# I pit people using rat poison unnecessarily. (Mercy killing of mouse) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 8, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615 "2012-07-08T18:42:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/21 "2012-07-08T22:37:29Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > And yet you admit to letting your cats run around outside to torture and kill other animals, let alone to die the miserable deaths that outdoor cats so often do. > > Tell you what, you can get the fuck down off that high horse you think you’re riding and start sucking its dick like you ought to. Oh lordy, an indoor cat zealot. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/22 "2012-07-08T22:41:13Z")
> [@Robert Anson Heinlein](#): > > _[K]illing a rat is no problem. Stuff it into a sack. Beat the sack with an ax. Then shoot it. Then drown it. Burn the sack with the dead rat in it. Meanwhile its mate has raised another litter of pups and you now have a dozen rats to replace it. Boss, all we’ve ever been able to do with rats is fight them to a draw. We never win. If we let up for a moment the rats pull ahead._ On a completely unrelated note, I take 5mg of rat poison (warfarin) daily. By the way, the name “warfarin” has nothing to do with “warfare”, although it certainly seems as though it should. The drug was actually named for the **W** isconsin **A** nimal **R** esearch **F** acility. ---
**Author:** ![Crab\_Rangoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Crab\_Rangoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crab_Rangoon)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/23 "2012-07-08T22:47:59Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Mice are stinky, destructive little bastards that carry disease. What they can’t ruin by chewing, they shit or piss all over. Rats are the same only bigger. Fuck them. Traps, poison, air guns, starvation…these are all valid methods of eradicating them and can be used in concert. Outdoors, I cheer the weasels, stoats, owls, raptors, and other predators that keep the filthy beggars under some control. Feeling bad for a poisoned mouse is like feeling bad for staph infection that has been treated with antibiotics. I wholeheartedly concur. We kill them any way we need to - snap traps and poison for those who are too smart to get caught in the snap traps. DIE RODENTS DIE!!! I don’t have strong feelings about it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/24 "2012-07-09T01:33:34Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Yes. And I didn’t ask to be drawn into it. But the kind of people that use such poisons and traps rarely are the kind with enough decency to do their own mercy killing. I generally shoot them, myself, but the BB gun is rather under powered. I really don’t _care_ that they usually aren’t killed immediately, and instead, crawl off to die of their mortal wounds. No sympathy here, for you or the mouse. ETA: That’s usually chipmunks, but no sympathy for mice or rats, either. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/25 "2012-07-09T01:50:58Z")
> [@sevenwood](#): > > A couple of years ago my mom (in a nursing home at the time) had a problem with blood clots. She freaked out when she discovered that the anti-coagulant that the nursing home folks were giving her was - you guessed it - Warfarin. In a somewhat lesser dosage, of course. and if she had know it was found because of cattle disease she would have freaked a bit more. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/26 "2012-07-09T01:54:36Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > By the way, the name “warfarin” has nothing to do with “warfare”, although it certainly seems as though it should. The drug was actually named for the **W** isconsin **A** nimal **R** esearch **F** acility. Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation though some might claim the alumni are animals. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/27 "2012-07-09T01:58:51Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Did you use the poison like the OP described? Used some stuff I got from a neighbor who’s in the business. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/28 "2012-07-09T03:34:48Z")
Wait a minute, I think everyone is overlooking a crucial point here. There are Home Depots in the Netherlands? I didn’t know that. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/29 "2012-07-09T03:37:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Why would rats stick around in a home that offers no food? Just to be annoying? Yes, actually. We had a mouse infestation last year after a period of torrential rains (weeks) and the rodents came into our house to escape flooded subterranean nests. They weren’t here for the food: we had them in living areas, in the bathroom and bedrooms as well. I only ever saw one single mouse in the kitchen. But the smell of mouse is something I cannot bide, and they weren’t being tempted by the traps, so we resorted to poison. It worked…shame for the mice, but if it’s a battle between them and me, then sucks to be a mouse. ---
**Author:** ![Jules27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@Jules27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules27)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/30 "2012-07-09T08:30:20Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Mice are stinky, destructive little bastards that carry disease. What they can’t ruin by chewing, they shit or piss all over. Rats are the same only bigger. Fuck them. Traps, poison, air guns, starvation…these are all valid methods of eradicating them and can be used in concert. Outdoors, I cheer the weasels, stoats, owls, raptors, and other predators that keep the filthy beggars under some control. Feeling bad for a poisoned mouse is like feeling bad for staph infection that has been treated with antibiotics. You’re a douchebag. Mice are mammals that can feel pain - bacteria don’t even have a nervous system. Comparing the two is completely stupid. And what’s ‘valid’ doesn’t make it right. For example, I knew once of a person who would catch rats in a metal cage and pour boiling water over them to kill them. Slowly scalded to death - is that a ‘valid’ method too? I don’t think it’s the mice we should be worried about, but rather, sociopaths like yourself who can’t seem to understand that doing particular acts cause needless suffering. To be perfectly frank, I’d be worried if someone had zero empathy for a live mammal squealing in pain as they are slowly killing it. I don’t kill animals in extremely cruel ways because: a) they have the capacity to feel pain and suffer and b) imagine if it was done to me. I imagine that if I were to die, I’d rather quick and painless than slow and agonising. That people would advocate slowly torturing any animal to death speak volumes of them. I’m not a stranger to killing things, either. I don’t disagree with killing mice. But some of the ‘methods’ people come up with are just disgusting, and a line really needs to be drawn. And it’s a fine line between effectively killing a pest vs intentional torture. Maybe some of you should get a conscience, because from what I’m reading, my faith in humanity has dropped just a little bit. Cruelty and torture isn’t acceptable, whether it be to a rat, a dog or to a human being. ---
**Author:** ![Jules27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@Jules27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules27)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/31 "2012-07-09T08:38:30Z")
> [@Dolomite](#): > > I have to deal with a yearly infestation that comes from the dilapidated storage buildings in my neighbor’s backyard. I’ve used glue traps, and have caught so many that between the time they’d become mired in the glue, and the time I cleaned the trap, the mice were chewing on their cell mate’s tail. I’ve redone my kitchen so that no floor level cabinets remain. I really didn’t like having to worried if the mouse I was trying to remove from the trap was carrying some disease. See, this is what I mean. There are better ways to eliminate the problem, yet a glue trap is still used. Glue traps in particular are incredibly inhumane. The animal just gets stuck and suffers, pulls parts of itself off and tries to gnaw off a limb. If not dispatched, it will probably starve to death. I think they should not be legal, because they are unnecessarily and excessively cruel. By the looks of things you leave them on the traps for prolonged periods, rather than put them out of their misery. Correct me if I am wrong though, I don’t want to judge. Since when is it “pest control” to leave a creature on a glue trap to starve? There’s the intentional cruelty right there. It doesn’t alleviate the problem at all, you’ve caught the animal already. Besides, it might escape the trap. I really think that if people use glue traps, they should dispatch the animal ASAP. People shouldn’t be using glue traps if they are unable to humanely euthanise the animal on it. The complete lack of decency is pretty sickening. Don’t torture the things, they can’t help being mice. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![palacheck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e57/32.png) [@palacheck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palacheck)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/32 "2012-07-09T09:00:17Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > Wait a minute, I think everyone is overlooking a crucial point here. There are Home Depots in the Netherlands? I didn’t know that. You’d spend less time writing down American corporations that haven’t made it over there than you would writing down those that have. Globalization is a hungry beast. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/33 "2012-07-09T09:11:43Z")
> [@Jules27](#): > > You’re a douchebag. Mice are mammals that can feel pain - bacteria don’t even have a nervous system. Comparing the two is completely stupid. > > I don’t think it’s the mice we should be worried about, but rather, sociopaths like yourself who can’t seem to understand that doing particular acts cause needless suffering. > But some of the ‘methods’ people come up with are just disgusting, and a line really needs to be drawn. And it’s a fine line between effectively killing a pest vs intentional torture. > > Maybe some of you should get a conscience, because from what I’m reading, my faith in humanity has dropped just a little bit. Cruelty and torture isn’t acceptable, whether it be to a rat, a dog or to a human being. > [@Jules27](#): > > See, this is what I mean. There are better ways to eliminate the problem, yet a glue trap is still used. > Correct me if I am wrong though, I don’t want to judge. > The complete lack of decency is pretty sickening. Don’t torture the things, they can’t help being mice. :rolleyes: We’re sociopaths now…we’re damned, all us mice-murderers. After all, rodents are human too, or something. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jules27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@Jules27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules27)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/34 "2012-07-09T09:20:39Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > We’re sociopaths now…we’re damned, all us mice-murderers. After all, rodents are human too, or something. > > 😃 I like how you’re trying to misinterpret me, and failing miserably. I can’t recall calling mice humans. I’ll hazard a guess and say you’re putting words into my mouth because you have nothing decent to add to the discussion. If someone wants to torture a mouse to death for the hell of it, with no remorse, then they’re sociopaths. If you don’t fall into this category, then you have nothing to worry about. So I’ll say it again, just to be clear - I don’t disagree with animal culling, but some of the methods used (ie. starving an animal to death on a glue trap) is separate from the act of pest control, it entirely comes from the mindset. Such methods are extremely callous and unnecessary. A mouse might not be a human being, but it can sure feel pain. Seems like decency is a hard thing to come by these days. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/35 "2012-07-09T09:27:54Z")
And who the fuck, pray tell, is advocating mouse-torture in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Jules27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@Jules27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules27)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/36 "2012-07-09T09:32:21Z")
> [@Dolomite](#): > > I have to deal with a yearly infestation that comes from the dilapidated storage buildings in my neighbor’s backyard. **I’ve used glue traps, and have caught so many that between the time they’d become mired in the glue, and the time I cleaned the trap, the mice were chewing on their cell mate’s tail.** I’ve redone my kitchen so that no floor level cabinets remain. I really didn’t like having to worried if the mouse I was trying to remove from the trap was carrying some disease. > > I went with the nuclear option and baited the shit out of the house. Now I don’t have a problem anymore. > [@Scumpup](#): > > Mice are stinky, destructive little bastards that carry disease. What they can’t ruin by chewing, they shit or piss all over. Rats are the same only bigger. Fuck them. Traps, poison, air guns, **starvation…these are all valid methods** of eradicating them and can be used in concert. Outdoors, I cheer the weasels, stoats, owls, raptors, and other predators that keep the filthy beggars under some control. **Feeling bad for a poisoned mouse is like feeling bad for staph infection that has been treated with antibiotics**. I rest my case. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/37 "2012-07-09T09:34:31Z")
> [@Jules27](#): > > I rest my case. What case? ---
**Author:** ![Jules27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@Jules27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules27)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/38 "2012-07-09T09:37:17Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > What case? You wanted people advocating mouse-torture, I provided the necessary quotes. So, do you have anything relevant to add other than strawman arguments? You know very full well the point I’m making, I hope it’s not lost on you because you might hate mice or think they’re “icky”. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/39 "2012-07-09T10:15:21Z")
> [@Jules27](#): > > You wanted people advocating mouse-torture, I provided the necessary quotes. > > So, do you have anything relevant to add other than strawman arguments? You know very full well the point I’m making, I hope it’s not lost on you because you might hate mice or think they’re “icky”. **You** made the claim that glue-traps, starvation and poisoning are torture. YOU are the one who needs to back that up with evidence (apart from emotional appeal). BTW, I quite like mice. I enjoy seeing them in my garden, squiggling around the lemon-balm and ferns. They’re nice little critters. I don’t want them in my house though, fucking in my towels making mouse-babies, and stinking up the place with their mousey-shit. At that point, our otherwise amicable relationship deteriorates, and they’ve gotta go…regardless of method. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/40 "2012-07-09T10:19:48Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > And this how it’s being framed. Killing mice vs not killing them. > > How about instead we frame it the way OP talked about. Killing them in a torturous or aginizing way vs dealing with them in a more humane way? Exactly! I have no problem with quick-kill traps or really fast acting/painless poison. Or with people who do their own mercy killing. Especially if other methods of rodent control have been tried first, like removing food sources and barring entrance. Or getting a dog or cat, that not only catches rodents, but also chases them away by its scent. But such slow-acting poison or glue traps…it is just taht such people seem to care so much more for their own “convenience to the sensibilities” then for the cost of the agonizing suffering to the animal. They don’t seem to realize, care, or even seem to relish, that the mouse has days-long death throes that make the scenes from “Saw” look like an episode of My Little Pony. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615.md?page=3)