Yep, I'm now old... SIGH

This is _really_, and when I say really, I mean really frigging bugging me..... So I have to bitch about it.... My sweetie isn't going to listen so you chaps are "it"!!!!!!

The Disclaimer: I love the hell out of animals... _All_ kinds.... I seem to spend half my life rescuing some animal somewere......

The History I have a "cute" back yard. Nice big pond I dug myself, plenty or foliage planted by my "horticultural expert", (read sweetie pie), get's all the wildlife possible in the suburban area we live... and I mean all..... It's pretty cool....

Well for the last couple of years the rat population in the city has increased... I noticed the odd rat around which I don't find that big of a deal - but sweetie thinks all rats are bad.... Two years ago we had one was clearly too smart to do the "humane trap" - you know... the one where I capture it without hurting it then kill it pretty much the same way.... But sweetie pie needed it gone..... So she insisted I put out the "whap" trap..... Well.... A baby mouse and a chipmiunk later I put my foot down..... I was done with the WMD's and wanted a "Precision Guided Weapon"..... So off we went to K-Mart and bought the $30 pellet gun... The rat showed itself once in the crappy sight..... That was all it took.... Nice rat, thank you, goodbye..... Even though, during the heated discussion about the pellet gun with my sweetie telling me "you'll never hit that little thing it moves too fast", I warned her that I have always been "One shot - one kill" and proving my point......

That was last year... After the city making a big thing of the rat "problem" and everyone cleaning up their yards, now it's this year.... Well, without having any "citations", to be honest, if I was a rat, my yard is pretty attractive..... lots of bird food, places to hide, a nice deck to dig under.... etc. etc. etc.

Well, two nights ago sweetie reports that there is a rat in the yard again - we had some suspicions but now it is confirmed with a "visual". Great I think, I just zeroed that pellet gun while on vacation to about 30 yards on 10 pumps.... Far from perfect for the most likely shot I can take on little "ratty" which will be at about 8 yards but I can adjust down and maintain the power.... he says... hopefully.....

The rat appeared last night but is clearly new to the yard as she is as skittish as hell..... No shot available... Oh well.... Baited the area and, being really smart, laid a white background to ensure a silhouette to shoot at through the K-Mart sight even with the glasses on.....

Tonight is perfect.... Ratty is out.... To make the shot I have to leave the doorwall, (French windows), open a crack because they make this tiny little "click" as they break open.... Well that makes the damned cat all interested... She manages to scare ratty twice but after that she seems to understand that when I get up and hold the pellet gun I am hunting and she was really smart about it.... Animals are much smarter than we give them credit for.

So... Ratty is giving me random exposures, through some foliage, of about 5 seconds each.... I forsake two shots because of the high potential of hitting the foliage first thus missing or the shot having insufficient effect... Finally... There it is.... head silhouetted against the white background..... "remember - you are at 8 not 30 yards - drop the point of aim...." I thought.... Got it... "Squeeeeeeeze - don't pull, it's a lemon" I thought - remembering all that training but thinking to myself "****, I'm shooting at a shadow amongst a bunch of shadows"....

The shot went, the background jumped sideways and the rat ran away......

Pissed.... You don't even know how pissed.... I never missed an aimed shot at a target within reasonable range before..... ever..... You really have no idea.....

When I went down to check the background I missed high by about 1/4" which meant I was 1/2" high of the point I was aiming at..... No, it wasn't an easy shot... It had to be executed quickly with a weapon that was going to shoot higher at the range it was being used at... But hell..... I've done that before!!!!!!

I have to get my eyes fixed.... This sucks..... Last year the rat was toast.... Right now she is hanging around my yard, in the dark so I have no chance of seeing her thinking....

"Doddering old fart"....

I hate her, I hate her, I hate me...... :eek:

take it from me TS. getting old has absolutly NO redeeming value.

maybe a remotely detonated explosive device would help!?!

You weren't wearing the proper ghillie suit were you? Tom Berringer would be so upset right now.

Falconry! :)

Maybe you need a shot type pellet for your pellet gun Tiger.

Or go with the old wristrocket and use multiple ball bearings (small ballbearings).




Don't know about these old farts with their failing eyesight and trembling hands...... :3pow:

Pellet gun?!?

I'd go with either a .223 (a Ruger mini 14 will perform very well) or a 20-guage (solves the aim adjustment problem) Remington. If you want to give the rat a sporting chance, try a S&W Airweight Chief .38 snubnose.....it's the ultimate varmit whacker at close range but presents a challenge as distance increases.

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Originally posted here by allenb1963
Pellet gun?!?

I'd go with either a .223 (a Ruger mini 14 will perform very well) or a 20-guage (solves the aim adjustment problem) Remington. If you want to give the rat a sporting chance, try a S&W Airweight Chief .38 snubnose.....it's the ultimate varmit whacker at close range but presents a challenge as distance increases.

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ROFL,Mini 14, man talk about the A-Team , that's like taking a 50 BMG to a gray squirrel!

****.. get you a semi-automatic frenchie 12 gauge, and take the plug out. 8 shots :)

If you miss a rat with that, you are ray charles.

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a remotely detonated explosive device

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I'm figuring that doing that in suburban Detroit at this time is going to get me 10-15 with bubba.... Bearing in mind my rapidly failing eyesight it would be way too easy for him to sneak up on me for my liking..... :eek:

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You weren't wearing the proper ghillie suit

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Yeah, but it's really muggy here right now and I was trying to eat my dinner too, so I went without it..... silly me... Sorry Tom....

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Falconry!

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ROFLMAO.... You are Brilliant... I love it.... That would be sooooooo cool..... Anyone know where I can get a used hawk? Ebay?

As for the rest of the suggestions...... See above... I have neighbors you know and all I can see from the other suggestions is lead and fractured copper jackets going in all directions. My 84 yr old neighbor on one side will be saying "Hi" to her lord before the smoke clears..... :D

Thanks for the suggestions though... It might be time to spend some money on an actual sight rather than that nasty fuzzy thing K-Mart passes off as one.... :mad:

[Edit]

Of course the obvious solution is right there..... Let the damn cat out... she has claws and all.... She was living in our yards for a few weeks before we/she adopted us..... But we can't do that..... Sweetie is scared that she will run away...... Bummer....

[/Edit]

Grenades are good for short range work.
:cool:

Hmmm........

1. Ithaca Mod. 37 Deerslayer..................as the adverts used to say "when this riot gun speaks, people listen"

2. Sawn-of, single barrel, .410 shot-gun..........you need small shot say #9 (it is a small rodent)................you need a jubilee clip and a bicycle inner tube. Cut off about 18" of inner tube and firmly attach it to the barrel with the jubilee clip; tie a firm knot in the other end..........and you are hot to trot..........I am sure that you are "experienced" enough to work out what I am getting at ;)

3. Bausch & Lomb


:cool:

Read this first
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...920126200&rd=1
and after go there
http://www.falconers.com/articles/beginners/

but you can rather use a nuke. I guarantee that you will that bastard. (some small side effects altough)

OK Tiger~

Two humane and ecofriendly suggestions:

1. You mention that you have a cat, and that it is not allowed out, so it must have a litter tray right?

Try spreading some of the used litter under your decking and in small discrete heaps around your perimeter. The very scent of a predator will frequently deter rodents.

2. There are ultrasonic devices that deter rodents...............it is a bit like those car immobilisers, it makes the bad guy go somewhere easier. They don't work if you are the only food source though.

I would suggest bird tables to feed the birds, rather than on the ground.............6" of anti-climb paint on the uprights would make them secure from rodents.

I am using the principle that no food = no rodents.

Also, if your cat is neutered and being fed regularly, she is unlikely to stray. So you could let her out. I would recommend combing her regularly, this builds the bond.............my female cat is feral, she was found living wild in Wembley football stadium!.........she doesn't go more than a couple of gardens from us. A word of warning though! my cat just grabs hold of rodents and brings them into the house and lets them go :eek:

Just a few thoughts

:D

LOL.... There have been some interesting suggestions to my plight..... Some feasible, others just a tad problematic.... ;)

The eco-friendly methods suggested by Nihil had already been considered but, I'm afraid to say, testosterone is kicking in.....

The final decision, again from Nihil.....

Bausch and Lomb....

Here ratty, ratty, ratty..... :eek:

Assuming ratty is on a hard surface at the time you next get a shot. Aim very low, depending on your elevation. The idea is to bounce the round onto ratty from below. Much more fun than a straight kill shot. Sick i no, the result of hanging about with a farmers son when i was a young lad.

Jinxy:

LOL.... If ratty shows herself tonight that was going to be the plan.... She's on crazy paving so it isn't a perfect surface by any means but I was going to pass up the headshot, (which I want so she doesn't disappear into the shrubbery because then sweetie will never go out there again unless I can find the little devil), and go for the body just behind the shoulder and aim really low knowing that if I overcompensate I should get the "bounce"..... I figure that particular "fuzzy mass" amongst all the others will be easier to hit than her silly little head.... ;)

I killed a squirell with a 12 gauge once... There wasn't much squirel left after that... The little bastard kept crapping in our yard, and the dog was too slow to catch him, and the cats at that point in time were kittens. I went to get the .22 and it was jammed, of course me being 10 I didn't know how to fix that, so my mom said she "guessed" she would let me use the shotgun by my self, just this once, as long as she was watching me. Even at 10 I was able to use a 12 gauge without blowing my shoulder to pieces.. How? I don't know... Guess I'm just lucky or something... It didn't even hurt all that bad... Shotguns are fun :D

americans & shotguns ----> what a lovely couple :P

Looks like that everybody there want to go back in time to "Daniel Boone Days"....

They didn't have shotguns back in those days... They had 30 lb. muzzloaders that were about 6 ft long. Those things are VERY awkward to shoot.

You should try shotguns some time caco, they are quite enjoyable ;)

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They didn't have shotguns back in those days... They had 30 lb. muzzloaders that were about 6 ft long. Those things are VERY awkward to shoot.

You should try shotguns some time caco, they are quite enjoyable

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I've always had my AK-47 to get the job done :D....unfortunately I couldn't bring it to the states

Unfortunatelly here you go to jail if you even have one. :P

To ppl from a diferent culture (like me) its just funny to see how you (americans) just love to carry guns.

I cant imagine someone here shooting rats and mice on backyard. its damn crazy.

I bet some guys here have also other "heavy" weapons at home. Perhaps granades...

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Originally posted here by cacosapo
americans & shotguns ----> what a lovely couple :P

Looks like that everybody there want to go back in time to "Daniel Boone Days"....

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Now, wait a second, I make my money shooting seismic readings for oil & N -gas. Sometimes depending on the terrain (specifically low depths) I use smaller charges instead of dynamite to get a better 3-D reading. These smaller charges happen to be 12 gauge shells, my team uses, depending on the shot timing, 2 shots every 200 feet and 10 shots in the front of every shot point and at the end of every shot point. I buy over 20 New England (cheap ass) shot guns from Wal-Mart each year. My team keeps 3 shotguns on the tailgate of the 4X4 each run, because the shot intervals are so close (5-sec) the barrel gets piping hot, that's why they carry three. We go through about 3 miles of shot points on an average shoot. (you do the math)

OK another ecological solution:

You need some bread, some sultanas/raisins , some sugar and a lot of RUM :drink: There are two methods:

1. Make the bait with the suggested ingredients.............that should slow down the target?

2. Drink all the rum, then try to find the rat :D

OK the Bausch & Lomb is probably a bit over the top unless you are mounting it on a Feinwerkbau, Walther or Anschutz.................possibly a Bushnell would suffice?

A hawk is no good, not even a falcon or raptor (F-16 & F-22)...........you need an owl for that solution to work

Happy hunting

:D

It is with deep sadness that I have to report the passing of Racheal "Ratty" The Rat.

Racheal met her untimely demise during a midday feeding spree at 11:57am Saturday 28th August 2004. Her death was quick and painless.

I found something out though - the way these frigging glasses sit on my face I wasn't actually looking through them the other night.... I was looking just over them..... :rolleyes:

I am redeemed..... :D

TS,

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. May Ratty RIP, and each and every vermin within gunsight take note! Ratty is calling you from the grave, find another yard! :eek:

cheers

I think the shotgun approach would've been more entertaining. :ubergun: :D Your neighbor probly would've called 911 tho - which wouldn't be very good for you but it'd make one hell of a story. I personally use a CO2 powered bb pistol that friggin rocks. It's insanely accurate even tho the Wal-Mart site sux. I can hit damn near anything from 30+ yards with it....providing *I* can shoot accurately enough.

I dunno.... Racheal did a backflip that would have got a silver in Athens... It entertained the crap outta me.... ;) The shotgun would have given me two deaths in one shot - Racheal and my 84 year old little old lady neighbor..... I could have been the first person up for manslaughter for killing a rat.... <LOL>

Take off the sight and learn the Weaver method with a pistol.... With practice you will find that it too is insanely accurate even when coming from an "unready" stance to firing and hitting. It can be accomplished in way under 2 seconds. Try it.... You'll love it... If you can't find a thing out there describing it PM me....

Hey tiger..............you got it using mettalics? :D

I always preferred those..............

The shotgun would not be a problem if you followed my advice...............that is how you silence them!

They will return :cool:

Nihil:

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that is how you silence them

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Er... Yep... I know... ;)

However.... The $200 investment for Ratty, while being far from outside my fiscal ability, just didn't seem worth it..... I can hit my target.... I just found out that as you get older the target might be a little "fuzzier" than it used to be.... Of course, if I had realized I was looking _over_ my stupid glasses instead of _through_ them Ratty might have gone on shot one.... I hate glasses....

You have no idea how shot two, even with adjustment for range _had_ to be right.... It was... It was a pride thing..... :rolleyes: What can I say?

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They will return

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Yep, sure.... and I will keep my sweetie safe from those nasty marauders who "are dirty, carry disease, will bite you if you get too close, etc. etc....". Plus, it's good to keep the eye "in" on an unpredictable target..... even if it's a tad fuzzy..... :D

got a good laugh out of me and my friends, nice