Humane ways to kill rats/mice...

[Dinos_rock]

Today at my school's land lab (for FFA) these girls caught a rat in a barrel and moved it into a cage. I told them to just release it really far away, but they said they already released it twice and it came back a third time already. I asked them how they knew it was the same one, but they said it had the same markings. Anyway, they didn't know how to kill it. So they grabbed a big rock and dropped it through the cage at first it just bounced off the rat's back, but they just kept on hitting it with a rock until it died.

It was rather sad to watch, even if they are pests, they are still animals and they still have feelings. Anyway, does anyone know a more humane way to kill the next rat?

 

[ORChick]

I don't have any suggestions for the "next time", other than the one you already made - take it a distance away, and let it go. But I would like to commend you on your attitude. Yes, rats are pests, and we would all prefer not to have them in our homes, but they are also living creatures who feel pain. I think its wonderful that you have the ability to empathise even with a creature with the "yuck" factor of a rat.

 

[Scrambled Egg]

Good for you Dino for having enough compassion to realize that what you saw was cruel and inhumane. That will catch up with them in karma someday. You did all you could so try not to feel so guilty over it.

 

[silkiechicken]

Next time just take a pellet rifle and shoot it once in it's head. Or if you could get a shovel into the cage, or a large knife or hand axe, one swift chop to the neck should do the job. Beating to death and drownings aren't too fast, so any method that is fast should work.

Or... a snap trap that normally kills mice quickly, just set one of those in the cage and bait it. It will get hungry and a quick smash of the head with the snap and it should be quick.

 

[claud]

If you are planning on actually trying to catch them in the future I have used a trap for years that I think is one of the most humane traps available. It is called the RatZapper - it's a battery operated device that zaps them dead when they cross a plate to get to the bait(I use a couple pieces of cat food). There is a light on top that blinks if the trap was tripped. I think some stores have them but I got mine on-line. ratzapper.com
Anyone else use these?

 

[SpottedCrow]

I have the mouse version of the rat zapper...I love it...
I'm sorry that the twits thought that bashing the rat with a rock was a good idea...

 

[rooster-red]

One of the most humane ways is overdose of anesthisia. Vets use a injection of sodium penabarbitol (sp) to overdose an animal and stop its heart. this is where the term "put to sleep" came from.

Since sodium pen is a controled substance, you'll have to settle for the next best thing.

Either used to be used worldwide as an anesthetic, and you can buy a can of either at your local auto parts store. Make sure you get starting fluid, and not anything else like lighter fluid.

Take an air tite container and put the rat in it, take a smaller contaner and put a wash rag or papaer towels in it. Spray the either into the wash rag to saturate it, you don't want the rat to come in contact with the liquid, you want it to breathe the vapors and fall asleep.

Put the container with the either in the larger container and close the lid.

 

[theOEGBman]

For folks like me who own pet snakes, the easiest way to do it is to put them in a sealed container with a block of dry ice. The Carbon Dioxide created by the ice will put the rat into a deep sleep and eventually kill it.

But like stated, the best thing to do is to take it far away and let it go, they do have feelings as well. Even though I've lost birds to rats, I could never kill them unless I had to feed something. The girls idea of taking it far away was probably across the yard.

 

[panner123]

Don't you have cats in Arizona? Silkiechicken has a good idea also, a pellet gun.

 

[chicknmania]

Wow, in a way it is good to know that so many other people are having ths problem! I was just in the barn and our rats are getting SO TAME that they actually come out of hiding and stand around when we are feeding the chickens...one today even tried to come up to share the feeder with them! We trapped quite a few last summer when we were setting live traps for other animals; we too didn't have the heart to kill them...but I am slowly getting to the end of my rope. They have never been this bad. Anyway, a lot of good ideas to consider in all the January 08 rat postings!