visited a place where they were bred , and ironically one of the problems the owner faced was wild rats breaking in . The difference in the temperament and nature of wild rats to tame rats is like chalk and cheese.
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Change is the only certainty of existence
Posts: 3206 | From: U.K. | Registered: Dec 2011
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Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
We had (note the past tense) an ants nest in our garden this summer. I definitely didn't apologise to them as I unloaded chemical death upon every entrance to their home I could find. No. I laughed. The manaical laugh of one who is gleefully snuffing out hundreds (thousands?) of lives for his own comfort and convenience.
The maniacal laugh of one who is playfully sniffing toxic gases, and thus out of his comfort zone, inconveniently. ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
Oh, how I remember the glue and felt-tip pens of my youth, when simply opening their lids made you keel over and fall in trance for the best of a week! (That was in the late 60ies and 70ies.) No elf'n'safety back then! ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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Be it as it may: Wesley J will stay. --- Euthanasia, that sounds good. An alpine neutral neighbourhood. Then back to Britain, all dressed in wood. Things were gonna get worse. (John Cooper Clarke)
Posts: 7354 | From: The Isles of Silly | Registered: May 2004
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
Belle Ringer, I'm sorry to hear about your problem. We had rats a few years ago and my sister nearly freaked out.
You need to find where they are getting in. And fix it. Quickly. In our house they had gnawed through a thick plastic soil pipe and were getting loose in the bathroom. Broken drains are a common cause of rat infestations.
Good luck!
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
Pest man acted disinterested in the rats. Handed me some glue traps. They roll right off them. (He also forgot to schedule me for termite treatment.)
I'm working on collecting at traps. Each store has two, wait a week to get more in. Web sites say you need at least a dozen, then need to leave them out several days for the rats to get used to them before baiting. Apparently these critters are smart!
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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Spike
Mostly Harmless
# 36
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by L'organist:
Inside a house, rats (or mice, for that matter) are particularly unpleasant since they have no bladder sphincter so pee constantly - no, its not just the poop you need to worry about: if you have vermin then every surface they have moved over will have had their urine tracked over it.
That's true of mice, but not of rats. In fact, when it comes to toilet habits, rats are surprisingly clean. That said, I wouldn't want to share a house with one.
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"May you get to heaven before the devil knows you're dead" - Irish blessing
Posts: 12860 | From: The Valley of Crocuses | Registered: May 2001
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Spike
Mostly Harmless
# 36
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
I'm working on collecting at traps. Each store has two, wait a week to get more in. Web sites say you need at least a dozen, then need to leave them out several days for the rats to get used to them before baiting. Apparently these critters are smart!
That's true. They are neophobic and have deep distrust of anything new. However, they are particularly susceptible to poison as they are incapable of vomiting.
The big disadvantage of glue traps is you still have to kill the buggers once they've been caught. Get some poison. That can take a few days, but at least it does the dirty work for you
[ 24. September 2013, 21:01: Message edited by: Spike ]
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"May you get to heaven before the devil knows you're dead" - Irish blessing
Posts: 12860 | From: The Valley of Crocuses | Registered: May 2001
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
Pest man acted disinterested in the rats.
Good Lord, what does he consider a problem? Zombies?
Here the local Council will come out if asked - for free if you live in public housing, for a fee if you are a private owner. For that you get comprehensive poison baiting and two follow-up inspections. (Downstairs has had Mice, and a one or two Sherpas have made it up to us).
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Amos
Shipmate
# 44
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Posted
Terriers, cats, and rat snakes all do the job quickly (and enjoy it). I particularly recommend terriers.
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At the end of the day we face our Maker alongside Jesus--ken
Posts: 7667 | From: Summerisle | Registered: May 2001
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Pearl B4 Swine
Ship's Oyster-Shucker
# 11451
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Posted
One night a few Jack Russell owners and their terriers went to a grain elevator (with permission) to hunt rats. A great time was had by all, except for the rats, of course. By the way, these were working terriers, not show dogs.
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Oinkster
"I do a good job and I know how to do this stuff" D. Trump (speaking of the POTUS job)
Posts: 3622 | From: The Keystone State | Registered: May 2006
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chive
Ship's nude
# 208
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Posted
I had a problem with rats last year. They got in my bathroom roof and from there to the kitchen and led to much trauma for me. It's not good being scared to go to the loo. I put poison down everywhere to kill the little fuckers and invested in one of these which seems to have worked wonders as I haven't heard from them since.
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'Edward was the kind of man who thought there was no such thing as a lesbian, just a woman who hadn't done one-to-one Bible study with him.' Catherine Fox, Love to the Lost
Posts: 3542 | From: the cupboard under the stairs | Registered: May 2001
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
Which one did you get, Chive, and do they work on possums? We've just had to have the possum man in to remove one from the roof. They are protected creatures here*, and can't be poisoned, shot, caught by dogs. Pest controllers have to have a special licence to remove them and even when they get them from your roof, they must be released on your property. So you have to have a possum house for the beast to be placed in, and hang that up in your garden somewhere. $450 later....
* Despite being non-threatened species, both ring tailed and brush tailed have won the sympathy of govts of either persuasion. They hold wild parties at night on fence posts and power/phone lines, and then thump around in your roof.
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
As someone we both know, Gee D, could tell you, when they succumb to their life of wild parties and riotous living, and die in your roof space, they still have to be moved. I'm glad I don't have that job. He then had roofer attend to any entry space in the roof.
We use to have them at Wollombi where the young ones used the slope of the roof as a slide at night and the parents caroused noisily down the other end of the building.
Still, even koalas can be noisy. Have you ever heard them mating?
When we lived your way, the possums used the electricity wires as a highway to house. Sometimes they would be electrocuted. Others used the yard when hit by a car on the highway. We would find them in the garden.
[ 25. September 2013, 22:56: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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chive
Ship's nude
# 208
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gee D:
Which one did you get, Chive, and do they work on possums?
The one I got isn't actually on there but they all look fairly similar in design and function. As to possums, I have no idea, we don't get a lot of them in the south of England.
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'Edward was the kind of man who thought there was no such thing as a lesbian, just a woman who hadn't done one-to-one Bible study with him.' Catherine Fox, Love to the Lost
Posts: 3542 | From: the cupboard under the stairs | Registered: May 2001
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