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Rats!

Just been sitting watching (at least two) rats milling about at the end of my garden - looks like they might be living under the deckoing down there.

Fascinating and all that, but anyone got any ideas as to how best to get rid? (BIG ROB?)

Comments

  • Off_it
    Off_it Posts: 28,881
    Am currently watching a Mexican stand-off between a crow eating some bread at the end of the garden (wont be leaving that out again!) and a rat who keeps charging out to try and nick some from under the crows nose.

    Have never seen a rat jump two foot up in the air before!
  • air rifle.. Plot up at your door with camo on and wait him out
  • Henry Irving
    Henry Irving Posts: 85,236
    Cleankill. Good pest control co.
  • ME14addick
    ME14addick Posts: 9,765
    If you feed birds then the first thing you need to do is stop feeding them. We've had a problem with rats and have been told that if you take away their food source the problem often goes away.
  • I find that with family as well, dont offer food and drink and they dont return
  • Off_it
    Off_it Posts: 28,881

    If you feed birds then the first thing you need to do is stop feeding them. We've had a problem with rats and have been told that if you take away their food source the problem often goes away.

    Only put some bread out for the birds for the first time today in years!
  • Off_it
    Off_it Posts: 28,881

    air rifle.. Plot up at your door with camo on and wait him out

    Good suggestion. Or I could just naplam my decking? Would save time.
  • Off_it said:

    air rifle.. Plot up at your door with camo on and wait him out

    Good suggestion. Or I could just naplam my decking? Would save time.

    I would probably be tempted to come round to watch some home made napalm action. Even contribute towards costs
  • BIG_ROB
    BIG_ROB Posts: 5,274
    Yeah you can use a decent air rifle, but make sure you've got decent back drop or you could bag your neighbour’s cat or take out a window. I would recommend getting in a professional, but if you're intending to do it yourself, the best and most humane way to get rid of the infestation, is a baiting program. Using a pasta or grain based rodenticide (2nd gen, difenacoum, brodifacoum, flocoumafen or bromadiolone), the rat will take it back to its harbourage and they will all then return to the bait station and take the bait. *MAKE SURE WHEN USING BAITS OUTSIDE, THE BAIT IS IN A TAMPER PROOF BAIT BOX* this is to reduce the risk to non-target species. Also it is illegal to trap/poison mice externally i.e. not in your home, so also make sure that what you're dealing with are in fact Rats. (If you have a pond, the poison can be harmful to fish etc so bare in mind when sighting the boxes.)


    http://www.amazon.co.uk/RODENT-STATION-LOCKING-RESISTANT-RODENTICIDE/dp/B007FTMV3S
  • Off_it
    Off_it Posts: 28,881
    Cheers BIG_ROB.

    They're about 6 inches long - so if they're mice they're bloody big ones!

    Assuming I don't poison them, how would you suggest I cook they ones I catch? And what best to serve them with?

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  • BIG_ROB
    BIG_ROB Posts: 5,274
    This is basically what I do!


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q66NuZrB2E
  • Off_it said:

    Cheers BIG_ROB.

    They're about 6 inches long - so if they're mice they're bloody big ones!

    Assuming I don't poison them, how would you suggest I cook they ones I catch? And what best to serve them with?

    Shame it did not happen last week mate, you could have got some tips from our genial hosts while we were there...
  • SE7toSG3
    SE7toSG3 Posts: 3,140
    You could do with ex Addick Albert Purdy, he played pre 1914 and served in France with the First Surrey Rifles (21 London's), he was wounded and not really fit enough to play post war but the club re-employed him as Valley chief rat catcher up to the 50's I believe. Will remember him on Valley day today
  • RugbyAddick
    RugbyAddick Posts: 2,081
    Chuck a flare at them.
  • Embrace and love them :o)
  • SID
    SID Posts: 261

    Chuck a flare at them.

    Not everyone's got flares handy. You could always chuck a chair though.
  • DaveMehmet
    DaveMehmet Posts: 21,605
    Or smear them with your own sh*t
  • BIG_ROB
    BIG_ROB Posts: 5,274

    Or smear them with your own sh*t

    Or chuck your transfer box V8 (petrol) at them!
  • Absurdistan
    Absurdistan Posts: 8,024
    Lewisham council do pest control for free. Don't know your council but worth checking out. (Ps they lay poison.)
    Alternatively get a pair of female cats and don't feed them to much.
  • swords_alive
    swords_alive Posts: 4,275
    edited December 2012
    Why female cats?

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  • Off_it
    Off_it Posts: 28,881

    Why female cats?

    Hungry pussy.
  • Absurdistan
    Absurdistan Posts: 8,024

    Why female cats?

    Have you ever watched lions in the wild? It's the same with all cats. Females are the killers.


  • Stone
    Stone Posts: 3,026
    Our (male) cat killed four earlier in the year when they got in under our kitchen floor. I had four more in traps before the we managed to find and block their way in. If you poison them, they apparently stink to high heaven when they die for months!
  • Have you got a manhole under your decking if you have they may have found a way out of the sewer, that's my trade and have seen a lot of it recently could be a sign the man hole is blocked if you have got one