Best way to kill a rat

[Epona]

I used to live in the middle of nowhere, rats in the garden and in the shed looking for food was just a fact of life that you lived with. Make sure they can't get into your house - it sounds as if you've already done that - but rats are a part of life wherever there is human settlement - if they're not actually coming indoors you don't have a major problem. They say that in London, you're never more than 6 foot away from a rat. The problem is more intense in urban areas, but rural areas aren't immune - the buggers are just everywhere. IMO if they aren't coming indoors then that is a good thing, but there is no way you can completely eradicate them outdoors, the problem is simply too large for you to be able to beat. They will always be around and it's a battle you can never completely win.

 

[Ms T]

Won't the cats keep the rats down?

 

[Epona]

Won't the cats keep the rats down?

You'd think so and it might be the case for many cats, but the most predatory of my felines weighs 8lbs soaking wet - he's all legs and no bodyweight. He can have a mouse in a split second, he's a top mouser, but I wouldn't want to see him go against a large rat - he's a tidgy wee thing!

 

[Ms T]

You'd think so and it might be the case for many cats, but the most predatory of my felines weighs 8lbs soaking wet - he's all legs and no bodyweight. He can have a mouse in a split second, he's a top mouser, but I wouldn't want to see him go against a large rat - he's a tidgy wee thing!

8lbs is not particularly small for a cat. Our old rescue cat, Lottie, brought a rat in once and she was a wee thing.

 

[5t3IIa]

My hippydippy mates in Brighton had rats in their garden and were inconsolable that they had to get rid of their compost heap as that's what the rats were after. No heap, no rats.

Are you accidentally encouraging dem rats?

 

[Epona]

8lbs is not particularly small for a cat. Our old rescue cat, Lottie, brought a rat in once and she was a wee thing.

Your cat lottie who is a SHE might well have been smaller than 8lbs, but that is normal - 8lbs is a small weight for an adult MALE cat - they are a sexually dimorphic species (males and females are physiologically different). Males are a lot larger than females. An 8lb female is large, an 8lb male is tiny. One of my other males is in good physical condition, muscular but not fat, and weighs 14lbs.

 

[gentlegreen]

My hippydippy mates in Brighton had rats in their garden and were inconsolable that they had to get rid of their compost heap as that's what the rats were after. No heap, no rats.

Are you accidentally encouraging dem rats?

Sounds like neighbour / council paranoia to me.

Even if the rats are kipping in there, turning it occaisionally (as you're supposed to) should sort it - as would chicken wire.

 

[5t3IIa]

Sounds like neighbour / council paranoia to me.

Well, you work for a council don't you so I couldn't comment on your experience.

But they got rid of their heap and the rats moved on <-- true fact

 

[gentlegreen]

Well, you work for a council don't you .

You must be kidding !

But I delight in putting all sorts of "illegal" things in mine.

(I used to have a fish head staring at me through the hatch )

 

[Bakunin]

Your cat lottie who is a SHE might well have been smaller than 8lbs, but that is normal - 8lbs is a small weight for an adult MALE cat - they are a sexually dimorphic species (males and females are physiologically different). Males are a lot larger than females. An 8lb female is large, an 8lb male is tiny. One of my other males is in good physical condition, muscular but not fat, and weighs 14lbs.

True, and some of the larger breeds, such as the Norwegian Forest Cat, can produce enormous males of up to 20-25 pounds.

The biggest cat I ever had was Shadow (his mother was a British Longhair, his father was a 'passing acquaintance, his mother being the sociable type) and he weighed in at about 15 pounds.

 

[Ms T]

Your cat lottie who is a SHE might well have been smaller than 8lbs, but that is normal - 8lbs is a small weight for an adult MALE cat - they are a sexually dimorphic species (males and females are physiologically different). Males are a lot larger than females. An 8lb female is large, an 8lb male is tiny. One of my other males is in good physical condition, muscular but not fat, and weighs 14lbs.

My point was more that she had no problem killing rats. My parents have a cat in Sri Lanka which is tiny and kills snakes.

 

[Pingu]

i have discovered wht you need.

its called a "Misty"

one of ours has just come in with a dead squirrel she has caught. if she can catch a squirrel then a rat is no problem


misty: