My house is surrounded by sheep/cows and wooden buildings storing hay etc. My
house is also built of wood and I have two sheds in the garden. Rats nested
in the compost heap which I have now cleared, but they are beginning to get
out of control, hiding in nooks and crannies. My birdfeeders have special
'seed catchers' underneath to help with spillage problems. I have tried
everything to discourage the rats but they are happy here! I don't want to
poison them because I imagine it is a slow and painful death (am I right?).
And I don't want to harm the shrews and my badger who visits me every night.
My landlord's Jack Russell spends a lot of time here and is interested in the
rats but is not keeping them at bay. I am anxious about health problems for
my vast bird population, and the saftey of their nests. Time is running out
and I really do need to find a solution to this problem. Has anyone any
experience of humane rat control? I know this problem has been tackled
before, but before anyone refers me to FAQs, rats are not covered! I did use
the search facility on the FAQs page and tried to get the Pests page, but the
link doesn't work.

On Sun, 20 Apr 2003 17:51:33 +0100, Mimi De Moratti
wrote:

My house is surrounded by sheep/cows and wooden buildings storing hay etc. My
house is also built of wood and I have two sheds in the garden. Rats nested
in the compost heap which I have now cleared, but they are beginning to get
out of control, hiding in nooks and crannies. My birdfeeders have special
'seed catchers' underneath to help with spillage problems. I have tried
everything to discourage the rats but they are happy here! I don't want to
poison them because I imagine it is a slow and painful death (am I right?).
And I don't want to harm the shrews and my badger who visits me every night.
My landlord's Jack Russell spends a lot of time here and is interested in the
rats but is not keeping them at bay. I am anxious about health problems for
my vast bird population, and the saftey of their nests. Time is running out
and I really do need to find a solution to this problem. Has anyone any
experience of humane rat control? I know this problem has been tackled
before, but before anyone refers me to FAQs, rats are not covered! I did use
the search facility on the FAQs page and tried to get the Pests page, but the
link doesn't work.

Sounds like a solution looking for a problem.
IOW: Get some of those cat plagued urban gardeners,
to export their pesky feline visitors to your environs,
for mutual relief.

Bart

On Sun, 20 Apr 2003 18:41:08 +0100, Bart Bailey wrote
(in message ):

On Sun, 20 Apr 2003 17:51:33 +0100, Mimi De Moratti
wrote:

My house is surrounded by sheep/cows and wooden buildings storing hay etc.
My
house is also built of wood and I have two sheds in the garden. Rats
nested
in the compost heap which I have now cleared, but they are beginning to
get
out of control

Sounds like a solution looking for a problem.
IOW: Get some of those cat plagued urban gardeners,
to export their pesky feline visitors to your environs,
for mutual relief.

Bart

Forgive me if this appears twice - my newsreader is misbehaving!

Actually I don't like cats and have spent the past couple of years actively
discouraging them from my garden, quite successfully, in fact. If we could
discriminate about who they do and don't they murder it would, I suppose, be
a help. But there are several ferrals who roam at night and they have not
done the job!

The Environmental Health Department of your local Council will probably deal
with the problem free of charge. It is naive to think that you can deal with
the problem by capture and relocation which in any case would be illegal.
Rats carry a wide variety of diseases that affect humans as well as
livestock. You need to get the problem dealt with without delay.

In article , Peter Crosland
writes
The Environmental Health Department of your local Council will probably deal
with the problem free of charge. It is naive to think that you can deal with
the problem by capture and relocation which in any case would be illegal.

Curiously, it would not be illegal to catch and relocate Brown Rats,
though even more curiously it would be if they were Black Rats!

Rats carry a wide variety of diseases that affect humans as well as
livestock. You need to get the problem dealt with without delay.

Hear, hear.

--
Malcolm

Curiously, it would not be illegal to catch and relocate Brown Rats,
though even more curiously it would be if they were Black Rats!

Can you expand on that? I was led to believe that it applied to both as well
as rabbits and grey squirrels as well.

Most cats are scared of rats according to the Ratman I know
"Mimi De Moratti" wrote in message
. co.uk...
On Sun, 20 Apr 2003 18:41:08 +0100, Bart Bailey wrote
(in message ):

On Sun, 20 Apr 2003 17:51:33 +0100, Mimi De Moratti
wrote:

My house is surrounded by sheep/cows and wooden buildings storing hay
etc.
My
house is also built of wood and I have two sheds in the garden. Rats
nested
in the compost heap which I have now cleared, but they are beginning to
get
out of control, hiding in nooks and crannies. Has anyone any
experience of humane rat control?

Sounds like a solution looking for a problem.
IOW: Get some of those cat plagued urban gardeners,
to export their pesky feline visitors to your environs,
for mutual relief.

Bart

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!

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?

Gorgeous George scribbled:


Nonsense. Most of us live quite happily with rats in the neighbourhood
with no trouble at all.

The slaughter of rats is totally unnecessary, you could kill a million
and a million will return, you need to rat proof your vulnerable
areas.

George you might live quite happily with rats but most don't. You are right
there is no reason to slaughter rats. Just kill them.

Ps you didn't answer my email!

In article , Peter Crosland
writes
Curiously, it would not be illegal to catch and relocate Brown Rats,
though even more curiously it would be if they were Black Rats!

Can you expand on that? I was led to believe that it applied to both as well
as rabbits and grey squirrels as well.

Section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act makes it an offence to
release into the wild various animals and birds that are "not ordinarily
resident" or that are not regular visitors to Britain, all of which are
listed in Schedule 9, Part 1. A small number of plants, including
Japanese Knotweed and Giant Hogweed, which may not be planted in the
wild are listed in Part 2. The purpose of the section is to stop the
establishment or further establishment of non-native species which may
harm native wildlife.

You can find the schedule at http://www.naturenet.net/law/sched9.html

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. Perhaps it was never thought necessary as no-one
would be daft enough to want to do it :-))

--
Malcolm

On Mon, 21 Apr 2003 07:40:36 +0100, Malcolm 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.

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

"Mimi De Moratti" wrote in message
. co.uk...
My house is surrounded by sheep/cows and wooden buildings storing hay etc.
My
house is also built of wood and I have two sheds in the garden. Rats
nested
in the compost heap which I have now cleared, but they are beginning to
get
out of control, hiding in nooks and crannies. ... Time is running out
and I really do need to find a solution to this problem. Has anyone any
experience of humane rat control?

The local Environmental Health Department will have a Pest Control Officer
who can help, or a local gamekeeper with a gassing licence would probably do
it for a few quid. You won't get rid of rats without getting rid of the
conditions that attract them, but it will give you a while with a reduced
population.

Colin Bignell

In article . network,
Dave Liquorice writes
On Mon, 21 Apr 2003 07:40:36 +0100, Malcolm 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?

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.

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.

No, it was the Normans.

--
Malcolm

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?

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.

Janet.