Allotments 4 All

'Come across as being fluffy and nice' - they ARE fluffy! Well, furry! We don't have to decide that they're mean and evil and vile, just because they do stuff that's inconvenient to us, and carry germs - they're just trying to make a living like everyone else.

But yes, obviously you have to control them if they're causing problems, same goes for any pest. I just don't like the tendency to demonise creatures when they're only doing what comes naturally. They're just mammals, like our own pet cats and dogs. Glue traps, I think, should be illegal - really hideous, unless you're going to check every ten minutes and instantly kill any poor creature that gets caught.

I got electronic traps for mice in my last place, seemed like an instant death (by electrocution) - however, I swear the little buggers could read, they were veeeeery reluctant to go in the traps. Shame it's probably not possible to kill rats this way, as you'd need a much bigger voltage to kill them, I don't know if you could do it from 4 double-A batteries...  :-[

Helen,
             You can buy electric rat traps, :)

You lot crack me up goodstyle  ;D ;D ;D

Quote from: Emagggie on April 07, 2009, 17:36:38
they mince around like they own the place :o ;D

Quote from: Emagggie on April 08, 2009, 11:01:00
(I can't do anything in a straight line ::))

Neither can I, am doing bed system and embarrassed to death about each one, so I go back round and tidy em up before anyone sees em. Its bad enough when I dig but mantis'ing them is another story, kinda feng shui-ing em really.  :)

Rhubarb leaves act as a deterrent and in my experience they do work.  I stuffed some down a rat hole and the rat vacated - and I don't mean just his bowels.

Good for the soul

Oh - good news, thanks Mr Smith! If I ever have a rat problem, I'll look them up. I daresay they're quite pricey, but I'd rather spend the money than torture them to death horribly. Most awful thing I've seen was a baby mouse caught in two traps at once and still alive. :(

Just be careful about where you place any traps last week on telly there was a Robin caught in a mouse trap, :)

I'm thinking of transferring my compost heap to plastic bins - at the moment, I have it in a bricked-in corner (that I inherited with the garden). I saw a rat go into it once, and then when I went to add to the heap a few days later, the compost wriggled, and a rat shot out. Now I'm scared to turn the compost in case I impale a rat. Funnily enough, the tines of the fork kind of squeak as they go into the compost, so I think I've impaled one every time I put the fork in! :D
Yep, will deffo have to put it in bins instead, it's a bit of a problem.