Always.
Neutered males are on average the most affectionate.
If you do use a non-fatal trap make sure you release the mouse as far as possible from your home. Otherwise they will make their way back
We brought our traps at our local Briconautes store.
Get a cat! We have 3 with specialized skills. One goes after rats, one likes to catch moles and the little one is great at getting mice & voles. Only occasionally do we get a bird or baby rabbit….
Please do not get a cat @toryroo they are even more cruel that the cruelest human, not always killing their prey outright, rather preferring to play with them first.
If you must kill your rats then this
from Amazon fr. does the job instantly and painlessly, not even time for impending terror.
I caught and killed my only rat, after being told there would be dozens of them if I didn’t and have felt bad about it ever since.
Non-lethal traps are not always successful but are my only recourse now, but you must take your captive kms away to be sure of it not returning.
Or there are these - no power lead needed, just 4 C batteries. Useful where no plugs, eg under sink.
https://www.amazon.fr/-/en/PROTECT-Electronic-Against-Effective-Non-Toxic/dp/B0828GMZ5T/?th=1
I agree with others who have said snap traps are not always clean deaths. I have had to drown mice who have been badly wounded but not killed. Unfortunately in farming country we find benign traps just do not manage the autumn invasion.
It seems to me death is instant, from the calm position of the mouse. The trap can also cope with rats.
Please, please NEVER use poison.
Been sitting here for about 30 mins hoping to photograph the rat but it knew and shot off into the back room where there is a missing floor board.
Thank god I don’t have them in the house, I’d be hysterical ![]()
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. They are down by the(now empty) chicken run and compost. We have a cat and he’s a good mouser but he is quite little and I don’t think he’d be able to take on a rat, they are quite fat ![]()
Was amused by the following disclaimer in your rat trap link
Avis:Les Piege a Rat Electrique sont uniquement dimensionnés pour petit souris
When I suspected I had rats in the house I put some food down near a window and waited only a few minutes, with camera ready. This was Jan 2023. Still got a couple around somewhere.
My worst nightmare ![]()
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. I think I was too traumatised by a rat infestation on the farm and reading 1984 around the same time!
The rats in my house regard me as a harmless cow or horse in a stable and will pass by me not very quickly indoors but scarper as soon as they realise that I’ve seen them. They are frightened but brave little prey animals trying to stay alive, not trying to take over the world in the way the fanatic in the Whitehouse is trying to do.
Tame rats make very affectionate pets.
I remember when I was near the BBC at White City, I thought it was a Yorkshire terrior 2nd look is was a huge rat.
Some say that rats have already taken over the world. But they haven’t taken over – they were invited in by the human race by leaving waste food all over the place for them to find and eat, especially in cities. Am not surprised they are growing bigger in size and number.
I had loads of hooded rats as pets when I was little. They were great up until about 3 yrs old when they got rather nippy and nasty.
Probably because at that age they are old and grumpy. They don’t live much longer than that do they?
A few years back, in our pre-cat days, we had a sudden invasion of rats when the Lot burst its banks But within a few days all the invaders had been dispatched (ebony Zulu knobkerrie - very effective).
In the meantime they’d thoroughly chewed the bottom of a door jamb and I noticed that the damage was rather similar to that at the bottom of the legs of the antique ‘long drawer’ farmhouse table that we’d bought just after buying the house.
Which begs the question, in ‘those days’ were there too many rats, or not enough cats (or an understandable insufficiency of Zulu knobkerries)?
Right, Where to start?
Ah, yes, I never reply on Mondays until Only Connect and University Challenge have finished… (edit, and Tuesdays are for proof reading, grammar and spelling corrections!).
So, if you can access the BBC podcast “Sliced Bred” regarding Pest Control, it’s unbiased , factual and interesting.
Rodents are social animals, so if you live-catch and release, not only is it illegal in most european countries, the rodent will die of stress or get eaten. So, releasing might clear your conscience, but it is inhumane.
Electric traps, IMO horrible nasty things that cook the rodent slowly, it can take up to 20 minutes for a rodent to demise. I never use them.
Glue traps, ‘amatures’ (well that’s what it says on the packet, referring to non professionals) are no longer allowed to use them. Professionals need a licence to use them. Likewise totally inhumane, however they can be used to control high infestations of mice, never to be used for rats. Unfortunately they are still sold online and in shops.
Rodenticides, Anticoagulants (Vitamin K) works by stopping the blood to clot, 1st Gen Warfarin is used to dilute human blood whenever medical issues require. 2nd gen[eration} difenacoum, broifacoum and more have become less effective due to rodent resistance. 3rd gen Flocoumafen, the latest generation, there is no rodent resistence. Second and 3rd generation rodenticides are available un DIY stores (unfortunately IMO). The problems with Anticoagulants is that the rodent can take several days to expire, allowing them to eat several times the lethal dose. There is a risk of secondary poisoning. However the antidote is Vitamin K1.
Another product on the market is Cholecalciferol (yes, check your medicinecabinet, it can be taken for osteoporosis) Vitamin D3 acts as a ‘coupe-faim’ and an appetite supressent. It is professional use only. It’s an absolute game-changer, the rodent dies humanely, it stops feeding even though it thinks it’s full-up. There is also zero risk of secondary contamination. But there is no antidote!
All rodenticides must be ‘safe and secure’ and ‘covered and protected’ the law is to protect humans and dogs. Random lobbing poisons gives them a bad name. Used correctly, they are a good method of rodent control.
Lastly, snap traps offer a quick dispatch if used correctly. Cheese bait was invented by MGM as it was easier to draw cheese than chocolate or chroizo. Peanut butter, Nutella, sweet is good. The problem with snap traps is that the rodent will soon learn to avoid them if they keep killing their brothers and sisters.
That leaves cats; feed them then they won’t hunt, and ultrasound, just ignore them, they do not work!
Long, but hopefully informative!
R-le-P
Rodenticides,
Spot on. An invisible rat is a human’s best friend. A rat is cleaner than an incontinent mouse. Rat pathegens are all human borne diseases. Don’t blame the rats, blame the humans!
Can’t imagine les chats being too happy about that…