About two weeks ago, we discovered we had a resident rat. Being a bunch of pinko liberal vegetarians, we went out and spent over £20 on a humane rat trap. We cleaned out the whole garden and the sheds so it did not have a food source - it moved into the compost heap! Yesterday, I lost patience and said that if it did not go into the trap I would resort to poison. I also threw some rhubarb leaves into the compost heap and stuffed them in the rats hole in the hope that their repulsion to herbivores might work on the rat. Today, I get home from school and low and behold - the rat is in the trap.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y173/redclanger/ratinthetrap.jpg)
PS the only person I dislike enough lives just across the road. That is a bit too close for comfort so I am going to have to find a nice isolated spot about five mile away to let it go.
pleas make sure the point of release is any compass point except nor nor west(we live near saxilby clanger!)ta!
big berhooger aint he? :o
Its alright - we went east and it was not near any houses.
phew!look out fiskerton! ;D
ahem! Have you got rat radar or something?
;) ;D ;D ;D
Ewwwwwwww thats horrid, and i am just not going to ask how big he is :o :o
You have got my skin crawling now redclanger :o ;)
Aww - I thought he was quite cute - told you I was a pinko liberal.
Have been thinking - if we could rid rats of all their associated diseases, they wouldn't do muchmore than benfit in towns really - they do sort of clean up all our rubbish don't they?
Cute? :o :o
Actually, he reminds me of my ex husband ;) :D
Hahaha Honeybee! RC, i have one in my garden can you come and work your magic here please?! ;D
Well done catching him, but I very much doubt he was alone.
Sociable animals, rats.
aaawwww...cute! Mind you, the blooming damage they are doing to my garden shed is driving me to distraction!
What do they say 'You are only ever 4' away from a rat'
Oh summat like that. ::) ;D
Quote from: SpeedyMango on May 04, 2005, 09:09:27
Well done catching him, but I very much doubt he was alone.
Sociable animals, rats.
We do think he was alone but the trap has been reset just in case.
hmmmmmm...that most dangerous of animals...the lonely rat...
Redclanger,
Well done on humanely catching Mr or Mrs Rat. Although carriers of disease and not very pleasant, they have the right to life and I am glad you released the beast somewhere "oop noorth"! ;D
Have had them before and don't wish them to visit again !
:D ;)
Had a laugh regarding honeybees' remarks about ex husband. THANKS maz I thought it wa 10ft!! I am now afraid to go ouside in the dark, must hurry up and go and vote before it gets dark. Years ago when we kept a lot of pigs I had a cupboard type thing with cupboard at top and three drawers underneath which I kept medicines in for the pigs. I was in the farrowing shed watching a sowhaving her piglets and our old labrador was going mad round the cupboard. I said to my daughter must be a mouse, so Vickie opened one of the drawers and I saw the dog run.. What was that Vickie? Only a rat Mum it jumped on my lap and Sally chased it.
Glad it was her and not me.(she is only terrified of spiders)..
Glad you had a good laugh there Lorna ;) ;D ;D
I am terrified of rats so trust me to go and walk down the aisle with one ::)
I would have been horrifed if one had jumped into my lap like that Lorna :o :o :o
well..it sounds like you are perfectly capable of dealing with rats honeybee.one jumped into your lap,so to speak,and you manged to deal with it!! ;)
if you can sort a ratthat size out-a ickul brown wun should be a breeze!! ;D
Redclanger..... having my few minutes on forums before breakfast and thanks to you I have lost my appetite :'( Last night I was unable to see pics BUT now this horrible little (well not so little) creature is on my screen. :o Lorna
Yes Kitty, i did sort of think that as i was writing it  ;D  ;D  ;D
Lorna this pic is so much on my mind that i keep dreaming about it :o
Lovely little fellow, I used to keep fancy rats, Yes I am one of the strange ones.If you want to repel rats from a paticular place in your garden, then plant rue or catmint, they cany stand the smell, they wont cross through rue even if they are starving, hope this helps.They are social animals, but if it was a male, there wont be many as they are very territorial.
right!i shall be donning me Big Male Rat cozzy-that'll fool the berhoogers! ;)
slightly warm to garden in buy-i can cope! ;D
Quote from: discovery on May 09, 2005, 16:10:29
Lovely little fellow, I used to keep fancy rats, Yes I am one of the strange ones.If you want to repel rats from a paticular place in your garden, then plant rue or catmint, they cany stand the smell, they wont cross through rue even if they are starving, hope this helps.They are social animals, but if it was a male, there wont be many as they are very territorial.
As it happens there was a second (it's alright moonbells no pictures this time). It did not show for a day or so then emerged into the compost heap (rhubarb lost it's potency?) A couple of days waiting and I resorted to rhubarb leaves in the compost heap and another down the hole. Next day - rat in a trap!. Took it to the same place as the other one. More rhubarb on compost and another leaf down the hole - three days later it is still there and no sign of rats. I am hoping my male had just got himself a girlfriend - if not I am worried what will become of the babies (plus they might smell if they die :-X)
o no!
another one?
aaargh!
dont bring
'em with you on saturday will you?! :'(
Bless - hope they are reunited....
Rats are a big problem in our area but we don't seem to get them in our garden - maybe cos of the dogs
Some time ago we saw a Rat eating seed from the bird table in our garden - too close for comfort. We removed the seed and endeavored to catch it, we eventually caught 5. We caught them in the 'never to return method' ;). That was last year, we have not seen any since.
Regards Lily
I read somewhere that if you feed the birds then the rats will move in and set up home nearby, :-\Â cut off their food supply and they will leave, :'( sounds simple enough. ;D
If you want encourage wildlife into your garden then rats qualify and should be accepted as members of the wildlife community. :o 8)
I get rats a lot, and if I don't put poison down in winter they can chew their way into beehives and completely destroy the contents. Strange thing is, the beekeeping books go on about mice ad nauseam, and never seem to mention rats, which as far as I'm concerned are a far bigger problem.
hi all
i am a pro rat catcher buy trade and you will find if one dies you will have a very distinctive smell for about four to five days
one thing that i am affraid to tell you is that it is illegal to noing to relese a nown pest into the uk
but what the council dont see wont hurt them will it
try putting either Dairy milk or peanut butter or tuna in the trap as that will attract them to the trap
if i can be any help at all please pm me
oh before i go
you can get reported and fined buy the RSPCA if there is not water in the trap and you dont check them at LEAST every 12 hours
hope i have helped
matt 8) 8) 8)