How Do You Feel About Killing Rats/Mice? (animal, cruelty, free)
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I've never had a problem killing rats and mice. Then I took care of a friend's pet rat and discovered they are truly intelligent, adorable, affectionate, and very sweet. But I wouldn't hesitate to kill any wild rat or mouse that entered my home. They multiple by the millions and are disease ridden. BIG DIFFERENCE from a pet that's been vetted and is living in a sanitary cage.
You need to eliminate the food source. They won't come into your house if there isn't a food source nearby. Mice only travel 25 feet from their nest for food. Rats travel farther but there still needs to be a food source nearby in the house, in the yard, or in the neighborhood.
I feed both live and frozen/thawed rodents to my snakes every week... so obviously that doesn't bother me, but I consider this particular situation part of the "circle of life." Killing them for no good reason or slowly, however, is not my cup of tea. And yes, rats are pretty awesome - which is one reason (along with threats to my snakes' safety) I only feed live MICE, and won't give my snakes a rat unless it's already dead & frozen. But don't tell my fellow snake keepers that, or they'll brand me a bleeding-hearted wuss.
Rats are wonderfully intelligent creatures, very much like dogs. But, as loose wild rats, they can do a great deal of damage. Don't worry about having boxed it in. They are amazing chewers, so it could easily chew its way out when it needs to. I have had pet rats - we adore them. But I would not hesitate to set traps for wild rats that got into my house. They really like peanut butter, just about any kind of stinky people food. They tend to stick to the floor along the walls, so set your traps right at the bottom of the wall.
I have a friend who is renovating his 100 year old farmhouse. He knew he had a few mice but when he started taking out walls there must have been thousands. His female pit bull is better than a cat.
I have a bull terrier and they are almost purpose bred for ratting. He wants to get a groundhog but I trap them out of the yard.
I work the night shift, sleep all day, so I just got up. Wow! The slat was removed, but one poster talked about the rat's chewing abilities, and with the loud scratching I heard last night, I can see now that this rat would have probably chewed his way through that slat eventually.
Dispose of it quickly. They are vermin,
harbor disease and will cause a stink where they nest that you can't get rid
off. Yes, the babies are cute and all that....most babies are. But, I have
seen them destroy valuable items that cannot be replaced. I have no use for
rats. Think, Bubonic Plague, Ebola Virus.....
The fact that they can carry disease makes them vermin? In that case, humans are vermin as well. We carry and transmit a LOT of disease.
The chance of one catching the Bubonic Plague (which is transmitted by fleas) is laughably remote, and as far as Ebola? Come on! You can get ebola from a chimp bite, handling the bodily fluids of forest gazelles, rainforest bats, gorillas, antelopes, etc, or eating bushmeat.. The Plague and Ebola is something I'd worry about if I was a mental case.
If you're going to use diseases as an excuse to slaughter rodents, at least pick something a little more realistic.
I wouldn't be able to kill a rat, especially after having them as pets. They're unbelievable animals, smart beyond belief and very affectionate. In the wild they live in very complex social groups, sharing babysitting duties and bringing food to the geriatrics and infirm. They exhibit empathy and would rather go hungry than to see a cage-mate get an electric shock. They're one of the very few mammals capable of laughter, and only humans, apes and rats exhibit metacognition....they understand the concept of "I don't know".
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