The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Blueeyes on April 19, 2012, 11:00:50 am
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Well last night my hubby decided to move the duck house to look underneath as there was another large burrow into the ducks night time enclosure, and there he was..... A huge rat! It was massive & not at all scared of my hubby, but hubby was brave and did the horrid task of dispatching it :-\ not nice but necessary I'm afraid, bless him he was so upset at having to do it :(
Good news tho we were back up to the usual 3 eggs this morning and back to the usual large size, it's been the odd one every few days for the last few weeks, the ducks are happier too, which is the main thing ;D
Blueeyes x
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For a few days something had been tunnelling under our quail ark. Suspected a rat and spotted him a couple of days ago as we were doing an early hours lambing. Cant believe how quickly he could dig out a tunnel :o
He is HUGE. Kept poultry for a long, long time and never had trouble with rats.Dont like to kill anything but he has got to go before he finds a weak spot somewhere in the pen. Put a humane trap out last night but only caught a teeny mouse. My father says rats are very clever and we wont catch him in our trap. Will have to think of another method. ???
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We're the same, we never kill anything usually, all our animals have a life-long home here, but rats are so cunning, this one even climbed the enclosure walls and stared at my hubby eye to eye!
We've not even managed to catch a mouse in a trap :(
It made us feel sick knowing we'd killed something but at least it was quick so it didn't suffer for long, look at me trying to justify it :-\ saying that I'd hate or anything to happen to my ducks!
Good luck with yours!
Blueeyes x
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Guess you will have to shoot it Blueyes. Decoy it to something and wait. A trap will have to be in place for weeks before an old rat will wander in -they don't like anything different in the environment and avoid it. They can smell 'new' as well so best leave anything outside for a while before you bait it. I waited a month to catch a huge rat in a rabbit trap baited with apples. The run was right in front of it and the rat passed by every night ignoring the bait, until finally he forgot it was new and went in.
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We have less now we have a dog pooing everywhere (and a cat but she's a chub) - we do put out poison in boxes at the end of every month though. Mint and cloves put vermin off areas, they can't stand the smell.
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Oh might have to give that a go planting the herbs, we had to shoot it but don't think my hubby could do it regularly as it was so upsetting :(
Blueeyes x
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Well done to your hubby blueyes,rat populations are always on the increase,as a paid rat catcher i get more calls from domestic premises than commercial.The best options are to trap using mark4 fenn traps placed in tunnels along walls,sheds,chicken runs etc. If any members near Burton on Trent need help or advice just ask.
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Thank you happy lorry will get some of those traps in, don't envy you your job tho :-\
Blueeyes x
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What you want is some of these..... ;D
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/Funky_Monks/DSCF0473.jpg)
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Hmmm might just try the traps ;D we have a terrier but she was scared of it ::)
Blueeyes x
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We have the same problem with our terrier, very much like your handsom lad on the bottom stevehants.
Unfortunately she just mothers every little thing she sees, ::)
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Mmmmm ..... white one looks a bit cuddly to me but yeah black one looks mean ;D
Do they dig them out? Do they kill them quickly? Is it more humane than poison or traps?
Have a cat but think the rat I saw may eat HER.
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Give you a laugh - when I was a towny living in Edinburgh, we had to employ a rat catcher and he came with his terrier who looked about 100 years old and had lots of very squint teeth. He would throw it down holes and shout RATS with a lot of rolling on the R and the wee thing would toddle around not doing much. We eventually caught the rat in the rat trap he set, then, being a soppy towny, I felt sorry for it and started feeding it Mr Kiplings Manor House cake until the guy arrived the next day to take it away. Still think rats are cute actually but don't have problem in getting rid of them now!
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;D
My niece keeps pet rats. They are kind of sweet and very intelligent.
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Thank you happy lorry will get some of those traps in, don't envy you your job tho :-\
Blueeyes x
I love the job blueeyes,i get the same feeling of job satisfaction as i did when i caught my 1st rat all those years ago.In most cases i catch rats on my 1st visit.Just a little incentive regarding using traps.They work 24/7in all weathers,you dont have to feed/ water them,etc etc
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Well Happy Larry. I'm in the Burton area and I use Fenn 4's to great effect as well. Bury them on rat runs under 45degree ridge tiles. Got a big one this morning. That's three off the same run in two weeks! Only problem is 50% aren't clean kills and annoyingly my Crosman PCP is in for repair.
They tell me at Baileys there are a lot of rats about due to the mild Winter. So I bet there's more money in your job Larry than there is in Plumbing at the moment!
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What's the consensus on this wee beastie? http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3102460/Invasion-of-the-giant-rats-in-Bradford.html (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3102460/Invasion-of-the-giant-rats-in-Bradford.html)
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Coypu. A South American rodent. Common in Europe now. They have had them in East Anglia since pre-1980. My ex-brother-in-law went to survey the Sizewell area and was accompanied by a 'guide' armed to the teeth with autoshotgun and ammo. Apparently they used to take chunks out of the legs of walkers!! Every time there was a russle in the grass this guy let rip with the 12 bore.
Guess a Fenn4 or perhaps even Fenn6 won't work on those beasts. Will take some 6's to France anyway.
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Who needs terriers ;D
Just found the rat ..... dead under the stock trailer. A victim of our little feline friend. Wondered why there were no new tunnels this morning. And she is such a sweet and gentle puss cat .... you wouldnt have thought she would tackle Mr Ratty. She did have to more or less fend for herself up here until we moved in and took her on. She must have learnt a thing or two.
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She deserves a fish supper for that one :thumbsup:
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Well Happy Larry. I'm in the Burton area and I use Fenn 4's to great effect as well. Bury them on rat runs under 45degree ridge tiles. Got a big one this morning. That's three off the same run in two weeks! Only problem is 50% aren't clean kills and annoyingly my Crosman PCP is in for repair.
They tell me at Baileys there are a lot of rats about due to the mild Winter. So I bet there's more money in your job Larry than there is in Plumbing at the moment!
chris,sounds like your doing a sterling job. Not trying to teach you to suck eggs but try using 2 fenns under your ridge tile1 at each end,then using sticks pushed into the ground reduce the size of the ridge opening to 4",this will give cleaner kills.Another tip is to put a square sheet of toilet paper over the treadle plate then lightly cover with dry soil,this stops soil from geting under the trap.I live in horninglow and travel through most areas in Burton if you need any free help or advice.
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here's another one in the news
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/giant-rat-caught-killed-grandad-174504562.html (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/giant-rat-caught-killed-grandad-174504562.html)
I can do without those!!! :&>
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Shock.... horror. :o
Never a normal rat? !!!!!!!!
That could carry off the dog!
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easier to skelp with a shovel though :D :farmer:
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These giant rats are terrifying. Are they a different type or just the usual common rat living off the fat of the land?
I wonder how old the giant on the news film was. a rat biologist or expert would have been useful there.
hate them !
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Holy mother of pearl! That's some rat. I think it could probably take a child away :o
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Thanks Happy Larry. I was considering two Fenns alongside so when it gets snapped and struggles it sets the other off to kill it. I use black underfleece over the mechanism, cut to a rectangle, to just cover the plate and keep the dirt out. It is reuseable. I reduce the aperture of the tile with brick ends as we have loads here. Thanks for your offer. Will PM for advice if that's OK?