On Mon, 21 Apr 2003 11:35:59 +0100, Malcolm wrote:

No, I don't think so. The Pests Act 1954 puts an obligation on to
occupiers of land to kill rabbits on their land or to prevent them
doing damage, but I don't think it says anything specifically about
catching them and releasing them somewhere else.

Pretty damn sure it is illegal to capture rats, mice etc and release
them. Can't find a statute that says this though, 'cause I can't find
a decent search engine for such a search.

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

In article . network,
Dave Liquorice writes
On Mon, 21 Apr 2003 11:35:59 +0100, Malcolm wrote:

No, I don't think so. The Pests Act 1954 puts an obligation on to
occupiers of land to kill rabbits on their land or to prevent them
doing damage, but I don't think it says anything specifically about
catching them and releasing them somewhere else.

Pretty damn sure it is illegal to capture rats, mice etc and release
them. Can't find a statute that says this though, 'cause I can't find
a decent search engine for such a search.

Google is pretty decent, IME.

I'd be most interested if you do come across anything, because I've not
done and am therefore doubtful it has been legislated against.

--
Malcolm

In article , Peter Crosland
writes
Section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act ...
snip
It includes Grey Squirrel and Black Rat but not Rabbit or Brown Rat.

I don't know of any law which prohibits the capture and release of
Rabbits or Brown Rats.

One that covers vermin perhaps?

As you say that act is to preserve the indigenous habitat/species from
imports. Though the rabbit is techincally an import albeit it it has
been here a long time, the Romans introduced it I think.

Thanks for that Malcolm and Dave. AFAIK neither the brown rat, rattus
norvgicus, or the black rat, rattus rattus, are native species.

The brown rat didn't arrive until around 1700, while the Romans brought
the black rat with them. So now you know the answer to the question
"What did the Romans ever do for us?" :-)

The Normans
imported the rabbit in quantity. The Romans were responsible for importing
the edible dormouse, gliss gliss, that has become a major pest in some parts
of the Home Counties.

As for the OP your love of animals needs to be tempered with some common
sense. As an animal lover I deplore cruelty to most species but in the case
of vermin it is necessary to be realistic and accept that they need to be
killed for the greater good. Although rare the diseases spread by rat are
potentially lethal and very unpleasant. Would you like the death of someone
from Weils Disease on your conscience?



--
Malcolm

In the case of rabbits, I think landowners have been known to
trade/capture/release ones infected with myxymatosis and that other
deadly rabbit disease whose name has just eluded me.

Do you mean viral haemorrhagic disease?

On Mon, 21 Apr 2003 12:07:06 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

The message
from Malcolm contains these words:

I don't know of any law which prohibits the capture and release of
Rabbits or Brown Rats. Perhaps it was never thought necessary as no-one
would be daft enough to want to do it :-))

In the case of rabbits, I think landowners have been known to
trade/capture/release ones infected with myxymatosis and that other
deadly rabbit disease whose name has just eluded me.

Tularemia?

Janet.


Bart

It is certainly the case in South Somerset. Mice and wasps are charged for
but rats are free!

"Peter Crosland" wrote in
:

It is certainly the case in South Somerset. Mice and wasps are charged
for but rats are free!

Rats are free here too (Cornwall). The Rat Man puts down plastic bags of
poisoned corn, in the hope that the rats will gnaw through the bag and eat
the corn (so you can tell if the bait has been touched or not).

According to him, the poison makes the rat very thirsty, but is not
painful.

Presumably this works on some rats: in my case my rat showed no interest in
the corn at all! The Rat Man came and took the bait away after a while,
but he didn't seem to have a backup plan.

I moved my rabbits and their food to a rat-proof location instead, and the
rat went away. If it hadn't, I was planning to borrow a ferret ;-)

Victoria

The correct procedure is to lay the bait where the rat can get at it but to
prevent, as far as possible, access to other creatures particularly domestic
pets. The local rodent control operative does this by using a 500mm length
of pipe with a diameter of some 100mm with half of each end blocked off. He
places this in a run he has identified that the rats use. Initially it may
attract additional rats since the poison is designed to be very attractive
to them. Usually all have gone within a fortnight. To be successful you need
to remove other food sources such as birdseed. Rats are by their nature very
cautious and need time to pluck up the courage to eat. A slow acting poison
is used so that the rats ingest a fatal dose before any symptoms become
apparent. 100% success rate here!

On Mon, 21 Apr 2003 13:00:40 +0100, "Peter Crosland"
wrote:

~ Section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act ...
~ snip
~ It includes Grey Squirrel and Black Rat but not Rabbit or Brown Rat.
~
~ I don't know of any law which prohibits the capture and release of
~ Rabbits or Brown Rats.
~
~ One that covers vermin perhaps?
~
~ As you say that act is to preserve the indigenous habitat/species from
~ imports. Though the rabbit is techincally an import albeit it it has
~ been here a long time, the Romans introduced it I think.
~
~Thanks for that Malcolm and Dave. AFAIK neither the brown rat, rattus
~norvgicus, or the black rat, rattus rattus, are native species. The Normans
~imported the rabbit in quantity. The Romans were responsible for importing
~the edible dormouse, gliss gliss, that has become a major pest in some parts
~of the Home Counties.
~
~As for the OP your love of animals needs to be tempered with some common
~sense. As an animal lover I deplore cruelty to most species but in the case
~of vermin it is necessary to be realistic and accept that they need to be
~killed for the greater good. Although rare the diseases spread by rat are
~potentially lethal and very unpleasant. Would you like the death of someone
~from Weils Disease on your conscience?

Just as an aside, I once read that the average rat carries between 7 and 12
lethal diseases for humans.

The average town pigeon carries 36.

Tom Lehrer, anyone?


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove nospam from replies, thanks!

Recently, Essjay001 uttered:

Mimi De Moratti scribbled:

Well actually I don't like cats and have mananged over the past 3
years to discourage them, very successfully in fact. My neighbour has
3 and there is a ferral cat who wanders around at night. Obviously
they have not done the job!

Which only goes to bolster my argument against cats. What bloody good are
they?

My three cats have proved very good at Rat control - they don't catch or
kill many of them, but they act as a great deterrent. We had an enormous
Rat problem when we moved in here, but a few months on and the Cats have
deterred them. A constant regime of cleaning and tidying, as well as
removing food potential sources and homes has ensured they stay away ( or
at least, we don't see any evidence of them ). A Humane way to dispense
with them, if you have a concsience that will allow a little expenditure :
http://www.agrizap.com/pricing.cfm
They ship to the UK for a few dollars more....
--
\\(º`¿´º)//
It's probably on http://support.microsoft.com/ somewhere....
If you can be bothered to look for it....

Peter Crosland wrote:


The Environmental Health Department of your local Council will probably deal
with the problem free of charge.

I'd be surprised if this was the case.. Most councils I know of charge
more than local contractors.. Certainly where I live anyway!-)
//
Jim