New breed of poison-resistant ‘super rats’ spreading across the UK

reply to post by rickymouse


Not screwed as such.

We are allowed firearms, regulations are much tighter though....it's easy enough to get a shotgun license, you are entitle to one, criminal and medical records permitting. A rifle is a little trickier, you have to prove that there is a need for you to own one. A handgun is a no no, no matter what.

We are allowed air weapons (.22 / .177) without regulation (except power is limited), and a decent air rifle will easily kill a rat, they kill rabbits easily enough.

reply to post by woogleuk


I think even a good quality air pistol can kill a rat. It would need at least a six inch barrel though to be accurate. Can you have air pistols there? I have a bb pistol with a 4 inch barrel, it is not reliably accurate over six feet even though it is a good brand.

reply to post by rickymouse


Yeah, air pistols are fine too, again though, they have a limit on the power...I remember years ago trying to boost one by putting 1p coins behind the spring, I don't even know if that truly works or if it was just a rumour, lol.

reply to post by woogleuk


We were walking down a sidewalk just after sundown and there was a drainage grill with a rat tail mostly sticking out of the grill as the critter searched around underneath the grill. The tail was as big around as my ring finger and I don't have small hands.. I did not see his body but he/she/it/ was a big one.

Many years ago in our patriotic war bunker we could turn the lights off and usually within 5 to 10 minutes pop the lights on and shoot a couple of rats the size of a small cat. We were using .38 pistols that we had pulled the lead from the bullets and then filled the shell with soap leaving the powder in the shot shell. Some guys took sand stone small pebbles and pushed them into the hard soap bullet. We usually had a few rounds preloaded in the bunker just incase a need arose. It actually was allot of fun and no one except the rats ever got hurt.. Rats were a big deal because if you were bitten (they like to crawl in bed with you and see what was tasty) you ended up having to get 21 (?) rabies shots in the belly. We did not like rats !

CDC has announced drug resistant bacteria is making antibiotics ineffective; Monsanto crops are not working as first advertised, etc etc. Life if given half a chance will not only adapt and survive but will multiply.

reply to post by 727Sky


Need to allow large breed feral cats to rise in numbers. Let them breed out there in the city streets and farm towns. Stop cutting kitty's balls off! I suggest you get one and name it Winston. Big nasty orange tabby with a tude!

And those rat terriers. Those scotty and welsh rat eaters, vermin killers! Rise! Rise I tell you!

Rat poison -- once upon a time -- was POISON........

But then, people took to using on each other. just a little daily dab in the Mr.'s coffee and eventually...

So now, most rodent poisons are anticoagulants, usually warfarin, aka Coumadin. Terrible way to die. They make rodents crash and bleed internally, and the only antidote is Vitamin K. V-K is stocked by many veterinarians, because sometimes pets either eat the poisons or eat the critters that ate the poisons.

So now there are rats that are immune to the anticoagulants? Hard to believe, but I suppose it's possible. It's also possible that the rats have become aware that the rat poisons are not as wholesome as they smell. The blue blocks have an essence of coconut in them, and the D-Con type pellets have an essence of grains.

Rats are wary, and pretty smart. I bet they have just become aware and have passed that awareness onto their offspring. "Hey! there's perfectly good garbage over here to eat! Don't mess with those green pellets, they're nasty, and I hear tell Uncle Spud nibbled on some and he's never been the same."

That's my theory anyway.

We don't poison rodents. Until we got the cats, we caught them in live cages and released them at the creek.

Now, if something like that size ever invaded, I'd tame a couple coyotes.