[2peasinapod]

That sounds fine to me but once trapped what the heck would anyone do with them? 

thats where the air rifle comes in
take the trap some place quiet and  kill em quick and clean.

[Paul Plots]

That sounds fine to me but once trapped what the heck would anyone do with them? 

thats where the air rifle comes in
take the trap some place quiet and  kill em quick and clean.

I detest the idea of owning a gun of any sort or being near one.... just purely personal and on ethical grounds  but I remember the fuss of trying to dispose of mice caught in box-traps. Years ago I bred foreign finches and mice periodically were a pest trying to steal food / seed. It was not possible to have ordinary mouse-traps in the aviary as the birds would have jumped onto them so box-traps were used when needed.

They worked well but then there was the problem (once I knew it was a mouse inside and not a bird) of disposing of the mouse. Although a gun would not have been suitable for tiny critters I can see that this would be the most humane way of disposing of a rat... quick, clean and decisive. 

[sean moore]

if you can find out were the nest is  the rat man will push some bait down with a stick
and a bit of mesh over the hole and hey presto no rats. well it worked for me
regards
sean

[Dabhand]

What I worry about though is if you poison the rats and a dog gets hold of them it could poison the dog.  Is that possible, if so then poison is too risky..

[8doubles]

I think that if they are trap-able then that is the best method. You can have no control over where a poisoned rodent dies and what is going to eat it, or if it will start to decompose and stink the area out when it cannot be easily retrieved.
With a trap its in the trap and can be safely binned.

[2peasinapod]

With a trap its in the trap and can be safely binned.

how can they be binned?
you cannot even cause rats to be disstressed these days.

[Paul Plots]

Don't distress them!! The RSPCA wouldn't approve..... :blink:

Just go for.....entice / feed / snap (Traps sound kinder to me - quick and all over with)

No need to "bin"..... you can either add them to the compost heap (if you're not squeeeeamish) or have a nice little ceremony - dig a deep hole and place them respectfully in the bottom.... replace the soil carefully then jump up and down on the top and forget all about them. (PS Works without the jumpiing up and down too) 

Poison is fine if confined safely (long drainage pipes perhaps) so only the rats can access it but it is slow (they can eat a lot of it before the warfarin begins to cause widespread internal bleeding /  hemorrhage and slow death).... not terribly nice. Also very costly in terms of £s 

With traps it is easy to keep a count of the effectiveness of trapping, there's no dead ones laying about to be discovered unexpectedly or pong under shed floors (not that I have ever noticed this out in the open) and there's no chance that other animals will feed on dead bodies laying in the open so, in turn, suffer from effects of too much warfarin. (It is possible to get a build up of warfarin in the bodies of scavengers - often birds.... unfortunately not bl**dy pigeons!  )

[Ruby Red]

With a trap its in the trap and can be safely binned.

how can they be binned?
you cannot even cause rats to be disstressed these days.

 
 We had a dilemma with a dead rat. Hmm, let me see now. Which bin, recycling or rubbish?

[Paul Plots]

With a trap its in the trap and can be safely binned.

how can they be binned?
you cannot even cause rats to be disstressed these days.

 
 We had a dilemma with a dead rat. Hmm, let me see now. Which bin, recycling or rubbish?

Compost?

[8doubles]

Quadruple bagged and binned , less maggots = less flies 

[Paul Plots]

Quadruple bagged and binned , less maggots = less flies 

All those inorganic bags!! 

Spade & Big hole = "all gone" 

[8doubles]

Quadruple bagged and binned , less maggots = less flies 

All those inorganic bags!! 

Spade & Big hole = "all gone" 

The bags are old packaging 

I bury `em in autumn /winter when there`s room for a deep grave.
Nobody in our family likes veg with a hint of dead rat 

[bradleyt]

Rats are a pesky business - for your home, family etc. etc. getting rid of them yourself without harm to the animal may not be possible. I would suggest having a professional come in and take care of the problem for you.

[doubledug]

At the risk of repeating myself if you get a fen trap place it in a plywood tunnel say 500mm long 150mm high and 150 wide cut a small hole either end atach fen trap to tunnel by its chain with a screw. melt a small amount of chocolate on to the plate of the trap and if you have rats in the area you will trap them,or for that matter dare i say it squirrel with peanut butter as bait so i am told.
There is no bottom on the tunnel half inch exterior ply will do.   

[2peasinapod]

by the look of them, they are a lethal trap so get my vote if shooting or dogs arnt an option.