Grabbing a rat by its tail

[ARW]

2008 harvest was a wet one, I was leading corn from a dry field on a hill top, rats were running down the rows, I stood at the headland and stamped on them as they ran out, it was great, killed 20 plus

 

[Cab-over Pete]

When I was young and fit and my sprinting skills were still just about impressive I went to Sparsholt College.

One of the duties when on the dairy team was to feed the cows at about 9pm. There was always lots of rats around. They can’t actually run too fast over a distance and if you were lucky one would break cover near you. It was very satisfying to head it off with a good boot and watch it arc through the air before sliding down the wall.

 

[Will 1594]

I don't even like picking a dead one up with a shovel

Stab them with pitchfork ,the buggars still squirm about ,
we used to have a corgi x jack russel , it was a hell of a ratter ,

 

[daveydiesel1]

Readin this thread is giving me the creeps. Im actually petrified of them. Wev a minature jack and theres no feelin better than watchin him kill 1 of the disgustin gits.

 

[puppet]

How far to the fecking things travel?

I often wonder if the rats I kill are related to the ones my Granddad trapped in 1929 or if they are immigrants.

They go a long way. I found a dead one in a field half mile away. Old farmers tell of mass migrations when hundreds would suddenly move to another farm.

 

[Matt14]

I don't know if anyone has come across it before but one evening just coming dark I was driving down a lane and meet a sworm of rat running towards my motor. Must of been 200 or more. Hate the dam things

 

[Matt14]

They go a long way. I found a dead one in a field half mile away. Old farmers tell of mass migrations when hundreds would suddenly move to another farm.

Yeah

 

[Sir loin]

Used to rent a couple of broiler sheds from a neighbour , always went last thing at night to check everything was ok. One night harvest time as we dove up the drive to the farm hundreds of rats were on the move from a new combined field very satisfying squashing them on the road just driving back and forward never seen as many ever!!!!

 

[J428TGS]

. They can’t actually run too fast over a distance and if you were lucky one would break cover near you. It was very satisfying to head it off with a good boot and watch it arc through the air before sliding down the wall.

Rats cant run fast out in the open you can catch them, but alaong a wall they can run

 

[Devil's advocate]

They go a long way. I found a dead one in a field half mile away. Old farmers tell of mass migrations when hundreds would suddenly move to another farm.

In the summer time, they are out there in the enviroment & thrive in ditches, hedges, love grass seeds, wild fruit, carrion & cereals even root crops. I certainly find burrows & signs of rats way out in the fields in the depths of winter.

We had a neighbour about half a mile away & I would sometimes be asked to do arkward lambing & some tractor work. In the early evening maybe two hours before dark, I saw a lamb creep feeder with at least 40 rats on their hind legs tucking into the creep. Lambing a sheep at midnight the rats started piling out of the stone walls of the building like that famous facist video.

 

[David.]

Read the book about Sidney Kidman, in Aus back in the late 1800s.
He was camping out on a cattle drive during the time of a rat plague; put his saddle and other tack up on a tree overnight and woke up next day to find only the metalwork remaining, the rats had eaten the rest.

 

[Devil's advocate]

Rats cant run fast out in the open you can catch them, but alaong a wall they can run

Yes I've disturbed them in muck heaps, its suprising how big a rat a sea gull can swallow whole.

 

[Treecreeper]

They go a long way. I found a dead one in a field half mile away. Old farmers tell of mass migrations when hundreds would suddenly move to another farm.

Swarms of rats would occur when a farm had the threshing team in, when the straw ricks were were gone, survivors would move on to a fresh source of food and shelter. Rising flood waters would have the same effect.

 

[Devil's advocate]

Read the book about Sidney Kidman, in Aus back in the late 1800s.
He was camping out on a cattle drive during the time of a rat plague; put his saddle and other tack up on a tree overnight and woke up next day to find only the metalwork remaining, the rats had eaten the rest.

We need a disgusted emorgi for stories like that urg.

 

[steveR]

get another, you'll not regret another terrier about, 1 JR, 15 now showing his age abit, new one now 2, red hot on rats, and pheasants

Herself wanted a rescue terrier, but we don't fit their requirements!!! Need a fully enclosed garden for starters, so we would have to get my daughter to say she was having one... The one centre didn't like the idea of them being a "working" terrier either....

Will drop on the right youngster one day again.

 

[borderterribles]

I walked into a shed at night on that rat instead pig fam and turned the lights on.
Swear on my grandkids lives there were two thousand rats in there and half of them ran towards me.
Tucked my trousers into my socks before I went in the next shed!

I used to be scared of rats but there were so many there that they don’t bother me any more, what I mean is I hate rats but don’t run away from them.

I had a job on a similarly infested dairy farm , some time ago. The first time I turned up to do the morning milking, one Winter's day, I had to go in the cowshed in the dark, to put the lights on and a rat ran up the inside of my trouser leg . That makes you dance, I can tell you. The rat flew out as I kicked for England and I heard it hit the wall. I never made the mistake again of turning up in workboots.
My work mate there's first job of the day was to neck the poor unfortunate few remaining hens in a small battery unit. But only the one's that had had their feet eaten off by rats , overnight!

 

[ollie989898]

As a kid my job in spring after the grain shed was emptied was to be sent down the dryer ducts that ran the length of the shed.

I was the smallest person and only one who could fit.

I would be armed with a torch, brush and bucket plus a cricket bat.

Could always guarantee a bunch of rats piled up at the end of the tunnel. Only way for them to get out was past/over me.

Bloody hate rats!!

Fudge that, I'll take the going up the chimney child-labour option.

 

[Old Boar]

I have always taught my labs to rat, dig them out and kill them. Current lab was around 2 when he caught a big one, and to encourage him, I was chucking it around the yard for him to catch again with lots of praise.
Two holidaymakers walked past and stopped with shocked faces. I picked up the rat and said "lunch". They ran away.
Dog and I carried on the game for a bit, and then the rat went on the roof for the owls.

 

[Barleymow]

Years ago put my hand into a bag of pig food wondered what the warm furry thing was ,then a rat jumped out arrgh

Rolling the sheet back on a Heston bale stack got the end ,rats every where no where to run was terrified

 

[RichardSou]

Nothing to do with poltics or unfaithful partners.

I found a trio of dead rats in the barn, half grown & then loading some small bales, I saw another one same size but very much alive. It dived between two bales but its tail was visible, should I have grabbed it.

Definitely not, as it would double round and bite you. They can be vicious if provoked. You would have been better moving the bales and whacking it with stick. Failing that borrow a Jack Russell terrier!