On Mon, 21 Apr 2003 10:48:06 +0100, Mimi De Moratti wrote:

Not terribly helpful that. I was asking for advice on the least
unpleasant way of doing it. Just because there are a lot of them it
doesn't mean they don't feel pain and I don't wish to inflict
unecessary suffering on another living creature.

Ah, I sort of got the impression that you, personally, didn't want to
do the killing. I suspect that live capture and a well aimed, good
hard whack on the head/neck whilst holding (*) the rat so you don't
miss is about as quick as your going to get.

The traditional break back trap is also pretty quick but 100% in a
kill. Sometimes the rat only gets caught by a leg or tail, it'll then
gnaw that bit of its anatomy off to escape.

(*) Haven't a clue how one would hold a rat whilst administering the
fatal blow. I guess if you have a wire cage type trap you could use
sticks to trap it an one end then shoot it with an air pistol at point
blank range.

--
Cheers
Dave. Remove "spam" for valid email.