# Ratting with terriers



## landf (7 March 2016)

I am looking for someone to come and deal with a rat problem.  Can anyone give me contact details of a terrier man in Wiltshire/Hampshire.  PM if you prefer


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## JanetGeorge (8 March 2016)

Contact your local hunt - they should know someone.  I'm not sure if terriers who normally hunt foxes will do rats "professionally" - but hell - almost any dog will kill a rat given half a chance.  One of my terriers is particularly good at rats - but even the dopey Lab has caught and killed a few.


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## Dry Rot (8 March 2016)

You want to control rats? Forget terriers, except for some fun. Try pest control in Yell.com. Rats carry nasty diseases and need to be got rid of, pronto! They also breed at an alarming rate. I left 'a few' for some terrier pups. Very soon I had a plague on my hands and they very quickly learnt to live in places no terrier could reach.


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## Clodagh (8 March 2016)

I love ratting with terriers, awesome fun, more fun than many a days foxhunting. It is probably illegal now though?
We used to take our fox worked terriers to a friends farm when he mucked out the cattle sheds in spring. It was a free for all and the terriers had stiff necks the next day. I agree with JG, the hunt may know someone.


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## Orangehorse (8 March 2016)

Don't tell my terrier that it is illegal.


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## Clodagh (8 March 2016)

Orangehorse said:



			Don't tell my terrier that it is illegal.
		
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I think it is OK if he does it on his own.


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## landf (9 March 2016)

Dry Rot said:



			You want to control rats? Forget terriers, except for some fun. Try pest control in Yell.com. Rats carry nasty diseases and need to be got rid of, pronto! They also breed at an alarming rate. I left 'a few' for some terrier pups. Very soon I had a plague on my hands and they very quickly learnt to live in places no terrier could reach.
		
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Yes, I'm aware that they carry diseases and need to be dealt with - hence my post....  We are managing to just about keep on top of them with poison but they've taken up residence under the chicken run so need to be dug out in the presence of some enthusiastic terriers!   I realise they won't get them all but at least it will cut the numbers down in one foul swoop than we can keep going with the poison.


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## Countryman (10 March 2016)

On the legal point, ratting with terriers is still perfectly legal. The Hunting Act exempted rats and rabbits from the legislation - for some inexplicable reason. Apparently hounds killing a mink for instance is cruel, while killing a rat is not....


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## Alec Swan (11 March 2016)

Countryman said:



			On the legal point, ratting with terriers is still perfectly legal. The Hunting Act exempted rats and rabbits from the legislation - for some inexplicable reason. Apparently hounds killing a mink for instance is cruel, while killing a rat is not....
		
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The answer to that is simple;  Hunting with hounds is viewed as being 'fun' and 'sport',  but not rabbiting and ratting which are generally viewed as being necessary.  Those who drafted the Law have quite clearly never been ratting with terriers! 

The days of considering what is 'acceptable'  and what isn't are long gone,  sadly.

Alec.


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## Doris68 (11 March 2016)

My cat left a rather large rat outside the bedroom door...lovely present!  BTW, did anyone see (on FB) that enormous rat that someone found in London...was that really a rat?  It looked like a Coypu but I don't think that Coypus have tails as long as that?!


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## D66 (12 March 2016)

We don't use poison incase the corpses are eaten by owls, but we shut the chickens in the hen house and put down five rat traps - the snap type and a couple of live traps overnight.  need to do this for a week or two.


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## Fiagai (19 March 2016)

On note of rat numbers - I have seen very few rats out and about this winter and spring. I can only surmise that the high rainfall may have had an effect through an increase in flooding of ground burrows etc. Any one else notice anything similar?


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