RAT!!!!!

[BelovedBirds]

Also worth mentioning that where I live, it is legal to relocate most species, including mice and rats.

Exactly WHAT is one to do with a live rat in a trap??

Relocate do it reproduces elsewhere and causes problems elsewhere?? It is actually illegal to relocate animals without specific permission to do so on other’s land, including public land.

Kill it? Pretty hard to aim a .22 accurately. Drown it? Asphyxiate it?

Rats are not, in any way, endangered. They spread disease and damage property. The best solution is to have them leave on their own (no food, no shelter), or kill them outright.

 

[Acre4Me]

If killing is the only option, a bullet is the most humane option if the aim is precise, some do it by hand with various methods but I'm sure its difficult and unpleasant to do. Drowning, poison etc are slow and painful, snap traps can harm other wildlife, same with sticky traps which are extremely painful and inhumane. You may be intending on rats, but you could get other animals.

I prefer to relocate for this reason, but only on wildlife. I'm lucky in that I'm surrounded by woodland, and close to a nature reserve and river.
The rats around here come from those places, behind my house, and only come on our property due to the food etc, so I feel it's most fair to drive them out a little way and let them go.
The liklihood is that a predator will catch them after release, and nature solves the issue. But it does give them the opportunity to survive if done correctly, and bothers no one as long as they are a distance from other homes and farms.
I understand why some people find it more ethical to kill rather than release- But personally I love them, theyre incredibly intelligent and social animals. It isn't their fault that they cause harm, they're just living and clashing with mankind. So personally my choice is always humane trap and relocate.

In USA, illegal in many/most places to relocate.

Rats are a problem and are not, in any way, shape, form endangered. They do spread disease and cause a myriad of issues. It is a poor recommendation to trap and release rats. To your point, they are smart. Therefore will never ever get caught in a trap again, and may very well not even get eaten by a predator. So, trap and release a live rat is not a good solution.

One rat seen equals many more not seen. The fact that the OP is seeing rats in daylight is an indication of a robust colony. Therefore, numerous things should be implemented. High level of cleanliness, robust (ie: metal) containers for feed storage, removal of anything enticing to rats (food, shelter, warmth), and poison.

Op should do a little research on forms of poison to understand how they work.

 

[Acre4Me]

The coop is off the ground. A whole chicken can fit under earth the coop that’s how far it is. I’ll look into the poison. As far as I know if on out been seeing the one rat but idk if the same one. When we do get the rat/s how should we fill the tunnels. Last time we filled them with water and it ran out but came back. I think I’m gonna dig out the base of the fenced run and add some wood boards so they can’t easily dig in.

Do a search on BYC for posts by HowardE (not sure if space before E or not). He has many posts and threads about rats that are informative and good. There may even be an article on BYC by him, not sure.

But, poison is a undeniably effective solution. There are a variety of poisons, and different ways they work. There are poisons for rodents that do not kill other animals if they happen to eat the poisoned rodent. Most poisoned critters go to die in their hole (so not available for another animal to eat then), some poisons are effective with tiny bite, so not enough in the rodent to kill another animal that eats them, and some poisons are quickly metabolized by rodent digestion to another compound that is harmless. In addition, there are many effective poison stations that keep everything out, except for the rodents.

I’d do a search on BYC bc rats are a common issue, and there are many threads, but I do recommend HowardE posts.

 

[BelovedBirds]

In USA, illegal in many/most places to relocate.

Rats are a problem and are not, in any way, shape, form endangered. They do spread disease and cause a myriad of issues. It is a poor recommendation to trap and release rats. To your point, they are smart. Therefore will never ever get caught in a trap again, and may very well not even get eaten by a predator. So, trap and release a live rat is not a good solution.

You're making a lot of assumptions here. Firstly, you're assuming OP would be breaking the law, depending on where they are, that may not be true. Plenty of animals are against the law to release. If they accidently trap a grey squirrel, depending on location, they would be breaking the law by releasing. So would have to dispatch them.
I wonder if OP is prepared to do that with various animals who stumble into the traps. Likewise, many protected species could be killed unintentionally via poison/sticky traps/snap traps. So I beg to differ, that  your solution is not good.

Secondly you assume the entire point of sparing a life evolves around the protection of a species. An animal does not need to be endangered in order to deserve care, whether that is a chance at life, or a humane death.
The point you make is irrelevant. These are intelligent creatures who feel pain and fear. To offer than compassion is never a poor choice. I am not saying not to kill the rodents, I am saying to consider it carefully, and reccomending a humane route. Be it a quick death, or relocation.

Lastly you again assume that one solution fits all. It doesn't. Different people prefer different methods.
OP stressed preference to live catch, therefore I replied accordingly.
You are welcome to disagree. We can agree to disagree.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Do a search on BYC for posts by HowardE (not sure if space before E or not). He has many posts and threads about rats that are informative and good. There may even be an article on BYC by him, not sure.

But, poison is a undeniably effective solution. There are a variety of poisons, and different ways they work. There are poisons for rodents that do not kill other animals if they happen to eat the poisoned rodent. Most poisoned critters go to die in their hole (so not available for another animal to eat then), some poisons are effective with tiny bite, so not enough in the rodent to kill another animal that eats them, and some poisons are quickly metabolized by rodent digestion to another compound that is harmless. In addition, there are many effective poison stations that keep everything out, except for the rodents.

I’d do a search on BYC bc rats are a common issue, and there are many threads, but I do recommend HowardE posts.

If a rat can access the poison to begin with, likely other creatures can. Be it birds, hedgehogs, etc etc. Whether or not the rodent makes it back to its home or not is not predictable. They may, they may not. Poison is not wildlife friendly. And is rarely going to be humane.

 

[Acre4Me]

You're making a lot of assumptions here. Firstly, you're assuming OP would be breaking the law, depending on where they are, that may not be true. Plenty of animals are against the law to release. If they accidently trap a grey squirrel, depending on location, they would be breaking the law by releasing. So would have to dispatch them.
I wonder if OP is prepared to do that with various animals who stumble into the traps. Likewise, many protected species could be killed unintentionally via poison/sticky traps/snap traps. So I beg to differ, that  your solution is not good.

Secondly you assume the entire point of sparing a life evolves around the protection of a species. An animal does not need to be endangered in order to deserve care, whether that is a chance at life, or a humane death.
The point you make is irrelevant. These are intelligent creatures who feel pain and fear. To offer than compassion is never a poor choice. I am not saying not to kill the rodents, I am saying to consider it carefully, and reccomending a humane route. Be it a quick death, or relocation.

Lastly you again assume that one solution fits all. It doesn't. Different people prefer different methods.
OP stressed preference to live catch, therefore I replied accordingly.
You are welcome to disagree. We can agree to disagree.

Ok, ok…you like to argue. You need to be right and justified. Whatever floats your boat.

Rats are a problem. Period. OP has a rat problem. OP hopes it is a single rat, but in reality….it is likely a robust colony.

Fact: many BYCers try the non poison approach and find that it really solves nothing.

Fact: rats reproduce alarmingly well. Catching 10-15-20 a day will actually do nothing much to solve a rat problem.

Fact: magic is not real and animals of all kinds can not, in fact, shrink themselves down to fit into a bait station sized for a rodent.

Good luck to OP. Rats are no fun to deal with, and getting rid of them takes some time.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Ok, ok…you like to argue. You need to be right and justified. Whatever floats your boat.

I said we can agree to disagree. I'm only suggesting a humane option, instead of ones that are painful and risk other wildlife. Has nothing to do with "needing to be right". Why are you so threatened by me pointing out the obvious?

Rats are a problem. Period. OP has a rat problem.

Never denied this. Keeping in mind they only ever see one rat at a time, I'd be hesitant to believe this is a "robust colony". Regardless of how much you enjoy throwing this term around. There is most likely 2, maybe 3, could fast become an issue, but you make it sound like she has a full on established infestation and there is absolutely no evidence of this.

Fact: many BYCers try the non poison approach and find that it really solves nothing.

Always worth a shot imo. I've upped my security, and changed my feeding routine and that's made a huge difference for me already. When someone prefers a live catch scenario, I WILL offer advice on live catching. Be mad all you want, I'm talking to OP.

Fact: rats reproduce alarmingly well. Catching 10-15-20 a day will actually do nothing much to solve a rat problem.

And again, there is no evidence that there are anywhere near this many in this situation. You keep making assumptions.

Fact: magic is not real and animals of all kinds can not, in fact, shrink themselves down to fit into a bait station sized for a rodent.

Plenty of animals ARE this small, and are able to get into these stations, happens all the time. But you are behaving willfully ignorant if you think that is all I'm saying. I was replying to both poison and sticky traps inside cage traps, which are not safe for other wildlife. I'm doing absolutely nothing wrong by pointing that out and suggesting a more humane way to catch or kill.

Good luck to OP. Rats are no fun to deal with, and getting rid of them takes some time.

Finally something we agree on.


I'm not trying to insult you, or start an argument, but I am entitled to my opinion, and I gave advice to OP that works for me. The same as you offered your opinion.
More information on it can't be seen as threatening, really, can it? OP deserves all the info and advice we can offer to make an informed decision.

So you do you, and I'll do me.

I'm having a terrible day, so please just leave it at that. I do not want to argue. I apologise for any offence caused.

 

[AGeese]

So for indoors I recommend sticky traps, in this case I suggested one enclosed by a catch and release trap to contain the rat and keep it from being accessed by other critters.

I haven't seen a rat (to my knowledge) around, but I do catch mice this way, most times they get too stuck to chew out, if I don't find them they likely pass of a heart attack. If I do find them I dispatch them with a shovel in an instant.

So if that's too much for anyone (I understand) then I suggest electric traps as so far I've had good luck with them, they're zapped cold, and you simple then open the hatch and dispose.

Rats and mice are intelligent yes, and there's a debate to be had on the ethics of testing on them. That said they are also plague animals and can carry some serious diseases. So for the safety of your flock and your family I would just remove them as quickely and cleanly as possible.

I'm not opposed to anyone who is further enlightened than I on the value of all things, but many people are just not on that level in their lives where they can go out of their way to make sure a pest is safe and secure.

 

[Geena]

Life is too short to argue over rats

The most important thing that is often overlooked in the battle against rats, and other pests and predators, is being observant and preemptive.
Check your fencing, your coops and the areas around them on a regular basis. Go out at night with a flashlight, take your dog too if you have one, and see what's scurrying around out there in the darkness. If you see something, do something, right away, don't wait until it becomes a big problem to deal with it.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Life is too short to argue over rats

You're not wrong lol