We set rat traps yesterday. They are in boxes to stop birds and cats becoming involved in the attempted murder. This morning Julia reported both boxes had tails sticking out of them and one of the rats had, in addition, been partly eaten. Probably another rat, or even one of the rare cats we get. I give you this gruesome detail only to prove that it was dead.
By this afternoon, when I finally got myself enthused to deal with rat remains, both boxes were empty and all the bait was gone. There were, however traces of rat in both boxes.
I’m sure we killed one. The other may have been killed or merely stunned. Feedback on the trap website indicates that sometimes the springs aren’t strong enough and a rat can pull its head out and escape. It is probably a sadder and a wiser rat, but it is still breathing, though presumably less keen on the scent of peanut butter.
I’m a little worried by the thought of the amount of carnivorous activity going on in my flower beds, and even more concerned to find I’ve been spelling carnivorous wrong all my life. I haven’t needed to write it often, or my spellchecker would have pointed it out, but in my head it is spelt carniverous and I was very surprised to find it wasn’t.
Worse was to come when I tried to reset the traps. They wouldn’t reset. I tried to get help from the company website. First I was offered advice by a website that cropped up as I searched for the official company one. I hate it when that happens. They wanted £1 (refundable) to put me in touch with an expert. he chances of them having an expert on rat traps seemed unlikely. The likelihood of them using my payment details to steal money seemed slightly higher.
Then I was offered membership of a Discord group to seek advice. I’m vaguely familiar with the name but I don’t want to join anything just to get advice.
Feedback on Amazon indicates other people had this problem, but didn’t offer a solution.
Finally I found a video on how to set them, but there was no troubleshooting advice. Eventually, having spent half an hour searching and pondering I remembered some of the tricks of setting the old-fashioned sort of trap. Taking great care, I reset them whilst lifting the bait/trigger platform slightly. This allowed the catch to engage and they are currently lurking in the shrubbery.
We know here is at least one more, as we saw it after the other two traps were sprung.
I know it’s barbaric, but they spread diseases, kill water voles and make a mess in sheds. They also chase squirrels, which was very funny to watch but not entertaining enough to grant them a stay of execution. When we had one and it appeared once or twice a week I could put up with it, but we have been seeing two at a time nearly every day and something needed doing.
I think pictures of flowers might be good for this post.
You are in a difficult situation. What animal is considered friend or foe depends on the situation, and whether they are wild or domesticated. I think you should be able to view this site.
https://rmca.org/
Interesting site. The comment about people who are immuno-supressed and Seoul Virus is the sort of thing that currently worries me. Last winter was a trial with avariety of infections.
There are still many bugs going around here. The two elder cats got ill with some respiratory bug back in November, and they are indoor only. It took a few months to clear, and I wasn’t sure they would pull out of it.
That sounds like my winter. Julia said I spent a lot of time looking grey. Luckily I don’t look in mirrors. 🙂 I hope they recover properly.
They are doing well at this time.
That’s good to hear. At least I can tell people when I feel bad and I can take advice. I’s so much more difficult with a cat, particularly as they are not good at taking advice. 🙂
No, cats are not good at taking advice and some have selective hearing on top of that. 🙂 One of the old kitties gets weekly prescription subcutaneous B-12 injections. That kitty is very good with that, fortunately for me. 🙂
I once gave serious thought to a hospital visit after one of our gave me a serious gash on the arm as I tried to giver her tablets. Interestingly, after paying the vet and finding she wouldn’t take them in food, or any other sort of way (actually I just realised we never tried suppositories, but I don’t imagine it would have worked) she recovered without the tablets.
Depending on the cat what the medication is, sometimes liquid works better, sometimes the pill. Their personalities are all so different. I am also lucky to have small hands and fingers. 🙂
Liquid seems a good idea. Theer have been many modern developments since then.
All this talk of rats is making me grateful that I have stopped feeding the birds, even though I stopped for other reasons. I appreciated the flower at the end of your post. Most thoughtful.
I thought a flower would lift the mood a bit. We are talking about sopping feeding for rats and disease purposes.
I was told once upon a time where there’s cats there are no rats. As there’s over 9 million cats in England I think that’s a fable. Have considered an air rifle with a night scope?
Yes. I left my air rifles and a very serviceable scope with my parents, as I was living in town and had no need for them. They appear to have given them away and I am (a) too ight to get another and (b) no longer patient enough to sit and wait. However, if this continues it is on my list of options.
You could join a gun club and borrow an Armalite? Although I guess the fees are expensive
I’m fairly sure I remember laws about firing guns in the back garden. It’s also impossible to buy weedkiller in useful quantities so homemade explosive devices are out of the question. No wonder rats are on the increase.
Yup, they just suck all the fun out life 😂
So true. I first noticed this when things started disappearing from the shelves that used to stock refills for my chemistry set about 50 years ago . . .
I never a problem restocking my chemistry set, it was taken off me. There was an experiment where you mixed a little cigarette ash with a little bit of one chemical to make a small explosion. I emptied all the ashtrays and used the whole tube. It was quite a sight 😂
I imagine it was. 🙂 I just answered this in the other comment. I am getting old and vague. 🙂
😂😂
You laugh now, young Robinson . . .
oh ….it’s ugly….the muggers aren’t the reason I won’t walk through my local.park at night. the rats are ..
Over the last 20 years I slowly started seeing more rats, and in that time fast food shops also spread. Perhaps they only open chicken shops where there are lots of rats . . .
ugh
I’ve just had a look at rats in NYC on Twitter – no wonder you need a dog and a cat!
A good response to rats on scam sites
Thank you. 🙂
We have a native rat in our area called a Rakali. It stays in wet areas and is not a problem BUT they have been nearly destroyed by the common introduced rat. The problem is that most people hate rats and they don’t separate them in their mind so they are willing to kill the harmless native rat without caring.
I can see that could be a problem. Our rats are a simpler proposition – we don’t have a good rat.
We don’t use traditional mouse and rat traps any more – dealing with the mess in a trap or an injured animal that has to be put out of its misery is too much horror for me – and we have given up using poison because a) the rats and mice are becoming immune to it and b) I don’t like the idea of poisoned rats being found and eaten by other creatures. We use ‘Big Cheese’ battery-operated traps that electrocute the victim. It is quick and effective and with no knock on effects. We have given up on ground feeders for the birds which encourage rats and other pests. ‘Big Cheese’ isn’t the only make of electric traps but we have been pleased with their traps and also with the deterrent sonic machine we keep in the loft.
We have been thinking of a sonic machine. I agree about poison, plus you end up with dead rats in inconvenient places, plus I take warfarin myself so I feel it is a shared bond. 🙂 . I wasn’t aware of the electric traps. Agree about the trauma of dealing with dead animals – I am becoming more squeamish as I get older and have more of a conscience.