Bl**dy Mice

[fenhayman]

I believe that drowning has been deemed as causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and therefore illegal.
How to kill a grey squirrel in a trap, bearing in mind that to release it is an offence is difficult. Shooting is recommended but try and humanely kill a squirrel going berserk in a trap is nigh impossible and usually results in wounding. Drowning seems to be the less cruel option.

 

[johnny]

I believe that drowning has been deemed as causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and therefore illegal.
How to kill a grey squirrel in a trap, bearing in mind that to release it is an offence is difficult. Shooting is recommended but try and humanely kill a squirrel going berserk in a trap is nigh impossible and usually results in wounding. Drowning seems to be the less cruel option.

its difficult to know what is the best solution isn't it.

The most inhumane and in my opinion dangerous method is poisoning.
Pest control operatives are careful to place the poison traps where it won't be accessible to other wildlife and our children and pets but the reality is that the rodents take a long time to die typically more than 24 hours in which time they continue to forage for food in our gardens .
We recently had a large adult Rat ,poisoned by our neighbours, eating bird food on our bird feeders for more than 2x days . He was clearly very ill and walked slowly struggling to climb fences and shrubs. I was very worried that one of my cats or dogs (Jack Russels) would catch it and play with it and become sick themselves.
Aside from the obvious risks to other wildlife ,pets and children it is a very inhumane way to dispatch an animal .

I would always favour relocation where possible but I appreciate that in an urban environment thats nigh on impossible.

 

[SamG340]

Doesn't need a gun. If you get it in a bag you can drown it.

Drowning is illegal in the UK.... however rat bait is perfectly legal. I'm not sure why ?? Drowning is over in seconds, rat bait is much more cruel, they can take days to die while their internal organs turn to soup.

I'd rather be drowned than poisoned personally!!

 

[HamsterJam]

its difficult to know what is the best solution isn't it.

The most inhumane and in my opinion dangerous method is poisoning.
Pest control operatives are careful to place the poison traps where it won't be accessible to other wildlife and our children and pets but the reality is that the rodents take a long time to die typically more than 24 hours in which time they continue to forage for food in our gardens .
We recently had a large adult Rat ,poisoned by our neighbours, eating bird food on our bird feeders for more than 2x days . He was clearly very ill and walked slowly struggling to climb fences and shrubs. I was very worried that one of my cats or dogs (Jack Russels) would catch it and play with it and become sick themselves.
Aside from the obvious risks to other wildlife ,pets and children it is a very inhumane way to dispatch an animal .

I would always favour relocation where possible but I appreciate that in an urban environment thats nigh on impossible.

Whole hearted agreement regards poisoning…..
We have lost a couple of cats who we suspect ate poisoned rodents and just today a friend is taking a rather poorly owl to a rescue centre which we rather suspect is a victim of poisoning

 

[Jameshow]

We have squirrels nesting in a sealed loft I need to cut an access hatch in the ceiling and find out what's going on up there!!!

 

[fenhayman]

Unless you are in a densely wooded area would advise that you trap or shoot them outside. Professional rodent killers can do that.
You don't want to know what they are doing in the loft until you get rid of them and block their access. If unchecked they will store food in the loft and are a major fire hazard. Are classed as pests and you don't need a licence to get rid of them. Rats with tails.

 

[woodieallen]

I believe that drowning has been deemed as causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and therefore illegal.
How to kill a grey squirrel in a trap, bearing in mind that to release it is an offence is difficult. Shooting is recommended but try and humanely kill a squirrel going berserk in a trap is nigh impossible and usually results in wounding. Drowning seems to be the less cruel option.

Have you actually tried that? If so I am surprised as it is very easy to humanely despatch them given the size of the usual trap.

 

[woodieallen]

its difficult to know what is the best solution isn't it.

The most inhumane and in my opinion dangerous method is poisoning.
Pest control operatives are careful to place the poison traps where it won't be accessible to other wildlife and our children and pets but the reality is that the rodents take a long time to die typically more than 24 hours in which time they continue to forage for food in our gardens .
We recently had a large adult Rat ,poisoned by our neighbours, eating bird food on our bird feeders for more than 2x days . He was clearly very ill and walked slowly struggling to climb fences and shrubs. I was very worried that one of my cats or dogs (Jack Russels) would catch it and play with it and become sick themselves.
Aside from the obvious risks to other wildlife ,pets and children it is a very inhumane way to dispatch an animal .

I would always favour relocation where possible but I appreciate that in an urban environment thats nigh on impossible.

You would have to trap the rat first. They are very clever at avoiding them.

 

[Farm Labourer]

I put two bags of cattle nuts (protein based bovine supplement) in the boot of my new Audi. I dropped one off outside a field where some of my beasts were at pasture. The other remained in the Audi for 2 nights .

Two days later, on starting the vehicle, the radio went to static. I selected a frequency which worked. I was 5 miles from home and suddenly noticed that the SatNav (which had been set to take me home from the dealership in Notts) was now telling me I was 17miles from home. I disregarded this, too.

An hour later, I had arrived at destination and opened the rear door to allow a passenger in when I noticed a 3" diameter hole through the rear seat squab.

The rat had chewed through the air pressure reduction valve, got into the boot-space, chewed through the boot liner and had tucked into the cattle nuts. It then ate its way through the rear seat till it could check out the rest of the vehicle. During this adventure it had eaten through the combined GPS/radio antennae.

 

[johnny]

Have you actually tried that? If so I am surprised as it is very easy to humanely despatch them given the size of the usual trap.

No I haven't I am unable to take the life of any animal or bird even a rat or a mouse that my cats bring in . I believe that all life is precious its only the labels that we attach to creatures that determine if they are to be protected or eradicated as 'vermin' according to our convenience . Just look at the damage we have done over the decades and are still doing to our eco systems and key species in our ignorance . That said I do recognise that we need to dispatch animals but prefer if it is done humanely ie shooting

 

[Stevekane]

I found this little fellow inside my shed consumer unit, he had crawled in through the knockout and once inside couldn't turn around without touching a terninal,,,no apparant electrical issues though I vaguely recall the elect to the shed having tripped once,,,

 

[johnny]

You would have to trap the rat first. They are very clever at avoiding them.

I found that trapping a rat was the easy bit with a purpose built rodent trap . The hard bit for me was dealing with the dreadful screaming and thrashing around in the cage . i'm sure my neighbours thought we were torturing something. As I couldn't kill it I relocated it into the countryside in my car and that was the worst bit. How to deposit the trap out of the car window and then open the trap door without physically touching the cage. In the end I did it with a broom handle from the car window.

 

[Phill05]

On the farm we had a "Chop shed" where all the cattle feed was stored in hessian bags and always had a lot of mice with one hand I would pull a bag towards me and with my right hand dive under and make a grab and could come out with a hand full of mice and just squeeze them dead, then one day I found a rat under and the s*d bite me, the farmer's wife showed Yorky's so I went and got one of them while she was out, put it in the chop shed and wow it was manic there was screaming and banging and I looked round the door to see the little dog covered in blood and five dead rats scattered around, I cleaned up the dog but found a rat had bitten the side of her face so off to vet with her.

When farmer came back I told him what had happened he patted me on the back and said well done lad, then farmers wife saw her little dog and chased me with the broom, but little dog always made a fuss of me.

 

[fenhayman]

Have you actually tried that? If so I am surprised as it is very easy to humanely despatch them given the size of the usual trap.

I've done it numerous times. Please tell me how. I find it difficult to get a squirrel to sit still while I despatch it with an air pistol .

 

[jonn]

I'm decorating my kitchen and decided to replace the GU10 downlights with integrated LED units, as they had gone a bit brown from the heat of the incandescent bulbs originally installed.

When I removed the GU10 units I found this with 6 of them:-

We live in a rural location and mice occasionally get into the house, but I had no idea they could cause such damage!

I hate to think what could have happened......

Take a look at Shawn Wood's Mousetrap Mondays pages
I got a couple of the ones shown in the video via AliExpress, but haven't used them yet. These are particularly good for tender-hearted people as the mice can't jump out of the bucket. I am NOT tender-hearted when it comes to mice (or rats), so I convert the traps to diving boards. Not legal supposedly, but dead mice don't report me!

 

[Crazy Dave]

I found that trapping a rat was the easy bit with a purpose built rodent trap . The hard bit for me was dealing with the dreadful screaming and thrashing around in the cage . i'm sure my neighbours thought we were torturing something. As I couldn't kill it I relocated it into the countryside in my car and that was the worst bit. How to deposit the trap out of the car window and then open the trap door without physically touching the cage. In the end I did it with a broom handle from the car window.

I think you'll find that releasing vermin is an offence so be careful who you tell.

 

[JimB]

On the farm we had a "Chop shed" where all the cattle feed was stored in hessian bags and always had a lot of mice with one hand I would pull a bag towards me and with my right hand dive under and make a grab and could come out with a hand full of mice and just squeeze them dead, then one day I found a rat under and the s*d bite me, the farmer's wife showed Yorky's so I went and got one of them while she was out, put it in the chop shed and wow it was manic there was screaming and banging and I looked round the door to see the little dog covered in blood and five dead rats scattered around, I cleaned up the dog but found a rat had bitten the side of her face so off to vet with her.
When farmer came back I told him what had happened he patted me on the back and said well done lad, then farmers wife saw her little dog and chased me with the broom, but little dog always made a fuss of me. /QUOTE]
A couple of the local farmers would ask my Dad to go round their barns with our cairn terrier.

 

[johnny]

I think you'll find that releasing vermin is an offence so be careful who you tell.

no that is not the case, I checked first .
Here is some guidance on humane treatment of UK vermin and pests How to Humanely Capture Mice and Rats | Clearfirst Pest Control.

 

[stuart little]

its difficult to know what is the best solution isn't it.

The most inhumane and in my opinion dangerous method is poisoning.
Pest control operatives are careful to place the poison traps where it won't be accessible to other wildlife and our children and pets but the reality is that the rodents take a long time to die typically more than 24 hours in which time they continue to forage for food in our gardens .
We recently had a large adult Rat ,poisoned by our neighbours, eating bird food on our bird feeders for more than 2x days . He was clearly very ill and walked slowly struggling to climb fences and shrubs. I was very worried that one of my cats or dogs (Jack Russels) would catch it and play with it and become sick themselves.
Aside from the obvious risks to other wildlife ,pets and children it is a very inhumane way to dispatch an animal .

I would always favour relocation where possible but I appreciate that in an urban environment thats nigh on impossible.

I have a VERY unpleasant,too near neighbour, who is a complete 'iriot'. He laid rat poison & managed to kill their pedigree Persian Blue cat. At least it wasn't someone elses.

 

[Crazy Dave]

no that is not the case, I checked first .
Here is some guidance on humane treatment of UK vermin and pests How to Humanely Capture Mice and Rats | Clearfirst Pest Control.

I stand corrected Sir. I was clearly misinformed.