rats do you kill them or humanely release them?

fsdss · 6 January 2006 at 2:36PM

a few months ago our dog acted strangely in the garden, and the following morning the OH found a dead rat at the door. (but we originally put it down to the drains being up in the road)

unbenown to us til this morning the 2 neighbours have been having rat problem in their gardens, pest control have been out and been unsuccessful in catching them etc.

my feeling is that they need to be killed by either poison (although there are a number of other wildlife around which may have a knock on effect) or preferably shot. but 1 of the neighbours is a staunch animal lover and believes in releasing them humanely (which she did last night when she caught one in a trap). and wont let pest control put down poison.

the problem is that 20 odd were seen last night and pest control stated that you can multiply this by at least 10 for a more accurate number of how many they are dealing with.

we have had many offers already of people willing to shoot them, but we dont want to cause long term problems with the neighbours. i dont really want 200 odd rats roaming around the garden.

any suggestions?

suki1964 · 6 January 2006 at 2:39PM

Poison is the only way to deal with them. We have rats using our garden as a rat run and our dog goes ballistic when he sees them at night. We put down poison in the areas he cant access such as under the decking. But unless the whole block does the same you will never be rid

katiepops_2 · 6 January 2006 at 3:02PM

An animal lover your neighbour may be, but perhaps you need to remind her that rats spread disease and cause damage to property. How much will she love them when her house is overrun with them?

Kate

tanith · 6 January 2006 at 3:38PM

You will never be rid of them unless you poison them.......my son-in-law works in the business of pest control and they have to revisit especially comercial premises on a monthly basis because the rats will just reinfest over and over........... private houses can be rat free but you really need professionals who can safely lay poison in places that are not accessable to the household pets and local wildlife..... and you hope the rats get the message............. is there something that is enticing them to the garden such as caged birds or wild bird feeding? does your neighbour leave household rubbish bags lying about................. ??

plumb1_2 · 6 January 2006 at 4:44PM

Poison, Shoot, Gas, Trap,Nucular Blast, just KILL Them.

or be realy evil and play Des O'Conner music

black-saturn · 6 January 2006 at 5:22PM

Apparantly your never more than 10 ft away from a rat so they will never be an endangered species. KILL KILL KILL!!

fsdss · 6 January 2006 at 7:34PM

thanks for all your posts, my sentiments exactly, my neighbour has been feeding the foxes, birds, you name it they'll feed them!! however, i have just spoken to her and reiterated that by her feeding the wildlife it is encouraging the rats...she has succumbed and believes the only way to deal with them is by death, however she is uncomfortable with that, i think the best way forward would be for her to go out for an evening or 2 and let us kill them.

since i have been told about this this morning, i have seen 3 rats in the garden this pm in the space of about 10 mins. i was surprised as to how difficult they were to spot until i saw them......yyyyyyyyyyyuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkk

Bossyboots · 6 January 2006 at 7:38PM

I am an animal lover and feel sad about the rats but even I accept that killing really is the only way to deal with this problem. You have to put the health and safety of people first in this situation.

I would say though that my aunty feeds foxes and other wildlife and they have never had a rat problem so that is not necessarily the root of the problem although once the rats are there, it certainly won't help.

suki1964 · 6 January 2006 at 7:42PM

Maybe your neighbour can do her bit by not feeding the wildlife in her garden and maybe allowing yourself to come in and lay the bait? This is the agreement we have with one of our neighbours and she now takes food over to the woods so she can still feed the wildlife

Debt_Free_Chick · 7 January 2006 at 7:49AM

Rats are the most dangerous wild animal to live so close to humans. They carry salmonellosis (food poisoning) and leptospirosis (Weil's Disease). As such, you have a statutory duty under the Prevention of Damage by Pest Act 1949 to keep your land free of rats :eek:

The good news is that your Local Authority has a statutory duty to deal with any incidence of rats, if you inform them. I think all LAs will deal with rats for free (but may make a charge to deal with other vermin).

The supply of rat poison is severely restricted, so you can only buy certain types/strenght "over the counter". The LA will have much more powerful poison, which they are licensed to use.

So ... if you have or think you have rats on your land, phone the Pest Control Officer at your Local Authority and have them bring out their strong poison, free of charge.

If you feed the birds in your garden, stop doing so until the rats have been dealt with - as the rats will ignore the poison impregnated food that the LA put down, if they have another easy food source.

Debt_Free_Chick · 7 January 2006 at 7:54AM

fsdss wrote:

the problem is that 20 odd were seen last night and pest control stated that you can multiply this by at least 10 for a more accurate number of how many they are dealing with.

You MUST, MUST, MUST get the Local Authority out to deal with this number. You have a serious rat infestation problem. The numbers will only increase as rats have a litter of about 9, on average, and produce up to 3 litters a year. You will soon to be overrun and they may end up in the house!

Get the Local Authority out ASAP. Your dog is also at risk, so make sure his vaccines/boosters are up to date. Rats carry leptospirosis, which is the main thing that the vaccine protects against. This disease is carried in the rats urine and survives in water :eek:

Please ... just get the LA out - you don't need to tell everyone that you made the call and if you tell the Pest Control Officer that you want to remain anonymous, he'll understand. He will, however, want to visit your neighbours too as he knows that rats are not confined to a single garden. His visit should scare the pants off the "animal loving" neighbours, once they are in possession of all the facts about rats.

Good luck

rats do you kill them or humanely release them?

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