Re: RC: Rats eating anything.

[Howard4567@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/10/00 4:45:02 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
Marv@MarvWalker.com writes:

<< The best rat medicine I found was a Crossman pump-up pellet rifle.  It 
shoots
 at around 750 feet per second and is flatter than a pancake at 100 feet.
  >>

I have bullet holes in my tack room from my attack of the rats in my barn 
with a 22.  I knew I had a problem one day when I spotted a couple of the 
nasty creatures moving inside my tack/feed room.  One of the rodents had 
eaten thru my plastic trash can lid to get to the horse feed inside so, I had 
put a horse blanket on top of the lid, hoping to keep them out.

One night, and it figues this would happen to me at night, I threw on the 
light switch, nonchalantly walked over to the feed area, removed the blanket 
covering the feed lid, and as I did, a big ole rat, who was burried in the 
blanket, leaped on to my shoulder, and crawled on my head and then,  jumped 
from my head up into the rafters.  I was in a total state of shock!

I ran into my house and got out a 22 handgun.  I went back to the tack room 
and just waited.  For hours it seemed.  Then I spotted one of them crawling 
in the room from up above where I have a space between the roof and the wall. 
 Bang!  Missed, but took a chunk of wood out of my wall.  Bang, bang.  Two 
more chunks missing.

After awhile I realized the 22 was not the answer.  The next day I bought a 
ton of rat poison and put it all over, inside the feed room.  After a few 
days I found dead rats all everywhere.  Totally gross, especially when I had 
to fish them out of some of the horses' water buckets.  I think eating the 
poison makes the rats really need water.

Anyway, the pellet gun is a good idea (less damage than a .22) but rat poison 
is about the only thing that really works.  I no longer have rats crawling on 
my body when I remove the blanket covering the feed can.  I'll do just about 
anything for my horses but this was asking a little too much.

cya,
Howard