Rat with broken leg in my garden

[HgnncaNameMy]

There's a grassy area behind my house full of rats and mice. I moved here in February and the neighbours said theres a massive rat problem

I have 4 cats so don't have many issues

Theres currently a rat hiding under the kids garden toy and its leg is definetly broken, 3 of its legs seem fine but it's dragging one behind it

Who can i ring about this? Will someone come out and take it?

I know people class them as vermin but it's still a living creature that must be in absolute agony right now

Just googled - they don't anymore apparently 🙄
Rentokil will come out and lay traps and tracing to find the nest.
I've used them in the past when council were slow and they breed so quickly I didn't want to wait.

Yes, I would be saying exactly same if there was a injured bird in the garden.
Cats are predators. What do you expect?
I have lots of birds in my garden, as well as mice. And I would rescue them if I found them injured, like I have before. But I don't have cats.

I’d have let me cats finish it off, or got my friends Jack Russell to do the job.

I doubt it will survive if it’s been moved into an unknown habitat with a broken leg.

I would catch it and feed it till it heals. It may not even need splinting.

But anyway there are millions of animals who get injured in the wild, some of whom get eaten as a result; why is this one different just because you can see it?

If you aren't going to treat it, just leave it alone to take its chances like the rest of them. Who says it's in misery anyway? Do you all want to be dispatched just for a broken leg?

I had it moved because

Apparently it still has a good chance of survival even with a broken leg

If it was left in my garden it would of been torn apart by my cats when they realised it was there

I do not drive nor do my friends, I rang The Wildlife trust for Manchester and didnt get an answer, I have anxiety so struggle talking to people I don't know and after reading the comments I didn't want to ring around further & sound like a crazy woman on the phone who cared about "vermin"

Taking it to a field and leaving it in a dark spot was the kindest thing to do with limited options available

I dont even know where to begin with another complaint as I don't believe anything will come of it as the neighbours own their houses ( We rent ) and if i was going to have to pay for a problem that I didn't start then I'd just rather move home again

@Baboomtsk well at least a vet would put it to sleep humanely not hit it over the head with a shovel or run it over!

I would not kill a living creature. I just could not do it. Can't even kill flies that come into the house or spiders even though I am terrified of them. DH puts them in the shed or garage. I collect the snails and slugs in the garden and take them to the woods.

The rat has been in my garden for months and I have only ever seen the one. I won't be stopping feeding the birds or calling pest control.

"Taking it to a field and leaving it in a dark spot was the kindest thing to do with limited options available"

It totally wasn't 😂

Do you all want to be dispatched just for a broken leg?

I might if the alternative was excruciating pain while slowly starving to death.

Spade to the back of the neck, with great force, as fast as you can.

Quickest and kindest.

well at least a vet would put it to sleep humanely not hit it over the head with a shovel or run it over!

Dispatching an animal in pain quickly is about as humane as you can get!

@Chesneyhawkes1 my your dss sounds a charming child. Desperate to see a dog catch a squirrel! Nice. Maybe you should teach him to respect living creatures?

[quote lynsey91]**@Chesneyhawkes1 my your dss sounds a charming child. Desperate to see a dog catch a squirrel! Nice. Maybe you should teach him to respect living creatures?[/quote]
God, I've just seen that post . Why aren't you concerned about this child, ChesneyHawkes? He sounds extremely disturbed.

@Sharkerr

Never heard of anyone wanting to take a RAT to get medical assistance!!!

You have now, Krong. Do calm down.

OP, ring around a few vets and see what they say, they’ll probably be happy to help. That’s what I’ve done on several occasions over the years with severely injured pigeons I’ve come across (for example having seen them get hit by a car). None would ever accept any payment though I offered.

One survived and was released, the vet said if I’d left him to it he’d have been killed by a cat, he just was stunned and needed some time in a safe place to recuperate before being released. The other died but in a calm environment, and at least they were given the chance to be helped if it had been possible (nobody would have known whether they had a chance or not without being taken in).

If you find a willing vet and can catch him/her then either take a taxi or post on your fb and there might be someone willing to transport. I know I would. Good luck and thanks for caring ❤️

Best advice yet! Vets don't mind at all and won't accept payment. Please don't try to kill it yourself. I love people who care like yourself and Sharkerr. xx

Lol yeah sure he's going to let it go in a field. Just kill it.

lynsey91 how kind do you think it is to trap a wild animal that is already in distress and pain and then transport it to a clinic where someone handles it to sticks a needle in it?
OP I've known more people die of lepto than I have known test positive for Covid so I hope suitable precautions were taken.

Just don't put on a mini kimono and do a Jolyon Maugham.

OP I would totally not be saying the same thing about an injured bird in your garden. I would take it to a wildlife rescue centre, if possible. And in fact I have done this a couple of times. Because birds are not vermin.

I mean I do get about your not like to see it suffering horribly, and that shows you have a lot of empathy, which is a good thing obviously. But honestly rats are vermin, they really are. I have read about them attacking injured people who were alone and helpless, even biting babies in cots. They make me shudder. People might say that they are just trying to survive, well so is a parasite or even a virus. And I'm sorry if it's a choice between the welfare of humans or rats, I am going to pick the humans!

Out of interest, how many of you so concerned about the welfare of rats are vegetarian? (I am). Or is it OK if you only see the bloodless meat prepackaged in the supermarket, the killing all done out of sight on your behalf? Yet you are so concerned about rats.

I may be doing people an injustice, but I have the sense that some on here are a little out of touch with reality.

Do you have a spade? I'd probably use that to quickly break its neck without it suffering any more then scoop up its remains and dispose of them.

Ive had to do it to a bird once after the cat brought it in. I felt more sad about seeing it hurt than I did after killing it.

I may be doing people an injustice, but I have the sense that some on here are a little out of touch with reality.

Not me. I'm an omnivore an the rat would have been shot.

(I wouldn't have eaten it though)

Hit it very hard with a spade or a big hammer or a heavy boot - anything heavy.

I think you really need to think about priority. Rat, needs to be gone. Human and rat cannot survive well together. While having cats that may attack wild animals and birds, you can't expect to feel sympathetic towards saving rats. Killing them to relieve them out of misery, yes, but no to ask everyone to say what a lovely person you are to value every life! Do you save mosquito and fly too?

Baffled by what is apparently 'inhumane' about an instantaneous, painless death by a blow to the head, yet dumping it in a field somewhere is the 'kind' thing to do?

Especially bizarre they folk who wouldn't put the poor bugger out of it's misery, but are seemingly perfectly happy for it to be left to their well-fed moggies to torment and torture.

I tried to kill a mouse once with a brick. It didn't go well. I think you've got to be very sure of yourself to manage it! I would just try to chase it with a spade out of the garden and out of the children's toy especially.

Human beings are a danger to health. To the health of the planet and every life form on it. If one of us fell and broke a leg in the jungle would it be humane for an elephant to come and stomp on our heads? Or would you want a fighting chance at survival? Well done op, you did the best thing for the poor rat.