"Druss" wrote in :

Although on the funny side, I did, on my neighbours behalf call in the
local ratman, to sort out the compost heaps and he left his little
plastic trays full of poison and the rats ate them, the trays that is.
The poison was goe in hours, and the trays about a day later, though
no bodies turned up anywhere !!!

My Ratman left his poisoned grain under the shed in a transparent plastic
bag.

"It will gnaw through it" he said "And that will be the end of it"

The bag was not touched days later when he came and took it away - though
my rat did move out, presumably having taken the hint.

It was a hell of a rat too - about the size of my rabbits (and they are
quite chubby).

Victoria

Although on the funny side, I did, on my neighbours behalf call in the local
ratman, to sort out the compost heaps and he left his little plastic trays
full of poison and the rats ate them, the trays that is. The poison was goe
in hours, and the trays about a day later, though no bodies turned up
anywhere !!!

Duncan

I doubt this applies to anyone, but just a word of caution: Rat poison can
contain phosphorous. This poisons the rat, but stays in the rat's body after
it has died. It's the stuff that you find on the the ends of matches, and it
has been known for rats to crawl under sheds and into reed/thatched rooves and
set them alight should they dry out rather than decompose. It appears that
once the bodies dessicate the phosphorous spontaneously combusts.

Sorry of this sounds allarmist. I don't meant to worry anyone and I doubt it
will affect many people. Very few people suffer house fires from dead rate
poisoned with phosphorous, but it has happened, so please be aware if you live
in a building based on wood construction, or have a thatched roof, or something
similar. Shooting rats might be the best option both for the rats and for you.

Dave.

"Victoria Clare" wrote in message
.207...
My Ratman left his poisoned grain under the shed in a transparent plastic
bag.

"It will gnaw through it" he said "And that will be the end of it"

The bag was not touched days later when he came and took it away - though
my rat did move out, presumably having taken the hint.

It was a hell of a rat too - about the size of my rabbits (and they are
quite chubby).



A ferret sorted out my rat problem a few years ago. Haven`t seen a rat
since.

--
Regards,
Alan.

Preserve wildlife - Pickle a SQUIRREL to reply.

In article ,
Alan Gabriel wrote:


A ferret sorted out my rat problem a few years ago. Haven`t seen a rat
since.

What do you do about your ferret problem? :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren,
University of Cambridge Computing Service,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
Email:
Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679

"Druss" wrote in message
...
"Drakanthus" wrote in message
news
My mouse traps are catching mice nearly every day under the garden shed.
I
keep disposing of the corpses and re-baiting the traps with cheese. But
it
occurred to me today - why? Are mice really a problem (outside)? I've
heard
they can carry disease and eat certain garden veg such as beetroot - but
do
they actually do any other damage or harm outside? What diseases are
they
supposed to carry and how would they be transmitted to humans? Since
buying
the traps a few months ago I must have killed at least 50 mice. It's
getting
a bit tedious disposing of the corpses each day and I'm wondering if I'm
actually achieving anything anyway. Advice welcome.
--

(SPAM FILTER in use: Include the word VB anywhere in the SUBJECT LINE or
emails will never reach me.)


As far as I remember one pair of mice can easily produce over a thousand
subsequent offspring, in the form of children, grandchildren etc, in one
year. Thus with you killing 50, you're not really making much of an
impact.

On the contrary, the killing of 50 equates to a reduction of over 50,000!

Alan
--
Reply to alan(at)windsor-berks(dot)freeserve(dot)co(dot)uk