Rat survived trap, what to do!

[khatar]

I checked rat traps this morning to find a trap that snapped and a live black rat or roof rat sitting near by. She had a messed up eye with blood in the fur, the strange part was that it didn't run away, we think it was hit hard in the head by the trap and went a bit crazy or got amnesia, because it wasn't of afraid of us at all. We put it in a bucket and I took to the canyon near our house. I put it down, and all it did was sit there out in the open, eating pieces of meat we gave it and sneezing, with crows surrounding it up in the trees. I didn't want to leave this little rat I discovered was a female to get pecked to death by crows. I did not want to be responsible for her death, especially after she survived a rat trap, everything deserves a second chance. The only problem is now I don't know what to do with it. Should I wash it off and nurse it back to health, give it to a pet store now that it is not afraid of humans? I'm in a big dilemma here.

 

[danielle82]

I would kill it. Actually I would have my husband kill it. I don't think an undomesticated rat would be a suitable pet.

 

[babymakes6]

I am sorry.

I would kill it, or have someone else do it, if you can't.

 

[leadwolf1]

Rats carry all kinds of nasty disease...you can't take it to a pet store and you can't make a pet out of it, it is a wild animal. Best thing for that rat, especially with a head injury, is a quick, painless death. Sorry, I agree that everything deserves a second chance but in this instance the kind thing to do is to put it out of its misery. A quick whack in the head with a bat or something equally hard will end its suffering.

Please don't try and touch it, it will bite! And if it doesn't, it is seriously injured!

 

[Mac in Wisco]

This may sound harsh to you, but you need to put it down. You were using rat traps to kill them...

 

[DebbieF]

I would kill it. It could be carrying disease. You shouldn't release it to become someone elses problem either.

 

[silkiechicken]

It's probably suffering, I agree with the rest, make it's end quick.

 

[amenfarm]

I would hate to have that happen again. When i was in high school it happened at a horse barn I went to everyday. put 1 to 1 1/2 gallons of water in to a 5 gallon bucket, drop in rat--leave, or let nature take it's path with the crows. Can't make it a pet-- to many dieases.

 

[bobbi-j]

Quote:


Put the poor thing out of its misery. Wild rats are NOT good candidates for pets. You want a pet rat? Go to the pet store. Part of trapping ANY animal is having a plan for disposal if it's not dead when you find it.

 

[Chick Norris]

It's clearly brain damaged. I think you should finish what you started and humanely kill it. It really has no second chance. No pet store will take a wild rat, and if you leave it out in the open it will get eaten by something else.