To Feel Wretched That I Put Poison Down To Kill Rats?

[TheCatsBlanket]

My very elderly aunt has rats in her garden. She is terrified of them and asked me to put poison down, which I did. Today, I went to check the rat trap box in the hedge, and I saw one of them underneath some leaves, obviously still alive but in a bad way. I feel so horrible about it, because I am responsible for causing pain to an animal, who was quietly living it's life and just because they get a bad press (probably stemming from the plague) I am now a murderer.
It made me wonder why there isn't a more humane way to get rid of them where, if they have to be killed, why can't it be instant? I stupidly googled it too, and now am more sad that they can take up to several days to die and are conscious throughout.

BlackBear19 It's not owned by the council, she bought it years ago as part of the scheme to own your own house.

I spoke with her earlier and she said that she could see a couple of them dead on her lawn when she looked from the bedroom, so I'll be going there tomorrow to remove the corpses, ugh.

Well at least it's working, big shovel and fire them right over the fence. Give the neighbour something to think about.

What your doing is working.

Our local council charge £50 to deal with rats or mice in a private domestic property. They'll set bare boxes and continue to check them for 6 weeks for that. Might be worth considering.

OP I think you’re doing the right thing. Bloody rats. If I was your Aunt I’d be ever so grateful to you.

Hope I'm doing this right. Next door have a heap of dog mess which I'm not sure how to go about mentioning it with out sounding a knob. Rats are coming into my garden. I have removed my bird feeder yesterday morning and they haven't come in tonight I am asking should I still put the poison down. Or wait it out. If I put it down I'm inviting them into my garden to feed on it for weeks and if I don't they might over run the place

I've trimmed the bush back and everything. So it's not like they'll be used to it. I don't want the neighbours on the other side thinking it's me with the problem when it's these little fuckers running wild. I'm up all night though these days

OP, environmental health does cover rat infestation as hazardous to health. Weils disease etc. So if you wrote theyd come and check.

OP I know exactly how you feel, but there don’t seem to be other options.

At least the earlier on you kill them the less they breed and the fewer have to be killed.

Sure it's been said, please don't use poison. It goes further up the food chain if the rat/mouse is eaten.

Especially owls - it's an horrific way for an owl to die if they eat a poisoned animal, and all the owl was was hungry.

environmental health does cover rat infestation as hazardous to health

Yes you are required by law to report rat infestations in your land.

We exterminate lots of creatures because they cause problems. Head lice for example. Tape worms. You can’t feel sorry for poisoning nits, or tape worms, or rats for that matter. Yes it’s sad but you can’t have rats spreading disease.

Amithemental1
Personally I'd phone a man, get the professionals in, to put poison down in a proper box that stops other animals getting to it by accident.

This thread has some crazy attitudes that rats have seem to have equal rights, sorry but no they don't. Poisoning them is the work of the devil and more humane method should be used if necessary, like shooting in the backgarden, maybe risk assess first, or get a group of guys with dogs in, yes that will work in open areas like farms, not the average backgarden with fences the rats can get under to escape the dogs.

Rat rap, or lively cat

Using poison doesn't just kill rats, it also affects those that prey upon them (if you live in the centre of London however I imagine the barn owl population is somewhat limited!).

The thing is it is terrifying when you have them in house. It can cause a fire too. Also the noise they make on a night literally sounds like humans moving in your loft!. I would rather have poison put down than rats breeding in my house.

You must kill rats as they are so poisonous. Ignore the equally disgusting baby rats.

YANBU to feel horrible. I'd feel horrible about the slow death. What you need is a mate with some murdery bastard terriers. My sweet little Cairn used to grab rats and dispatch them while trotting along on a lead . The JRTs are even better killing machines...

@Pasithea

It’s even worse when an owl feeds its owlet a poisoned rat or mouse.

THIS Please don't use poison - raptors like owls, hawks and eagles prey on rodents and poisoned rodents kill them and their young.

I have a huge phobia with rats, they scare the life out of me so don't know if that's the reason for what I say next but
They are vermin and carry lots of diseases, if bitter can cause infection in their bite so I'm not bothered how they catch them as long as they do.
I know I might get called cruel but it would be a better place without them. Not sure who posted ahh it could have been a mother rat and left babies. Well they need to be caught as well they mate with each other and the number of them goes up fast.
OP dont feel bad you did what was right to keep your Aunt free from them.

They fucked off. Cut the trees, bushes back ect and removed the bird feeders. No reason for them to hang about. Fingers crossed. Been 3 nights and nothing

Those taking live rats or mice to release in the countryside - surely a lone, lost, homeless rodent is ideal prey to be fed half dead to a foxes or raptors young. Or to starve slowly as its normal food supply is cut off.
Nature is cruel folks.

How would you ensure a trap can't trap a cat? Or are those people advocating traps saying they can only be used in enclosed spaces which would greatly reduce their effectiveness.

Putting them out of their misery is best. But what do people think old rats die of, a swift suicide pill, I presume they often die a slow death of starvation or illness like other mammals. Is a slow death from poisoning so different.

Whilst working abroad temporarily and staying in a serviced apartment, I had a large rat in my kitchen much to my horror. The accommodation providers came and put a sticky trap down; the rat got caught on it and died the most horrific, lingering death ever. I think poison is probably relatively less evil.

DH (still in the UK) amused himself by singing UB40 songs when we spoke, the cunt.