Test Equipment Anonymous

tggzzz wrote: ↑Thu Jan 22, 2026 12:54 pm

Zenith wrote: ↑Thu Jan 22, 2026 12:39 pm

tggzzz wrote: ↑Thu Jan 22, 2026 12:16 am Warfarin is the other method. When people become too sanctimonious for my taste, I tend to ask whether they would prefer to die from internal haemorrhages, being drowned in a strong acid, or having their neck snapped.

I wouldn't use poison partly because it is slow and partly because the animal will die in a place that is only accessible by drafts. Not sure cats are any better in that respect.

Poison is expensive and should be laid in bait stations, so other animals can't get at it. A length of pipe will do. It disappears but you don't have direct evidence of the results. The poisons on the market are certified humane.

Not sure what that might mean. Clearly they cannot be instantaneous!

I believe they drop into a stupor from which they don't return. More humane than Rodine (white phosphorus) or ratsbane (arsenious oxide) etc where the victims would show obvious signs of dying in agony. Since rats have developed resistance to Warfarin, older poisons can be licensed for persistent infestations.

tggzzz wrote: ↑Thu Jan 22, 2026 12:16 am Charlie indicated one at my house, which I duly caught. Rat catchers and their large "humane" traps have been seen in my road. Charlie has never had the opportunity to earn his keep that way.

Rats are a different and altogether nastier thing. Fortunately I've never lived in a place plagued by them. The last one I disposed of was ten years back. I shot it with an air rifle. Ten years before that I came across one in a barn. I shot it with a 12 bore at about 15 yards. It took off. People who live in rural areas often find they have rats in the garden when the cereals are harvested at the end of summer. Even if they don't get into the house they are a damned nuisance.