Rats
Rats can be some of the best shooting you can get! Often fast paced and plentiful
Identification
Brown Rats
If you see a rat in the UK it is more than likely to be a brown rat.
- Compare the body and tail lengths. If the length of the body (including the head) is greater than the length of the tail you have a Brown Rat
- Body shape. Brown Rats are quite rotund, ok fat. You would not generally describe a Brown Rat as "sleek" or "slim"
- Ears. Brown Rats have fine hair on their small ears.
- Face shape. Following on from the body shape the face is like the body, rounded - not pointy (as with the Black Rat)
- Movement. Brown Rats tend to scurry along the ground or dive into a hole to disappear.
- Fur. Brown Rats have quite coarse fur.
Black Rats
These are very rare, found only in a few dockyards around the country and apparently in Cornwall.
- Body and tail lengths. If the length of the body (including the head) is less than the length of the tail you have a Black Rat
- Body shape. Black Rats are slim and sleek. You would not generally describe a Black Rat as "fat" or "rotund"
- Ears. Black Rats have large ears in comparison to the rest of the body.
- Face shape. Following on from the body shape the face is like the body, slim and pointed
- Movement. Black Rats will climb for cover, often heading upwards. They have quite a reputation for jumping - up to 4 or 5 feet!!
- Fur. Black Rats have silky smooth fur.
Habitat
Rats live in most parts of the world. They live alongside humans and seem to feed off our waste and stores. THey are the only mammal to live in our drains and sewers which means they have a superb 'highway' to pretty much each and every home, should they desire.
They are commonly found in warehouses, farms, buildings, sheds, stables compost bins anywhere they can get either food or dry\warmth. They do not like to exposed so will travel along the edge of buildings\walls & fences. They are great at discovering and nesting\living in voids under sheds\floors\ roofs and cavity walls.
Food\Bait
- Scrambled eggs
- Macaroni and cheese
- Cooked corn kernels
- Peanut butter
- Cat food (paste not chunky, as they will carry the chunks away)
- Lemon curd, spread on a post\wall)
- Bread, tethered in a net to prevent removal)
Habits
Rats are neophobic, this means they have a fear of anything new. They will naturally shy away from the trap you have left them until it is no longer "new". They are creatures of habit, they will follow the same path from one point to another, This will ultimately create a well trodden path known as a "Rat Run".
Reproduction
- 21 days gestation period
- 10-12 weeks to "mature" then they start to breed
- Average litter size 7-8
- 3-6 litters per year depending on resources
Techniques
Rats generally come out late in the evening and night. There is little need for "stalking" it is easy to get close range (less than 10m - often down to 5m!). Lamping with a RED filter is very fruitful, as the rats cannot see the red spectrum, they do not know they are illuminated!
If you can identify a "hot spot" then sitting in ambush is a very productive method, alternatively, there is nothing more fun than walking round a farmyard in darkness looking for the retinal reflection of a scaly tail... but you'll need to be very quick!
Multishot guns are appropriate here as there are often more than one to pick off.
Rats are also as hard as nails, if you do not drill the brain, they will very likely
pick themselves up and leg it!
Some forums have reported rats with 5 or more pellets in them still making it to a hole - this is not acceptable. A single well placed head shot will be lights out for Roland
Important things to note
RATS CARRY DISEASE!!! Always use gloves or a tool to move dead rats.
- Weils Disease - Leptospiral Jaundice (Leptospirosis). Symptoms are flu like, with a severe persistent headache and if you think you have been in an area where there are rats, then you should seek immediate medical advice. Affects the liver and kidneys. Needs early treatment.
- Salmonella - carried by all rodents.
- Trichinosis - Pork roundworm. Initially the worm lodges in the intestines, but the larvae may invade the muscles to form cysts that are often resistant to drug treatment.
- Rat Bite Fever - Murine Typhus spread by lice on the animal, they die of it, but not before they have passed it on.
- Hantavirus - Hantaviruses are rodent-borne, zoonotic (acquired from animals) viruses. They cause two serious infections in humans; 'haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome' (HFRS) and 'hantavirus pulmonary syndrome' (HPS). There are several different Hantaviruses; some are present in Europe and Asia, while others occur in North and South America.