Rats

[Daezee]

Well, the other night I missed 7, should have been easy, shots, so I stopped and left. Rats would jump up and run off. One did leave a trail of poop dropping's about 2’ long (through thermal I thought it was blood, but flashlight showed otherwise). The next day I found the sights were to the right about 3/4”. Resighted in and will try again tonight.

Best I could think of was that in the dark I pressed the wrong buttons on the controls and moved the sight setting. I’m not used to the controls on that thermal.

 

[Southalabama]

 

[Rebel_Rider1969]

Drone

I'll shoot you zelinskis #

"Ratting " is very popular in the UK. Very fun to watch btw. I enjoy them. They have rat hunting celebrities on utube as most common people are not allowed to have actual firearms. What a terrible thing. We should count our blessings.

 

[Rebel_Rider1969]

Well, the other night I missed 7, should have been easy, shots, so I stopped and left. Rats would jump up and run off. One did leave a trail of poop dropping's about 2’ long (through thermal I thought it was blood, but flashlight showed otherwise). The next day I found the sights were to the right about 3/4”. Resighted in and will try again tonight.

Best I could think of was that in the dark I pressed the wrong buttons on the controls and moved the sight setting. I’m not used to the controls on that thermal.

If it's the Thor LT they can be finicky when setting. The cross hairs move around the screen. So if the mount is a bit off it won't be exactly centered.
The thor and the ts19 share the move the retical to the poi, not like a normal scope. You know this though. It's easy to goof the settings.

 

[Daezee]

Much better night. Killed one in the chicken yard. Put a bullet in one in the coop. Could hear it flopping and then silence…couldn’t find it.

Saw one coming out from under a coop corner and killed it. Later another came out from same place and smelled the dead one…killed it. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. A total of 5 dead in a pile. Sixth came out and I put a bullet in it. It flopped around and made it out of sight around bldg corner…couldn’t find it.

 

[B52]

Much better night. Killed one in the chicken yard. Put a bullet in one in the coop. Could hear it flopping and then silence…couldn’t find it.

Saw one coming out from under a coop corner and killed it. Later another came out from same place and smelled the dead one…killed it. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. A total of 5 dead in a pile. Sixth came out and I put a bullet in it. It flopped around and made it out of sight around bldg corner…couldn’t find it. View attachment 280818 View attachment 280819

Would a rat bait be more effective? Or is there a worry it could contaminate the chickens?

 

[Daezee]

Would a rat bait be more effective? Or is there a worry it could contaminate the chickens?

Due to the family owning dogs, poisoning was not desired. Every type of trap tried failed to catch any.

 

[fl57caveman]

 

[Rebel_Rider1969]

Much better night. Killed one in the chicken yard. Put a bullet in one in the coop. Could hear it flopping and then silence…couldn’t find it.

Saw one coming out from under a coop corner and killed it. Later another came out from same place and smelled the dead one…killed it. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. A total of 5 dead in a pile. Sixth came out and I put a bullet in it. It flopped around and made it out of sight around bldg corner…couldn’t find it. View attachment 280818 View attachment 280819

Looks like you got it dialed in. Fun, challenging, killing pests and helping someone out. All wins.

 

[Zeroed in]

Hmm, Willard comes to mind.

Willard

When his nagging mother discovers a rat infestation, th…

www.goodreads.com

 

[Daezee]

Neighbor put out his camera in the coop last night. 3 rats on camera, so more to be done. At least it wasn’t a myriad of rats like when I began. Once the coop is cleaned out, it’s on to the barn. I know of at least three living in the barn. I’ve got permission to bring another neighbor with his night vision equipped pellet rifle with me when he comes back into town. Turns out they know each other.

 

[Daezee]

Went out last night. Six times I saw a rat + two heat signatures showing through the roof (possibly two nests as the heat signature would only move an inch or two). Probably not six separate rats, as after I killed two I waited another hour and no more sightings inside the coop.

Two killed. One was sticking its head out of a hole in the floor so I aimed carefully and S Q E E Z E D the trigger and got it. I believe I’ve seen that one multiple times in the same hole, never coming out except for its head. The other was a big male I think I’ve seen multiple times before and was always skittish and quick in his movements. He’d climbed up high on a beam on the wall and hesitated too long.

 

[Chaps]

Great work Bruce. A couple more still around and making more babies.

 

[Bamaboy19]

Get a rat terrier! I have a Chiweenie that has killed more than I can count, she digs up moles & voles as well! And keeps me safe from lizards. She hasn't figured out how to get a buzzard but chases them if they fly over our yard. Rottweilers will kill them too, but they're just not as quick, and can't get places she can.

 

[Southalabama]

 

[Daezee]

I may have missed an opportunity. I was bullet casting when a rather large rat snake showed up. I gently shooed it away from entering my garage. It wasn’t pissed off, so I could have picked it up. What I should have done is pick it up, put it in a bucket, and ask my neighbor if I could let it loose in his barn that has rats. Oh well.

 

[Southalabama]

Took me a long time to realize snakes were beneficial.

 

[Daezee]

Generally rat snakes are rather laid back. I’ve been coming across them since I moved here in 2008. In all those years I’ve only come across two that were pissed off. One, a young one, bit me right in front of grandkids as I held it. Well, that went over well as I was teaching. The other was an adult on another neighbor’s property. It kept striking at us, so we walked away.

The friend with the rat problem is in an hog area. Hogs eat snakes, so there’s a possibility that there are fewer snakes there and thus more rats…just a thought. In all my years scouting and hunting hogs (until new major property owners would no longer allow me access) in that area, I never saw any snakes.