# To kill a rat **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-rat/542650 "2010-06-10T14:11:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-rat/542650/41 "2010-06-11T11:22:20Z")
> [@rainy](#): > > But… > > [http://discovermagazine.com/2006/dec/20-things-rats](http://discovermagazine.com/2006/dec/20-things-rats) > > Originally Posted by Discover Magazine . com > A rat can tread water for three days … Not if he’s wearing concrete overshoes. ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-rat/542650/42 "2010-06-11T12:52:06Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I found my (20-something-year-old) ‘Mini-Mag’ .22 LR shotshells, and put them in the revolver in case I need to despatch a rat that was incautious enough to have stepped on a sticky trap. I’ve always heard that shooting those damages the barrel and you shouldn’t use them in your “good” gun. Anyone know if that is true? ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-rat/542650/43 "2010-06-11T14:37:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Warfarin. Just remember that it sounds like “warfare”. The same stuff, incidentally, is used as medicine for folks at risk for heart attacks or strokes (though for that application, it’s usually called Coumadin). Cheers mate, ignorance fought ! ---
**Author:** ![jmwatts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jmwatts/32/17348_2.png) [@jmwatts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmwatts)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-rat/542650/44 "2010-06-12T02:12:33Z")
The old fashioned rat traps work, but damned if I am going to set anymore of those things! Wayyy too likely i’m going to get hurt. I finally broke down and got a rat zapper ([ratzapper.com](http://ratzapper.com)). Very high-tech. Very humane. Just hope the other rats don’t figure it out. You’ve got to put something extremely yummy in it as bait. I used dog food with a peanut butter glaze. Since they die before they get to it, I don’t think I ever had to replace it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-rat/542650/45 "2010-06-12T02:21:14Z")
A tip if you’re going to use snap traps. Get some paper bags. Lay the bag down on its side and set the trap inside the bag. Because snap traps tend to be pretty disgusting when they’re successful. The pressure of the snap bar will often make the trapped rat’s organs explode out of its body. This is not something you’re going to want to clean up. Just throw out the whole bag. ---
**Author:** ![GavinB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ad7895/32.png) [@GavinB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GavinB)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-rat/542650/46 "2010-06-12T04:25:25Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I’ve had great luck trapping mice/rats with glue traps with a dab of peanut butter right in the middle of it. **Its true that you’re likely to find the miserable creature still alive when you check them, suffering, but I can’t be arsed to care about that.** I just pick up the trap, put it into an airtight baggie and throw the vermin away. Wow, you’re a complete a-hole. You’ve just given me another reason to hate people … and have my faith in humanity drop a little. Kill the little bugger, I don’t care - but don’t leave it in the trash to starve it to death. Put it out of its misery. “Can’t be arsed” - what kind of a moronic excuse is that? There’s a fine line between getting rid of and killing pest animals as a necessity, and wanton animal cruelty. And you crossed it, knob-jockey. LOL @ your username too… what you’re doing is essentially evil as well. It’s times like these that I think some people deserve the misfortune that crosses their path, it’s called karma. What goes around, comes around buddy! ---
**Author:** ![GavinB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ad7895/32.png) [@GavinB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GavinB)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-rat/542650/47 "2010-06-12T04:36:43Z")
For the OP, I recommend your traditional traps. They’re very effective. Glue traps suck - you’re left with a scared, half-dead animal that has probably either torn its skin off from one side or gnawing at its limb. Not to mention the trap itself would be full of piss and poop, that’s a hazard in itself. And then there’s the issue of disposal - what exactly do you do? I have no idea what compels people to throw the animal into the rubbish while it is still alive on a glue trap. That’s just wrong and blatantly sadistic, ugh. I don’t like mice in my house either, but I don’t feel the need to torture them to death. For the record I have no issues with people getting rid of mice, just scumbags like FoieGrasIsEvil who feel it necessary to prolong the animal’s misery when it’s not needed. And use laziness to justify their actions. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-rat/542650/48 "2010-06-12T12:44:34Z")
> [@rainy](#): > > But… > > [http://discovermagazine.com/2006/dec/20-things-rats](http://discovermagazine.com/2006/dec/20-things-rats) > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by Discover Magazine . com > > A rat can tread water for three days and survive being flushed down the toilet. Based on what I found in the toilet bowl the other day at work I can only conclude one of two things: 1. Rats cannot in fact tread water over night. 2. One of my employees is shitting whole complete undigested rats. I’m going with #1 ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-rat/542650/49 "2010-06-12T13:13:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Warfarin. Just remember that it sounds like “warfare”. The same stuff, incidentally, is used as medicine for folks at risk for heart attacks or strokes (though for that application, it’s usually called Coumadin). Although most modern rodent baits now use a different anticoagulant poison, commonly [brodifacoum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brodifacoum). Got a handy memory trick for that one? Brodifacoum is more effective. Unfortunately, it’s more effective partially because of an extremely long elimination half life so that the rat or mouse can build up a lethal dose over several feedings. Secondary poisonings of scavengers eating the dead rodent become more of a concern. I’d still consider using it, just not on an ongoing basis. With regard to the suffering of the rat, you might not want to think too hard about rat poison either. Hemorrhaging to death internally isn’t a particularly nice way to go. Another reason for using this type of poison is that it is supposed to keep them from dying in your walls and stinking up the place. They will get extremely thirsty, go out to find water, and die outside, at least in theory. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-rat/542650/50 "2010-06-12T15:05:20Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > You could go the natural route: [Elaphe obsoleta](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaphe_obsoleta) Pah! A pussy of a reptile. You want rodent control? > **[Inland taipan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_Taipan)** > > The inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus), also commonly known as the western taipan, small-scaled snake, or fierce snake, is a species of extremely venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to semiarid regions of central east Australia. Aboriginal Australians living in those regions named it dandarabilla. It was formally described by Frederick McCoy in 1879 and William John Macleay in 1882, but for the next 90 years, it was a mystery to the scientific community Based on... > **[Eastern brown snake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_brown_snake)** > > The eastern brown snake (Pseudonaja textilis), often referred to as the common brown snake, is a species of extremely venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is native to eastern and central Australia and southern New Guinea. It was first described by André Marie Constant Duméril, Gabriel Bibron, and Auguste Duméril in 1854. The adult eastern brown snake has a slender build and can grow to 2 m (7 ft) in length. The colour of its surface ranges from pale brown to black, while its und... Note the venom ratings. Number two is endemic where I live. They are why I really don’t like finding mice and rats around. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-rat/542650/51 "2010-06-14T06:38:23Z")
There was a dark grey rat with a broken neck and a bulging eyeball Friday morning before I took off. Latex gloves, plastic bag, trash. Nothing when I got home tonight. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-rat/542650.md?page=2)