Rats in a trap...

[Cozzer]

We can always tell when the owners of the three horses in the field next door decide to rake out/patch up the cobbled-together stables...the rats come visiting!
Caught one last night...he'd been walking along the conservatory window ledge when I opened the door, and more-or-less fell into the cage underneath.

Every time we catch one, I have the same quandary....do I leave it in the cage, drop it in a bucket of water, and walk away? I always think of that, but never do it.
My normal course of action is to walk across the road, open the cage, and watch as they do a runner.

Is it just me?!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It's vermin - if you trap it it's illegal to set it free.

 

[selectortone]

My normal course of action is to walk across the road, open the cage, and watch as they do a runner.

Is it just me?!

Good for you. Live and let live.

We had a female cat that used to bring mice in, unharmed, from the garden in the evenings and drop them at our feet. Something to do with teaching kittens to hunt. Anyway, we had a biscuit tin with holes in the top the kids christened the 'mouse hotel' that we kept them in overnight while they recovered with bedding and food and water. Most of them survived and were released the next morning under a bush at the bottom of the garden.

 

[Jacob]

We used to get them nesting in our compost bins. Never saw them except for one very large dead one, otherwise just their tunnels through the compost and one tunnel emerging from the lawn. Live and let live - they process the raw compost and other waste including their own dead I guess, and turn it into plant food. All part of natures rich cycle!

 

[Sideways]

If you're not going to kill them, don't waste time setting traps.
If they're causing damage, toughen up.
If they're doing no harm, leave 'em be.

 

[Jacob]

It's vermin - if you trap it it's illegal to set it free.

Only "the black rat (Rattus rattus) or fat dormouse (G. glis)" a.k.a. "edible doormouse". Recipes anybody?
https://www.rspca.org.uk/documents/1494939/7712578/Living+with+Rats+and+Mice+(13.06.2017).pdf

 

[SammyQ]

Biologists will tell you, the urban myth "six feet from the nearest rat" is just that, a myth, created by misquotes from a chap called Battersby in the early 90's. It MIGHT be true in isolated rural areas, but certainly not in urban ones, despite column-selling articles by journos - trying to earn a buck- saying otherwise.
Rats are also amongst the cleanest of domesticated animals ( yes, I know some individuals with pet rats).
Release them well away from habitation. They have a place in the food web and we need their support.

 

[Jacob]

Biologists will tell you, the urban myth "six feet from the nearest rat" is just that, a myth, created by misquotes from a chap called Battersby in the early 90's. It MIGHT be true in isolated rural areas, but certainly not in urban ones, despite column-selling articles by journos - trying to earn a buck- saying otherwise.
Rats are also amongst the cleanest of domesticated animals ( yes, I know some individuals with pet rats).
Release them well away from habitation. They have a place in the food web and we need their support.

They say never more than 6 ft from a Tory.

 

[Fergie 307]

They say never more than 6 ft from a Tory.

Ah but Jacob, if you caught one of them would you be releasing it as part of "Natures rich cycle"

 

[highwood122]

bubonic plague and weils disease, put em on the bonfire then let em loose

 

[TRITON]

My normal course of action is to walk across the road, open the cage, and watch as they do a runner.

Im all for that. Despite my previous trade(Butcher) I cant bring myself to dispatch some small critter. I feel it's got a right to life.

Own a cat and its out of your hands.

 

[SeeO2]

Im all for that. Despite my previous trade(Butcher) I cant bring myself to dispatch some small critter. I feel it's got a right to life.

Own a cat and it’s out of your hands.

I was a butcher too Triton and I’d kill rats but not much else, might stretch to a politician or three —-

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Im all for that. Despite my previous trade(Butcher) I cant bring myself to dispatch some small critter. I feel it's got a right to life.

Own a cat and its out of your hands.

We didn't have any mice until we got a cat, he kept bringing them in and letting them go.

 

[glenfield2]

We left our canal boat in a boatyard to have work done. At some point a rat got in. The devastation, smell and mess we found on our return was appalling. The rat had vanished, presumably getting out when a yard worker opened up at some point. No sympathy for rats since then!

 

[Agent_zed]

Rats are also amongst the cleanest of domesticated animals

Female rats are ok, I had a pet one. For a short time I had some males and they are gross. They pee everywhere when they walk. I'd clean the cage and 2 mins later there would be pee trails across anything they walked across.

bubonic plague

Bubonic plague is a bit much as a reason to kill them. I can't remember the last person who got the plague or even weils disease to be honest. Besides there is a thought that it was actually a form of ebola as the historic documents talk of symptoms and spreading that would not fit with Bubonic plague https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/viruses101/could_the_black_death_actually/

I personally find it hard to kill rats and only do so when they are getting to the point of causing damage. I get the odd field mouse in the attic in the winter and capture and release it elsewhere. They are just trying to live like everything else.

 

[Blackswanwood]

As already mentioned rats are vermin so if you trap one it’s illegal to release it. It’s also illegal to kill one by drowning - they need to be despatched humanely such as a sharp blow or air rifle pellet to the back of the head. Obviously it’s debatable how effectively this will be enforced.

I can see why a rat being kept as a pet may be clean. Rats living in the wild however do transmit and carry disease (even if that didn’t include the plague) and when they cross over with humans are prone to create a lot of damage - hence being categorised as vermin. They are inquisitive and adept at finding a way to get into properties - if they are running along a window ledge where will they turn up next? They also breed at a prolific rate so it’s unlikely to be a diminishing issue.

Releasing them just moves the problem on or risks their return - to my mind if they have been trapped they should then be despatched. I’d also be asking the owners of the stable what they are doing to manage the issue at source.

 

[Jacob]

As already mentioned rats are vermin so if you trap one it’s illegal to release it. ....

Not so. As already mentioned; only "the black rat (Rattus rattus) or fat dormouse (G. glis)" a.k.a. "edible doormouse".

https://www.rspca.org.uk/documents/1494939/7712578/Living+with+Rats+and+Mice+(13.06.2017).pdf

 

[mudman]

Female rats are ok, I had a pet one. For a short time I had some males and they are gross. They pee everywhere when they walk. I'd clean the cage and 2 mins later there would be pee trails across anything they walked across.



Bubonic plague is a bit much as a reason to kill them. I can't remember the last person who got the plague or even weils disease to be honest. Besides there is a thought that it was actually a form of ebola as the historic documents talk of symptoms and spreading that would not fit with Bubonic plague https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/viruses101/could_the_black_death_actually/

I personally find it hard to kill rats and only do so when they are getting to the point of causing damage. I get the odd field mouse in the attic in the winter and capture and release it elsewhere. They are just trying to live like everything else.

Bubonic plague is still around with a couple of thousand cases every year.
Weil's disease or leptospirosis, that we vaccinate our dogs against, is still a big problem with supposedly between 50% and 60% of rats carrying the disease and leaving it everywhere they go. Cavers have to be especially careful in areas where farm runoff may enter cave systems. Someone I know was recently treated for suspected Weil's disease after a trip to Mendip.

 

[highwood122]

Bubonic plague is still around with a couple of thousand cases every year.
Weil's disease or leptospirosis, that we vaccinate our dogs against, is still a big problem with supposedly between 50% and 60% of rats carrying the disease and leaving it everywhere they go. Cavers have to be especially careful in areas where farm runoff may enter cave systems. Someone I know was recently treated for suspected Weil's disease after a trip to Mendip.

nearly killed one of my neighbours

 

[Phil Pascoe]

A distant relative of mine died from Weil's disease many years ago.