a very big rat

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...


"MaryL" wrote in message
...


"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

snip
Boyfriend only does small rats and the huge rat deceased on the path he
assures me is "nothing to do with him"
But what if he catches a small one that's been poisoned and eats it?

~~~~~~
That was my concern as soon as I read your message. So, I hope you're
wrong about the poison. Rat poison can be terrible stuff once it gets in
the food chain.

MaryL

I hoping it's been killed in a fight with another rat, but as it was a
female and there were no marks on it it seem unlikely. Poison is looking
like the culprit, tbh.
Which of course is a big concern.

My neighbour Stan a few doors away also keeps chickens and I know he uses
poison to control his rats - it's impossible to keep
chickens or pigs without getting rats, tbh, so maybe it came from there as
big rats wander. Hopefully it came from there - if it has small babies the
size Boyfie is comfortable with they are not likely to either get here or
have ingested poison, because he isn't brave enough to kill them unless they
are just fresh out of the nest, in size not much bigger than huge mice. He
did try a bigger one once only
Have you seen their teeth? They can eat through concrete and he got
bitten, so he uses his hunting talents to destroy the young generation only
so this will probably save him from secondary poison.

If he misses some of the baby rats and they get big, I bring the terriers
in. If I have to kill them I think it's the kindest way as they either get
away or they don't.
They don't die very slowly over days.

Tweed

~~~~~~~~
We raised chickens when I was young. My grandfather was a farmer, so they
also had chickens. In both cases, I remember big rats around the corncrib.
(Is that the same term you would use for it?--a building farmers use to
store corn) There was one occasion when I was about 10 or 12 years old when
I was out after dark, and I saw what I *thought* was a large rat come toward
me from the direction of the corncrib. I backed carefully away as I moved
toward the house, and the rat kept coming. Just as I got to where I could
turn for our door, the rat said "meow." What a relief! It was dark enough
that I had only seen the shadow as it followed me, and I have always
remembered how frightened I was because it just was not "normal" for a rat
to follow like that.

MaryL

On 9/8/2013 5:50 PM, MaryL wrote:

~~~~~~~~
We raised chickens when I was young. My grandfather was a farmer, so
they also had chickens. In both cases, I remember big rats around the
corncrib. (Is that the same term you would use for it?--a building
farmers use to store corn) There was one occasion when I was about 10
or 12 years old when I was out after dark, and I saw what I *thought*
was a large rat come toward me from the direction of the corncrib. I
backed carefully away as I moved toward the house, and the rat kept
coming. Just as I got to where I could turn for our door, the rat said
"meow." What a relief! It was dark enough that I had only seen the
shadow as it followed me, and I have always remembered how frightened I
was because it just was not "normal" for a rat to follow like that.

MaryL


LOL I'm glad it wasn't an exceedingly bold rat!

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message ...

On 9/8/2013 5:50 PM, MaryL wrote:

~~~~~~~~
We raised chickens when I was young. My grandfather was a farmer, so
they also had chickens. In both cases, I remember big rats around the
corncrib. (Is that the same term you would use for it?--a building
farmers use to store corn) There was one occasion when I was about 10
or 12 years old when I was out after dark, and I saw what I *thought*
was a large rat come toward me from the direction of the corncrib. I
backed carefully away as I moved toward the house, and the rat kept
coming. Just as I got to where I could turn for our door, the rat said
"meow." What a relief! It was dark enough that I had only seen the
shadow as it followed me, and I have always remembered how frightened I
was because it just was not "normal" for a rat to follow like that.

MaryL


LOL I'm glad it wasn't an exceedingly bold rat!

Jill

~~~~~~~
I was actually fearful of rabies (if had been a rat). We had been warned of
that type of abnormal behavior--and it was night, so I could not see any of
the visual signs.

MaryL

On 9/9/2013 10:08 AM, MaryL wrote:


"jmcquown" wrote in message ...

On 9/8/2013 5:50 PM, MaryL wrote:

~~~~~~~~
We raised chickens when I was young. My grandfather was a farmer, so
they also had chickens. In both cases, I remember big rats around the
corncrib. (Is that the same term you would use for it?--a building
farmers use to store corn) There was one occasion when I was about 10
or 12 years old when I was out after dark, and I saw what I *thought*
was a large rat come toward me from the direction of the corncrib. I
backed carefully away as I moved toward the house, and the rat kept
coming. Just as I got to where I could turn for our door, the rat said
"meow." What a relief! It was dark enough that I had only seen the
shadow as it followed me, and I have always remembered how frightened I
was because it just was not "normal" for a rat to follow like that.

MaryL


LOL I'm glad it wasn't an exceedingly bold rat!

Jill

~~~~~~~
I was actually fearful of rabies (if had been a rat). We had been
warned of that type of abnormal behavior--and it was night, so I could
not see any of the visual signs.

MaryL

I have a friend who encountered a rabid skunk in her back yard some
years ago. Scary! She had to call animal control. Now she has one
(not rabid) this summer that has been hanging around. Without thinking
much about it her husband set a bag of trash on the back porch after
dinner, intending to take it out to the trash bin. They heard a noise
and found a skunk digging through the bag. It also managed to get
watermelon rinds from her compost bin, which is fenced with wooden
slats. Who knew skunks like watermelon?

Jill

Christina Websell wrote:


"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 9/7/2013 5:48 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Joy" wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote in
message
...

I really, really wanted to throw this dead rat over into my neighbour's
pristine blockpaved, no leaf will go there yard as a sort of revenge
for
their bullying stuff over the wall and exceeding the law about pruning
my
tree and making me spend 1400 to get a drop kerb in
But, even though I picked the rat up by the tail and I had every
intention of doing it, I just couldn't because I knew it was wrong. So
I
didn't.
good girlie, eh?

Tweed

Congratulations for taking the high road. Not an easy thing to do under
the circumstances.

Joy

I'm quite proud of myself but if they do anything bad in the next few
days,
I still have the rat.

I sympathize with the neighbor situation, I really do. But where on earth
would you be storing the dead rat?! I know your neighbors have been
really troublesome for some time. But I cannot figure out where I'd store
a dead rat to make a point...

I can.
Joke.
Boyfriend only does small rats and the huge rat deceased on the path he
assures me is "nothing to do with him"
But what if he catches a small one that's been poisoned and eats it?

This is what worries me. It's definitely a danger. Would the neighbors
who use poison be willing to listen to you if you went over and explained
that you're worried about Boyfie catching and eating a poisoned small rat
or mouse? I guess it depends on their finances. I'm sure rat poison is
much cheaper than terriers.

--
Joyce

Cats' hearing apparatus is built to allow the human voice to easily
go in one ear and out the other. -- Stephen Baker

On Mon, 09 Sep 2013 20:08:19 +0000, Bastette wrote:

Christina Websell wrote:


"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 9/7/2013 5:48 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Joy" wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote in
message ...

I really, really wanted to throw this dead rat over into my
neighbour's pristine blockpaved, no leaf will go there yard as a
sort of revenge for their bullying stuff over the wall and
exceeding the law about pruning my tree and making me spend 1400
to get a drop kerb in But, even though I picked the rat up by the
tail and I had every intention of doing it, I just couldn't
because I knew it was wrong. So I
didn't.
good girlie, eh?

Tweed

Congratulations for taking the high road. Not an easy thing to do
under the circumstances.

Joy

I'm quite proud of myself but if they do anything bad in the next
few days,
I still have the rat.

I sympathize with the neighbor situation, I really do. But where on
earth would you be storing the dead rat?! I know your neighbors
have been really troublesome for some time. But I cannot figure out
where I'd store a dead rat to make a point...

I can.
Joke.
Boyfriend only does small rats and the huge rat deceased on the path
he assures me is "nothing to do with him"
But what if he catches a small one that's been poisoned and eats it?

This is what worries me. It's definitely a danger. Would the neighbors
who use poison be willing to listen to you if you went over and
explained that you're worried about Boyfie catching and eating a
poisoned small rat or mouse? I guess it depends on their finances. I'm
sure rat poison is much cheaper than terriers.
MLB
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
IMHO if it is the same people who have given her trouble over the
driveway, etc, they are probably trying to poison Boyfie. I don't trust
them. IMHO she should inform her little Boyfriend that he is now a
"housecar" and keep him safely inside/ He would adjust!MLB

On 9/9/2013 7:08 PM, MLB wrote:
On Mon, 09 Sep 2013 20:08:19 +0000, Bastette wrote:

Christina Websell wrote:


"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 9/7/2013 5:48 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Joy" wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote in
message ...

I really, really wanted to throw this dead rat over into my
neighbour's pristine blockpaved, no leaf will go there yard as a
sort of revenge for their bullying stuff over the wall and
exceeding the law about pruning my tree and making me spend 1400
to get a drop kerb in But, even though I picked the rat up by the
tail and I had every intention of doing it, I just couldn't
because I knew it was wrong. So I
didn't.
good girlie, eh?

Tweed

Congratulations for taking the high road. Not an easy thing to do
under the circumstances.

Joy

I'm quite proud of myself but if they do anything bad in the next
few days,
I still have the rat.

I sympathize with the neighbor situation, I really do. But where on
earth would you be storing the dead rat?! I know your neighbors
have been really troublesome for some time. But I cannot figure out
where I'd store a dead rat to make a point...

I can.
Joke.
Boyfriend only does small rats and the huge rat deceased on the path
he assures me is "nothing to do with him"
But what if he catches a small one that's been poisoned and eats it?

This is what worries me. It's definitely a danger. Would the neighbors
who use poison be willing to listen to you if you went over and
explained that you're worried about Boyfie catching and eating a
poisoned small rat or mouse? I guess it depends on their finances. I'm
sure rat poison is much cheaper than terriers.
MLB
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
IMHO if it is the same people who have given her trouble over the
driveway, etc, they are probably trying to poison Boyfie. I don't trust
them. IMHO she should inform her little Boyfriend that he is now a
"housecar" and keep him safely inside/ He would adjust!MLB


Yes, if it is *that* neighbors (she isn't sure if anyone is using
poison) she can't (as Mishi suggested) easily "talk" to those neighbors.
They aren't the type to be reasoned with. They're the ones who fought
her having a drop kerb.

Do rats stay around even in winter? I'm not at all familiar with rats
(or chickens; the feed seems to attract rats).

Jill

On Mon, 09 Sep 2013 19:29:10 -0400, jmcquown wrote:

On 9/9/2013 7:08 PM, MLB wrote:
On Mon, 09 Sep 2013 20:08:19 +0000, Bastette wrote:

Christina Websell wrote:


"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 9/7/2013 5:48 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Joy" wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote
in message ...

I really, really wanted to throw this dead rat over into my
neighbour's pristine blockpaved, no leaf will go there yard as
a sort of revenge for their bullying stuff over the wall and
exceeding the law about pruning my tree and making me spend
1400 to get a drop kerb in But, even though I picked the rat
up by the tail and I had every intention of doing it, I just
couldn't because I knew it was wrong. So I didn't.
good girlie, eh?

Tweed

Congratulations for taking the high road. Not an easy thing to
do under the circumstances.

Joy

I'm quite proud of myself but if they do anything bad in the
next few days,
I still have the rat.

I sympathize with the neighbor situation, I really do. But where
on earth would you be storing the dead rat?! I know your
neighbors have been really troublesome for some time. But I
cannot figure out where I'd store a dead rat to make a point...

I can.
Joke.
Boyfriend only does small rats and the huge rat deceased on the
path he assures me is "nothing to do with him"
But what if he catches a small one that's been poisoned and eats
it?

This is what worries me. It's definitely a danger. Would the neighbors
who use poison be willing to listen to you if you went over and
explained that you're worried about Boyfie catching and eating a
poisoned small rat or mouse? I guess it depends on their finances. I'm
sure rat poison is much cheaper than terriers.
MLB
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
IMHO if it is the same people who have given her trouble over the
driveway, etc, they are probably trying to poison Boyfie. I don't
trust them. IMHO she should inform her little Boyfriend that he is now
a "housecar" and keep him safely inside/ He would adjust!MLB


Yes, if it is *that* neighbors (she isn't sure if anyone is using
poison) she can't (as Mishi suggested) easily "talk" to those neighbors.
They aren't the type to be reasoned with. They're the ones who fought
her having a drop kerb.

Do rats stay around even in winter? I'm not at all familiar with rats
(or chickens; the feed seems to attract rats).

Jill

Many years ago, my uncle owned several movie theaters and they had a
downtown rat problem. People would take food with them to eat while
watching the movies and that attracted the rats. One morning while
waiting for a transfer bus to go to work, a rat as large as a big cat ran
across the downtown street. My uncle would not permit popcorn and ice
cream or drinks in his theaters. He asked me once if I ever thought I
felt a cat during the show and I said I did. He said that was a rat maot
a cat. MLB

"MLB" wrote in message ...

Many years ago, my uncle owned several movie theaters and they had a
downtown rat problem. People would take food with them to eat while
watching the movies and that attracted the rats. One morning while
waiting for a transfer bus to go to work, a rat as large as a big cat ran
across the downtown street. My uncle would not permit popcorn and ice
cream or drinks in his theaters. He asked me once if I ever thought I
felt a cat during the show and I said I did. He said that was a rat maot
a cat. MLB

~~~~~~~
Oh, yuck! I think that would be the last time I would ever set foot in that
theater.

MaryL

On Mon, 09 Sep 2013 20:18:46 -0500, MaryL wrote:

"MLB" wrote in message ...

Many years ago, my uncle owned several movie theaters and they had a
downtown rat problem. People would take food with them to eat while
watching the movies and that attracted the rats. One morning while
waiting for a transfer bus to go to work, a rat as large as a big cat
ran across the downtown street. My uncle would not permit popcorn and
ice cream or drinks in his theaters. He asked me once if I ever thought
I felt a cat during the show and I said I did. He said that was a rat
maot a cat. MLB

~~~~~~~
Oh, yuck! I think that would be the last time I would ever set foot in
that theater.

MaryL

Actually, his theaters were the cleanest because he restricted the food.
The others did not. Eating establishments also had the problem and
probably still do. I suspect the problem is world wide. MLB