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Thanks for this. There has been no sight or sign of the rat since I shot it, and I feel more confident that it’s dead. I’m quite comfortable using a rifle, and was a marksman at Bisley, confident of hitting the bull 9/10 times at various ranges up to 800 yards. The rifle I’m using is a Weirauch HW 90K, with a telescopic sight. If I had had time, I would have certainly aimed at the rats head. I actually had less than a second, and could only aim at the centre before it darted away. I have absolutely no regrets doing this. As I said in my previous post, rats are extremely destructive. One recently got into the house and proceeded to chew through our plastic pipework, resulting in a flooded kitchen, a boiler out of action and a plumbing bill of several hundred pounds. I don’t enjoy killing anything – even a rat. Incidentally, rat poison contains chemicals, called anticoagulants, which cause the rodent to die slowly and painfully from internal bleeding. These poisons are not considered to be humane due to their toxic effects including difficulty breathing, weakness, vomiting, bleeding gums, seizures, abdominal swelling and pain.
Meanwhile our lovely hedgehogs are all fine and, fingers crossed, not now troubled by a pesky rat!
ps the trap is a proper Rentokill rat trap. I watched the rat as it took the bait, and I’ve no idea how it managed to spring the trap and escape unharmed. Amazing!