# A rat or mouse captured alive



## WillK (Aug 29, 2010)

Okay... about a week and a half ago we had our house baited for rats, then this past Thursday our cat caught what we thought was a mouse... I'm not sure. Definitely there are rats around as I had seen on at least 2 occasions rodents too large to be mice on top of the neighbor's fence.

Anway, last Thursday after the cat caught a mouse (indoor only cat by the way) the cat dropped the mouse and it ran to its hole then outside, hiding in a bait holder. The dog went outside and pawed at the container, the mouse ran under the fence and away. We called the exterminator back and he refilled traps and added more in the attic and kitchen.

Today, the cat caught a rodent again. The cat then carried the rodent from where she caught it to the front door, trapping it in a corner where she dropped the rodent to play with it. The dog was curious too, but neither pet was apparently going to kill it, so I scooped it into a Glad tupperware type container and started trying to figure out what to do with it.

So it's Sunday and the exterminator's answering service will pass a message to them on Monday, the city's website has the standard answer of "exterminated by approved processes" whatever that means... A little searching around produced a Yahoo! answers question where one person said smash its head with a hammer and everybody else said killing a rat is cruel.

If smashing a rat's head is the way to go I'd do it, but I wish there was another option... In the end this one died of asphyxiation, which I feel bad about but then again it's certainly faster than the poison would have been.


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## the_man (Aug 14, 2010)

bbq!!! :laughing: maybe stick it in the freezer til its a rock? i kinda like the hammer idea :bangin: all kidding aside, i thought it was a big no no to poison mice/rats with animals around. might be something to ask the exterminator in the morning


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

did you say rat barbecue?






























the_man said:


> i thought it was a big no no to poison mice/rats with animals around. might be something to ask the exterminator in the morning


It would appear the domestic animals aren't going to eat the things. 



yes, if the animals might eat the rodents, they will ingest the chemicals used to kill the rodents and...well, you don't want that.



> Yahoo! answers question where one person said smash its head with a hammer and everybody else said killing a rat is cruel.


Um, isn't that what the poison is intended to do?

Mashing with a hammer will likely be a bit messy unless you have a perfect touch to be able to kill them without mashing them. Depending what you have them in, you might be able to drown them if you have some water source deep enough. The tupperware thing; poke some holes in the lid and fill it with water. or put them in a can with some holes in it small enough so the critter won't get out and start up the car and put the can so it will get filled with the exhaust. (just don't do it with the car in the garage!!)

Got any neighbors that raise snakes?


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## WillK (Aug 29, 2010)

Our exterminator told us our cat would have to eat 50 rats within a short period of time to be affected.

The poison takes 6 or 7 days to kill rats or mice.

The exterminator did say that it is sometimes a problem that squirrels take off with blocks of bait and it kills them, but personally I haven't had any fondness for squirrels since they ate the leather interior and convertible top of my dad's 1946 Lincoln Continental. Not saying I have it out for squirrels, but I don't really feel much guilt if they die either.

And I'm sure the time to suffocate the rat is less than to freeze it, plus I definitely didn't want to risk putting it somewhere it might be able to chew its way out, then chew into something like our food.

I did think about the exhaust, but was concerned about an openning for carbon monoxide to get in to any container I have would be an escape sized openning.

I like the snake idea, but I don't know anyone with a snake. And LOL at BBQ, but I think that might skirt animal cruelty laws and I think I'd rather not cook rat on the same place I cook things I actually want to eat.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

> WillK;550299]Our exterminator told us our cat would have to eat 50 rats within a short period of time to be affected.


well, he would know more about it than I but to me, simple logic says if the cat eats their own approximate weight in mice that contained enough poison to kill them, it would be an equivalent level of poison in the cat. Unless that is a really big cat, I figure closer to 10-20. Still a lot though. I would wonder what damage it would do at a lower concentration, even if not enough to kill the cat. You do know that most rat poison simply makes them bleed to death, internally, right?

you might want to read this on a likely poison that is being used:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brodifacoum







> I did think about the exhaust, but was concerned about an openning for carbon monoxide to get in to any container I have would be an escape sized openning.


multiple nail holes would serve the purpose and still restrain the critter.



> And LOL at BBQ, but I think that might skirt animal cruelty laws and I think I'd rather not cook rat on the same place I cook things I actually want to eat.


but those pictures I posted were of people cooking them as food. In the Asian world, rat is apparently a common food source.
not that I'm going to eat them but apparently somebody does.

G Gordon Liddy reportedly ate a rat when he was young.



> Liddy describes himself as having been sickly as a child, and possessed of many irrational fears. To confront and overcome these fears, Liddy devised various tests of his own will-power. Examples include catching, cooking and eating a rat in order to overcome an aversion to the creatures, and climbing a tree during lightning storms, yelling "kill me, kill me."


apparently he was a bit off kilter as a child.


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## WillK (Aug 29, 2010)

nap said:


> multiple nail holes would serve the purpose and still restrain the critter.


Why didn't I think of that... I have available to use my choice of roofing or framing nailer.


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

Particularly if they are rats, I would be more concerned with rabies or other diseases than with the affect of the poison. Assuming that you feed them regularly, and that the cat and dog do not exist solely on what they catch, they may eat one or two mice, but will most likely play them to death, and then pretty much leave them alone, once you give them an "ataboy". But, while playing with them, they are apt to draw some blood. We live in a rural area, and at least a few field mice sneak their way into the barn and attached garage as the temperatures start to drop in the fall. So, I set out traps, but in places where the mice can get to, but that the pets cannot, such as on top of or under a work bench, behind a piece of plywood leaned against the wall, etc.


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## piste (Oct 7, 2009)

I usually give them a swimming lesson/test in a bucket or barrel....haven't had one pass the test yet!


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

WillK said:


> Why didn't I think of that... I have available to use my choice of roofing or framing nailer.


Um, I wasn't thinking of the nail holes in the rat itself but if you have a nailer, sure would do the trick. I think the roofing nailer would be the choice of the pro's. You don't need that much penetration and the large head on the nail would prevent the nail from acting like a missile and shooting clear through.


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

The trouble with poisoning rodents is that it takes a while for them to die. They could easily die within the walls or attic of your structure (no one knows where) and then they would stink for weeks on end. Decaying rodents put-off a disgusting odor.

In the case of the Tupperware mouse you could have just flushed the little devil down the toilet and been done with him/her.

I would prefer traps over poison any day.


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## WillK (Aug 29, 2010)

Heh.. my luck, flushing a rat would coincide with a batch of mud from the collapsed pipe blocking the sewer line resulting in the rat backflushing right back into the crawl space! One of many thing which are on the to-do list with a strong preference to wait until next spring or summer.


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## COBRA90GT (Apr 5, 2009)

piste said:


> I usually give them a swimming lesson/test in a bucket or barrel....haven't had one pass the test yet!


 
5 gallon buckets have _many_ purposes... :laughing: I prefer a good 'ol shovel to the noggin though. :thumbup:


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