Rat Hunting with Airguns

So you have a rat problem what do you do? Poison? Trap? Or shoot them?

Poison will work but I have never been comfortable with the use of poison in or around animal feed.

Also dead rats found in the fields surrounding the area can be fatal to unsuspecting birds of prey looking for a quick and easy meal. 

Trapping is an option that can work but it is not as a effective as a lead pellet injection and if you look at the permission in the videos below you will see that you would need a bloody huge bag of traps too.

The Air Rifle is the perfect tool for quick and effective control of this less than savoury visitor. 

Breeding

Rattus Norvegicus (the Brown Rat) is a tenacious tenant and once established is almost impossible to completely eradicate. In addition to his incredible ability to survive he is a prolific breeder. The female of the species comes in to heat every 4-5 days and will have up to 7 litters per year. Each litter will have an average of 7 in it but this number can be as high as 14. These young will reach sexual maturity in just 5 weeks! 

So just imagine.... a female has 4 female young and just five weeks later they are able to breed, with a gestation period of just 21 days you could have 20 or more female young. If you do the figures on this it is easy to see just how a colony can grow to thousands in a very short time if unchecked. 

Diseases 

Similar to other rodents, brown rats may carry a number of pathogens, which can result in disease, including Weil's disease, rat bite fever, cryptosoridiosis, viral hemorrhagic fever, Q fever, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Many of these can be very unpleasant and in lots of cases every year fatal. 

Creating a safe working environment

It is important to control the numbers of rats and if you have a population in your work place or home you are at risk of disease. Prevention is the best form of attack but in some cases that is no longer an option.

In this series of videos I share with you tips I use to shoot these vermin with Air Rifles.

I will run you through the gear I use and the bait I make to help dictate where I shoot the rat.