They are cute, but in large numbers of course they cause damage.
Our rat lives on his own, is extremely clean, and hangs around cleaning up what the birds or the rabbit doesnt want.
How do you know it's only the one rat living on its own? I'm not being funny, but they do all look alike. We had rats in our garden and I mistakenly thought it was 'just the one', only when we filled in the hole they had burrowed under our rabbit hutch, we found out it was a whole whacking family of them! The problem is, they breed so often you can quickly be overrun with them.
How do you know its wild and not someone's pet rat that has escaped? My daughter let her hamster out of her cage once and it was found in the next street, if it is a domestic rat then it wouldnt be as dangerous
i would have put it out of its misery with my air rifle. i often go ratting down the river with my little lad. they're vermin, and i'm not sure why the OP is getting so irate because somebody has put down some pest control in the form of poison, and it has worked
Wow, that kids getting off to a great start...going out shooting.
from which angle are you actually pontificating here? the fact that he can shoot, or the fact that he shoots at rats, or both?
i was taught to shoot from an early age, so was my dad, and his dad before him. what's your point exactly?
Theres no point really, just an observation about the utter insanity of how normal it is for a child to be able to operate a gun. Different strokes for different folks...its just a shame that we may be looking at yet another idiot of the future who enjoys shooting animals for no reason.
Theres no point really, just an observation about the utter insanity of how normal it is for a child to be able to operate a gun. Different strokes for different folks...its just a shame that we may be looking at yet another idiot of the future who enjoys shooting animals for no reason.
well, i draw the line at letting him take pot shots at the neighbour's dog, but even animal welfare groups wouldn't discourage the pest control killing of rats, or rabbit culling.
i think there is very little wrong with my sanity. we are a rural family, i suspect you aren't, and growing up in rural areas, pest control and shooting from a young age isn't exactly unheard of, and doesn't automatically mean you will turn out to be an idiot.
my daughter has shot from being young, and is now a very good clay pigeon shooter, she loves it.
well, i draw the line at letting him take pot shots at the neighbour's dog, but even animal welfare groups wouldn't discourage the pest control killing of rats, or rabbit culling.
i think there is very little wrong with my sanity. we are a rural family, i suspect you aren't, and growing up in rural areas, pest control and shooting from a young age isn't exactly unheard of, and doesn't automatically mean you will turn out to be an idiot.
my daughter has shot from being young, and is now a very good clay pigeon shooter, she loves it.
Im aware of the 'rural excuse', yes. Children should not be aware of guns - nor should they shoot animals as a leisure persuit; and they are animals, regardless of your opinion. It never fails to make me laugh to read the excuses some human beings make for mindless killing of animals. 'Its just a rat and we are from the country so its ok' just doesnt wash with me im afraid!
But hey, different strokes for different folks. Im sure theres very very little we would agree on.
Im aware of the 'rural excuse', yes. Children should not be aware of guns - nor should they shoot animals as a leisure persuit; and they are animals, regardless of your opinion. It never fails to make me laugh to read the excuses some human beings make for mindless killing of animals. 'Its just a rat and we are from the country so its ok' just doesnt wash with me im afraid!
But hey, different strokes for different folks. Im sure theres very very little we would agree on.
I see a LOT of small mammals at close range as I live in a rural area and have three cats, and they like to bring stuff in for me to take a look at.
I have no problem with any of them, most are extremely cute and I am happy to handle them to return them to the wild. But rats - no way. They have brought in a couple and it absolutely terrified me. I would no way put my hand near a wild rat, they carry disease and they have a very nasty bite.
A rat is the one creature I have absolutely no problem despatching swiftly with a broom.
And I would have no problem with trevalyan or anyonelse shooting rats or rabbits as they are genuinely pests, the local farmer pay his farmworker to shoot rabbits as there are soooo many their burrows undermine the fields and cause problems for his sheep. (However I could no way despatch a bunny myself as they are too cute.)
I see a LOT of small mammals at close range as I live in a rural area and have three cats, and they like to bring stuff in for me to take a look at.
I have no problem with any of them, most are extremely cute and I am happy to handle them to return them to the wild. But rats - no way. They have brought in a couple and it absolutely terrified me. I would no way put my hand near a wild rat, they carry disease and they have a very nasty bite.
A rat is the one creature I have absolutely no problem despatching swiftly with a broom.
And I would have no problem with trevalyan or anyonelse shooting rats or rabbits as they are genuinely pests, the local farmer pay his farmworker to shoot rabbits as there are soooo many their burrows undermine the fields and cause problems for his sheep. (However I could no way despatch a bunny myself as they are too cute.)
And how dare an animal live in its natural habitat. Its absolutely disgusting - the cheek of them! You should inform the Daily Mail to get these dirty (yet obviously so cute and ickle and lovely) rabbits out of our country!
Well I have frequently handled wild rats and mice. I have taken them off the cat and generally rescued them many time. I live next to woodland and often have wild country rats in the garden. The ones that carry disease are generally the sewer rats. I have never come to any harm from picking up a wild rat. I've never been bitten either.
Of course you can find the odd case on the Internet where someone has died after being bitten by a rat. You could find the odd case where someone has died after being scratched by a cat or stung by a bee I dare say too - but that doesn't mean you should be in fear of such things. I have always washed my hands thoroughly after handling a rat or mouse of course but that's just commonsense.
I do not personally know of a single person who has had any sort of illness caught from an animal - wild or domestic.
I know of loads and loads of people - including myself - who have been very ill indeed with something caught from another human being though.
Children are the worst for carrying disease.
And how dare an animal live in its natural habitat. Its absolutely disgusting - the cheek of them! You should inform the Daily Mail to get these dirty (yet obviously so cute and ickle and lovely) rabbits out of our country!
this is a bit of an overblown and hysterical post which highlights your ignorance.
rabbit populations can quickly get out of control, and even animal welfare groups will not oppose any culling
only ardent animal rights nutters tend to get as over emotional as this, whilst most practical people are sensible enough to realise that rabbit numbers need to be kept down, for many reasons
please tell me how you think people should deal with areas that have become infested with feral rabbit or rat?
I frequently handle mice, voles, shrews - I have no problem at all with that as I said previously.
One of the rats my cat brought in hid very effectively and I had to get our builder (who happened to be working next door) to remove it. It bit very fiercely, but fortunately he was wearing very thick gloves so it didn't reach his skin.
I don't know what the Daily Mail has got to do with this (never read it) but the sheep have a right to live in their natural habitat without breaking a leg by falling down a rabbit burrow. I'm not a vegetarian so I have no problem with rabbits being humanely despatched, any more than I have a problem with eating the lambs who have lived in the same field.
this is a bit of an overblown and hysterical post which highlights your ignorance.
rabbit populations can quickly get out of control, and even animal welfare groups will not oppose any culling
only ardent animal rights nutters tend to get as over emotional as this, whilst most practical people are sensible enough to realise that rabbit numbers need to be kept down, for many reasons
please tell me how you think people should deal with areas that have become infested with feral rabbit or rat?
Im not an animal rights 'nutter', I just disagree that humans feel they should have the right of way over creatures that have been here for much longer than us. I am far from ignorant - I just dont share the 'rural view'.
Im not an animal rights 'nutter', I just disagree that humans feel they should have the right of way over creatures that have been here for much longer than us. I am far from ignorant - I just dont share the 'rural view'.
you have also not answered the question. in derisory fashion, you made fun of Lippincote's post about the killing of rabbit, and yet have offered no opinion on rabbit population rises becoming a problematic pest, or how you think things like this ought to be dealt with
And btw I lived in London my entire life till moving to the countryside three years ago - so I am not exactly the type to go around wielding a shotgun.:) But having lived here a few years I do understand that human intervention is not automatically evil.
you have also not answered the question. in derisory fashion, you made fun of Lippincote's post about the killing of rabbit, and yet have offered no opinion on rabbit population rises becoming a problematic pest, or how you think things like this ought to be dealt with
I didnt make fun of it, I was sarcastic about it. I havent and wont claim to be an expert on the situation however it doesnt mean im not allowed an opinion. Should that be the case, the entire nation would be a very silent one. I do however believe that humanity has this strange and really quite unfair idea that we are the over-riding force of the world - clearly thats not something you agree with, however thats obviously part of the fun. The countryside is there for wildlife. They were there before us and will always be there. I find the normality of going into the countryside and blasting an animal into oblivion a little distressing, mainly because I very very much doubt that the people doing it are doing it purely for 'the cause'. From my experiences of country folk, theres a real element of enjoyment to wielding a shotgun at an innocent animal who is really just following natures way...and if you question it, the wonderful rural excuse comes firing out from all corners.
Im not an animal rights 'nutter', I just disagree that humans feel they should have the right of way over creatures that have been here for much longer than us. I am far from ignorant - I just dont share the 'rural view'.
Well said.
I absolutely agree with you 100%.
And there's nothing "nutterish" with caring about animal rights.
Someone has to speak for them - they can't do it for themselves.
I didnt make fun of it, I was sarcastic about it. I havent and wont claim to be an expert on the situation however it doesnt mean im not allowed an opinion. Should that be the case, the entire nation would be a very silent one. I do however believe that humanity has this strange and really quite unfair idea that we are the over-riding force of the world - clearly thats not something you agree with, however thats obviously part of the fun. The countryside is there for wildlife. They were there before us and will always be there. I find the normality of going into the countryside and blasting an animal into oblivion a little distressing, mainly because I very very much doubt that the people doing it are doing it purely for 'the cause'. From my experiences of country folk, theres a real element of enjoyment to wielding a shotgun at an innocent animal who is really just following natures way...and if you question it, the wonderful rural excuse comes firing out from all corners.
you still haven't answered the question. the countryside is there for wildlife, but what about when that wildlife encroaches, becomes a pest and causes damage? how should it be dealt with? (did you threaten to overrule him? )
Im not an animal rights 'nutter', I just disagree that humans feel they should have the right of way over creatures that have been here for much longer than us. I am far from ignorant - I just dont share the 'rural view'.
Sorry to be a pain, but in the case of Rabbits, they're not a native species- they were introduced from Europe by the Normans.
you still haven't answered the question. the countryside is there for wildlife, but what about when that wildlife encroaches, becomes a pest and causes damage? how should it be dealt with? (did you threaten to overrule him? )
Theyre only a pest because we decided to take over their habitat. THe idea of anything being a pest is simply there because they get in the way of what we decide is more important than their natural way of life. What would you like me to say? I have no resolution - I dont think we should go in with cotton wool hands and beg them to leave, though that would be preferred to murdering them so we can grow our vegetables without an evil little wabbit doing what it does best - living.
Theyre only a pest because we decided to take over their habitat. THe idea of anything being a pest is simply there because they get in the way of what we decide is more important than their natural way of life. What would you like me to say? I have no resolution - I dont think we should go in with cotton wool hands and beg them to leave, though that would be preferred to murdering them so we can grow our vegetables without an evil little wabbit doing what it does best - living.
you still haven't answered the question. the countryside is there for wildlife, but what about when that wildlife encroaches, becomes a pest and causes damage? how should it be dealt with? (did you threaten to overrule him? )
lol!
I find the normality of going into the countryside and blasting an animal into oblivion a little distressing, mainly because I very very much doubt that the people doing it are doing it purely for 'the cause'. From my experiences of country folk, theres a real element of enjoyment to wielding a shotgun at an innocent animal who is really just following natures way...and if you question it, the wonderful rural excuse comes firing out from all corners.
You are completely wrong (in my experience). The farmer who farms the fields at the bottom of my garden actually dislikes the idea of shooting rabbits, to the extent he won't do it himself and gets one of the farmhands to do it. He is not doing it for fun, he is doing it to protect his sheep from harm. I don't know anyone here who kills any animal 'for fun', it is done as a method of pest control full stop. IMO you have a completely inaccurate view of rural life (from the Daily Mail, perhaps?:D)
btw I care enough about 'animal rights' to have worked as a volunteer at an animal charity for several years.
Comments
Get someone out to dispose of the rat's body.:eek:
A woman died after being scratched by a wild rat. (sorry about it being via the DM - it was the first site I found the story on)
How do you know it's only the one rat living on its own? I'm not being funny, but they do all look alike. We had rats in our garden and I mistakenly thought it was 'just the one', only when we filled in the hole they had burrowed under our rabbit hutch, we found out it was a whole whacking family of them! The problem is, they breed so often you can quickly be overrun with them.
Wow, that kids getting off to a great start...going out shooting.
from which angle are you actually pontificating here? the fact that he can shoot, or the fact that he shoots at rats, or both?
i was taught to shoot from an early age, so was my dad, and his dad before him. what's your point exactly?
Theres no point really, just an observation about the utter insanity of how normal it is for a child to be able to operate a gun. Different strokes for different folks...its just a shame that we may be looking at yet another idiot of the future who enjoys shooting animals for no reason.
well, i draw the line at letting him take pot shots at the neighbour's dog, but even animal welfare groups wouldn't discourage the pest control killing of rats, or rabbit culling.
i think there is very little wrong with my sanity. we are a rural family, i suspect you aren't, and growing up in rural areas, pest control and shooting from a young age isn't exactly unheard of, and doesn't automatically mean you will turn out to be an idiot.
my daughter has shot from being young, and is now a very good clay pigeon shooter, she loves it.
Im aware of the 'rural excuse', yes. Children should not be aware of guns - nor should they shoot animals as a leisure persuit; and they are animals, regardless of your opinion. It never fails to make me laugh to read the excuses some human beings make for mindless killing of animals. 'Its just a rat and we are from the country so its ok' just doesnt wash with me im afraid!
But hey, different strokes for different folks. Im sure theres very very little we would agree on.
well i would agree with that
I have no problem with any of them, most are extremely cute and I am happy to handle them to return them to the wild. But rats - no way. They have brought in a couple and it absolutely terrified me. I would no way put my hand near a wild rat, they carry disease and they have a very nasty bite.
A rat is the one creature I have absolutely no problem despatching swiftly with a broom.
And I would have no problem with trevalyan or anyonelse shooting rats or rabbits as they are genuinely pests, the local farmer pay his farmworker to shoot rabbits as there are soooo many their burrows undermine the fields and cause problems for his sheep. (However I could no way despatch a bunny myself as they are too cute.)
And how dare an animal live in its natural habitat. Its absolutely disgusting - the cheek of them! You should inform the Daily Mail to get these dirty (yet obviously so cute and ickle and lovely) rabbits out of our country!
Of course you can find the odd case on the Internet where someone has died after being bitten by a rat. You could find the odd case where someone has died after being scratched by a cat or stung by a bee I dare say too - but that doesn't mean you should be in fear of such things. I have always washed my hands thoroughly after handling a rat or mouse of course but that's just commonsense.
I do not personally know of a single person who has had any sort of illness caught from an animal - wild or domestic.
I know of loads and loads of people - including myself - who have been very ill indeed with something caught from another human being though.
Children are the worst for carrying disease.
this is a bit of an overblown and hysterical post which highlights your ignorance.
rabbit populations can quickly get out of control, and even animal welfare groups will not oppose any culling
only ardent animal rights nutters tend to get as over emotional as this, whilst most practical people are sensible enough to realise that rabbit numbers need to be kept down, for many reasons
please tell me how you think people should deal with areas that have become infested with feral rabbit or rat?
One of the rats my cat brought in hid very effectively and I had to get our builder (who happened to be working next door) to remove it. It bit very fiercely, but fortunately he was wearing very thick gloves so it didn't reach his skin.
I don't know what the Daily Mail has got to do with this (never read it) but the sheep have a right to live in their natural habitat without breaking a leg by falling down a rabbit burrow. I'm not a vegetarian so I have no problem with rabbits being humanely despatched, any more than I have a problem with eating the lambs who have lived in the same field.
Im not an animal rights 'nutter', I just disagree that humans feel they should have the right of way over creatures that have been here for much longer than us. I am far from ignorant - I just dont share the 'rural view'.
you have also not answered the question. in derisory fashion, you made fun of Lippincote's post about the killing of rabbit, and yet have offered no opinion on rabbit population rises becoming a problematic pest, or how you think things like this ought to be dealt with
I didnt make fun of it, I was sarcastic about it. I havent and wont claim to be an expert on the situation however it doesnt mean im not allowed an opinion. Should that be the case, the entire nation would be a very silent one. I do however believe that humanity has this strange and really quite unfair idea that we are the over-riding force of the world - clearly thats not something you agree with, however thats obviously part of the fun. The countryside is there for wildlife. They were there before us and will always be there. I find the normality of going into the countryside and blasting an animal into oblivion a little distressing, mainly because I very very much doubt that the people doing it are doing it purely for 'the cause'. From my experiences of country folk, theres a real element of enjoyment to wielding a shotgun at an innocent animal who is really just following natures way...and if you question it, the wonderful rural excuse comes firing out from all corners.
I absolutely agree with you 100%.
And there's nothing "nutterish" with caring about animal rights.
Someone has to speak for them - they can't do it for themselves.
you still haven't answered the question. the countryside is there for wildlife, but what about when that wildlife encroaches, becomes a pest and causes damage? how should it be dealt with? (did you threaten to overrule him? )
Sorry to be a pain, but in the case of Rabbits, they're not a native species- they were introduced from Europe by the Normans.
Theyre only a pest because we decided to take over their habitat. THe idea of anything being a pest is simply there because they get in the way of what we decide is more important than their natural way of life. What would you like me to say? I have no resolution - I dont think we should go in with cotton wool hands and beg them to leave, though that would be preferred to murdering them so we can grow our vegetables without an evil little wabbit doing what it does best - living.
thank you, you have shown your hand
lol!
You are completely wrong (in my experience). The farmer who farms the fields at the bottom of my garden actually dislikes the idea of shooting rabbits, to the extent he won't do it himself and gets one of the farmhands to do it. He is not doing it for fun, he is doing it to protect his sheep from harm. I don't know anyone here who kills any animal 'for fun', it is done as a method of pest control full stop. IMO you have a completely inaccurate view of rural life (from the Daily Mail, perhaps?:D)
btw I care enough about 'animal rights' to have worked as a volunteer at an animal charity for several years.