Posted on 12/20/2021 5:40:12 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT
This will come as no surprise to anyone but New York City has a rat problem.
The Rats method of rat control – documented in grisly detail online – isn’t for everyone, but it receives scores of requests from New Yorkers each year. In a city this rat strewn, it seems people are willing to try anything.
On the other side of the fence we wait: eight people with eight dogs straining at their leashes, and me, standing there with my pants tucked into my socks, holding an iPhone. The dogs, all terriers, have quite literally smelt a rat, and are yapping and hopping about.
With a leap and barely suppressed squeal I evade the rat, but it’s a close call.
According to Columbia University, Norway rats arrived in the US on boats sometime around 1776, transported in boxes of grain by German soldiers recruited by the British to fight American colonists
“The rats at Bellevue are a bold and reckless race, and do not hesitate to come forth from their hiding places, and scamper about even in the presence of men in high position,” the Times reported.
.
Hunting rats with dogs is not for everyone. Reynolds said animal rights groups, in particular, were unimpressed.
“Anyone who witnesses this cruelty should alert authorities immediately, as it’s a violation of New York’s anti-cruelty law, which applies as much to smaller mammals who feel pain and fear as to larger ones such as dogs.”
The general idea is that dogs kill the rats by shaking them vigorously, breaking their necks or backs. But that doesn’t always work. One rat ended up being beheaded, while another found itself subjected to a tug-of-war between two lusty terriers.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Wilhelm would rather have Hauptmann Dietrich in charge.
Mine love going after rats. And squirrels, too.
This is not really a bad thing. But it is nothing more than a sport. Its about the same as hunting fox or coons. Dogs do it naturally. Its not really cruel. The rats will eat each other eventually. As soon as the food runs out or one gets really sick.
But if you think your doing something to shrink the rat population, you are fooling your self. Rats reproduce at an alarming rate. You can’t really make a dent in their population. They live in the sewers and even in the rivers. There is so much food and water and warmth done there it can maintain tens of millions of rats.
And I hope these men get their dogs to their shots every year. The dogs are going to take home some nasty flees and other infections.
I had a Gordon Setter that killed a few Rats in her day , we have neighbours that feed birds and attract rats from the river
Rat terriers are the best for barn rats. The problem with unknown rats is whether they’ve ingested poison. You have to train terriers to not eat them just kill them cleanly so the dogs are not poisoned.
Heard the dogs can quickly kill a hundred vermin
I remember when I demolished a loading dock in downtown L.A. 20 years ago and when the tractor lifted a concrete slab scores of rats ran out. The whole crew was mashing them with shovels and stomping them and crushing them with the tractor. Some of the guys were using 2x4s to bat them like baseballs. It was quite a scene.
Sheet even when the four legged Rat’s are gone...there’s still millions of two legged.
I caught 44 rats in under an hour using a few propositioned cockatiel nest boxes, some corn shucks, and some duct tape. Hung the boxes then the next day checked them to see what moved in overnight. Rats, especially the females, can’t resist bird nest boxes hung high. You can tell when they are in the box by the corn shucks dangling out the entrance hole after they stuff them in the boxes to make their nest. You can also tell just by the weight of the box when you grab it. So when you have an occupied box you slap some duct tape over the hole and carry the box to a 55 gallon drum with two feet of water in it and drop the box in. Push it under and leave it there for 10 minutes. Then pull it out and see how many rats were in it. Often it is 5 to 7... Did not take long to clear the barn.
A news story about 9 dead rats?
my SIL who lives 25 miles south of Portland FEEDS her "birds" with sugar cereals and wonders why she has rats in her backyard....
Many cats won’t mess with rats.
—
Yup. Some rats are big enough to cause a cat to think twice. That’s why rat terriers were bred. They’re large enough and fast enough to take on rats.
JRT - rats worst nightmare. :-)
Had a Shiba Inu who would catch squirrels in the back yard. He was fast.
And then you add a quart of gasoline and a match. . . .
Damn democrats.
My Pittie mix rescue brings me squirrels she kills as gifts left on the kitchen floor. Best dog I’ve ever had. Sweet, fast, and hilariously fun.
We havve always known that NYC has a democRAT problem. That’s why air rifles were invented,
There are several great videos on the Rat Terriers who job out the rat killing— community activists who go out at night with their dogs to find and kill rats (as requested by citizens). This was a while back, and oh how looney the PC PETA crowd went. May recall also that D.C. rat pest control was for a time capturing LIVE RATS and moving them out into the “countryside” of VA.
VA FReepers might know if this is still going on. Not killing the filthy disease vectors— noooooo— let the wharf rats the size of cats out into the wild. There is only so many that owls, coyotes, and domestic or feral dogs and cats can handle.
The country solution is a large bucket with a baited roller that spins and dumps the little sobs into water they cannot leap out of (certain depth works), and they swim around until they drown. Very efficient as you say.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.