On Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:33:29 +0100, Christina Websell wrote:

"Derek Turner" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:25:40 +0100, mark wrote:

That sounds completely horrid. Why should anyone want to kill a rat
just because it's a rat, is that a crime for the poor beast to be a
rat? And if you feel you really must kill them why do it in such a
nasty way! I dread to think what you feel we should do with our feral
children.


They are not just rats though. They are a danger to health and that is
why local authority pest control officers will come and get rid of
them for free.

Yes, but where's the fun in that? much more entertaining to watch a
good terrier doing what it was bred for. Next you'll be telling me that
hounds shouldn't kill foxes. Tchh!

Derek, the choice is poison when they lie around dying for days, or
terriers when they are gone in a second.
I resent the fact that you think I find it "fun" I don't. I have
poultry - and therefore rats. I will be in trouble with my local
council if I do not control them. Perhaps you can suggest a better
method? I'm all ears for your suggestions.

Tina

I have no suggestions. I think that using working dogs to do their work
is the best way: and I really think that watching them is fun. 'Blood
sports' AKA traditional pest control is not only effective but also good
sport. I like to watch my gundogs do their job. YMMV.

"lloyd" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 4 Oct 2009 21:36:04 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"lloyd" wrote in message
. ..
On Sat, 3 Oct 2009 18:12:20 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"Derek Turner" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:22:05 +0100, lloyd wrote:

Anything we can do to encourage the hedgehogs, but not the rats from
visiting the garden? I have both

1. Terrier from working lines.
2. Huge cat.


Yes get some terrier men in.for your rats. Mine come about every six
weeks
to sort them out.
I do have a huge cat, but he's a bit of a wuss about tackling the big
ones
with the brown chisel teeth. He sorts out the small ones, no problem,
but
those big ones, they're a job for the terriers, he claims ;-)
And he's right. some of the big ones even give the terriers a run for
their
money, antiseptic needed to dab their bleeding noses where they've been
well
bitten by a big rat. They don't seem to mind though, it seems to make
them
more determined..

Tina

That sounds completely horrid. Why should anyone want to kill a rat
just because it's a rat, is that a crime for the poor beast to be a
rat? And if you feel you really must kill them why do it in such a
nasty way! I dread to think what you feel we should do with our feral
children.

I should like to discourage them, not wipe them out.

Oh, for goodness sake. I am obliged by law to control rats on my property,

The law requires the control of infestations, not just of rats but
many other creatures. A couple of rats is not an infestation.

I
can either poison them and see them wander around dying for days or get
the
terriers in to kill them in a second. Choose one of the above.

I don't need to control the rats I have, neither do the majority of
us. Poison is indiscriminate, cruel and kills many non target species.
Setting dogs on any animal is sheer lunacy and downright weird! Unless
of course you get a kick out of being horrid.

What would you prefer?

Neither.As I said I wanted to deter them not wipe out the entire
species. Rats like lots of wildlife do lots of good in scavenging food
sources that could go on to create worse problems if left alone.
We can't simply go round killing anything we don't like or we'd have
nothing but war throughout the world. Silly me we already have! When
will we learn?


sigh
you live in a town, don't you?

Yes?
Did I say I wanted to use poison? No. Did I say the local council told me
if I had rats I had to control them by law? Yes. So I did, I get the
terriers in every 4 weeks, it's either that or poison. Now poison is quite
easy, you put it down and hope they die where you don't see them. Many will
do, but lets not think it's an easy death. The poison thins their blood so
every time they fight (and they do that a lot) or bruise themselves it's a
long death.

Oh, let the rats meet the terriers. Dead in half a second or get away
completely. No dying for days of poison.
I used to use poison for rats, I decided it was cruel. Takes them days to
die and I never knew that.