I had a call recently from a lady who had seen a rat in her garden, she looked on a well known internet auction site and got herself a cage trap, which she baited & placed near to where the rat had been seen.  Lo and behold, a day or two later she checked on the trap and there inside, frantically chewing at the bars of the cage, was the offending rat. Now the lady had a dilema, what was she going to do with her captive? The instructions which came with the trap only mentioned liberating the captive animal and she didn't want to pass her problem on to any one else or have Ratty return home, once released. This was where I came in. I arrived on site and humanely dispatched the rat using a "trap comb"( to confine the rodent at one end of the cage) and an air pistol - job done, quickly and humanely as possible. Most garden centres and agricultural stores have cage traps on sale, but I have looked since this recent occurance and none of the instructions which I could see made any mention of current UK trapping legislation. For example, it is an offence to release either grey squirrels or mink, as they are "non native" to the UK, cage traps should be checked at least once a day, preferably more often,captives which have to be killed should either be shot with an appropriate weapon or run out of the cage into a sack and clubbed.  Drowning IS NOT a recognised method of despatch, indeed there was a recent case where a chap was catching squirrels in his garden then drowning them in a water butt, a neighbour reported him and the RSPCA brought a case against him which resulted in a hefty fine. Spearing the captive with a garden fork, or anthing else, would also contravine current legislation and could, rightly, result in court procedings. If you are carrying out DIY pest control make sure you have the means to deal with captive animals quickly and humanely, causing as little suffering to the captives as possible ........ or get someone in who can. |
 |
|||||||||||
 
CategoriesAutumn Pest Control - Cluster FliesMole trapping Spring Pest Control (moles etc) Trapping Wasp Control |
|
 |
|||||||||
    |
|||||||||||
