Rats!

[Stu]

How many times have you been to a Commercial Fishery and witnessed the ever-increasing Rat population?

How about an over nighter and had your bait bag eaten into by Rats?

What concerns me is the increased chance of contracting Weils disease.
We have more and more high protein baits being used, in turn the rats are growing larger and in numbers. They are not afraid to come up to us any more and pinch food.
Where will this stop?

Poisons are not an option as there is other wildlife around, also the rats immune system has grown accustom to most of the poisons anyway so:

What can the fishery owners do?

What can we do as Anglers?

I am not wanting this thread to be a Pop at Commercial fisheries but more of an awareness of a threat to us as Anglers.
[V]

Stu

******L.U.F.C.

 

[Lid]

If it were my fishery, I'd shut it for a couple of days, get the terriers and guns out and shoot the lot. Much kinder than poison and more effective.

 

[norm]

stu i just click on your posts to look at ya sig (LOL)

 

[Larry]

Stu, just look at my new quote in my signature & Take in

Anyone who stops learning is old.
Wether at 20 or 80.
Anyone who keeps learning stays young.
Cheer's Larry AKA as toma say's Shimano Man The Tackle Tart

 

[Lid]

I've just this minute seen in my local paper (Welwyn & Hatfield Times, p.16) that the council sent a marksmen into some local woods in Hatfield to get rid of 'a plague of rats that had been invading residents gardens'.

It is a good method, but would take organization to keep it effective and safe around a commercial fishery.

 

[anyexcuse]

With our main club water the local council(who we lease from) have taken a keen interest.Initially they said there wasnt a lot they could do, as fluctuating water levels meant the bait would get wet and lose its effect. However due to members of the public complaining that our furry friends were taking a liking to dropped burger/chicken wrappers(no firms mentioned) in front of them and the kids, an expert was called.
And what an interesting chap he was; a positive mine of info - had an amazing catalogue of different devices to catch the little critters.We've ended up with rather smart waste bins provided by the council, with locked rat poison traps underneath them.The rats scuttle through a hole in the base to gain access to a meal they could die for!!
It just goes to show that as anglers we invariably get ignored when we complain, but as soon as the general public are affected, something gets done.

Dave@Brynmill&DistictAC

 

[Stu]

That's Brilliant Dave from the Council.
But what are the fishery owners doing about them? We pay them between 5 and 20 per day and i for one would like to see some more done about cutting the numbers of Rats where i fish.



Stu

******L.U.F.C.

 

[Lid]

Interesting.

Here in Welwyn Garden City at Stanborough Lakes there are loads of rats and plenty rat baiting things around the margins. Either some-one doesn't know what they are doing, or the little creatures are immune to the poison. I'll contact the council and find out. I think I'll become a non fishing resident out for walks with the family.

 

[Trogg]

Dian was fishing at Izaak Waltons one day when a bloody great surfaced right next to her floating bread 9this was before Paul banned floating baits)& took it, she gently struck to get rid of the rat but it wasn't letting go.

In the end she had nearly reeled it all the way in before it gave up.

Me i've always got my black widow catty with me (just incase i see a rat or a member of the black plauge) i used to take my G10 with me but the spring wore out so i don't bother anymore with it anymore.

Stu

Well done for bringing this up mate (this is another of the reasons i posted about leptospirosis/weils disease last year), another thing that causes rats is the amount of food/drink cans left on the banks by anglers (oh how i hated saying that) BUT its true some anglers just don't think which is a shame [].

I never thought of it being the high protein bait causing the problem to be honest mate, i just thought of the way baits smell so strongly now.

Maybe we should make a point of asking at the fisheries just what they plan to do about the rats & the risk of infection to anglers using their fishery??

I mean in this day & age if you could prove that you got the disease whilst at their fishery couldn't you sue them??


Alan

Just cos i ain't postin, it don't mean i ain't watchin

 

[Terrier]

Good topic Stu.
I put a lot of the blame on anglers shoulders.
Some well meaning anglers chuck bait next to their peg when they've packed in for the day to feed the ducks, birds etc.
It doesn't take a rat long to sniff out a load of sweet smelling groundbait.

Take it home with you. Freeze it, you can use it again.

Terrier.

You can't beat dipping your waggler!

 

[Dave]

When I used to work on the trout farms any spilt feed had to be cleaned up as otherwise it would be gone by he morning and food sacks had to be securely locked up.
The rats on the farms were attracted to the pellets and the high protein content meant that they literally did grow as big as cats.
Poisons rarely worked effectively, they became wise to traps and the only way to control them to some degree was by shooting them.

On one farm in particular, there was a hawthorn copse in the middle of the farm that was riddled with rat tunnels. We used to purposely spill a handful of pellets on the path at the side of the copse and as the dark fell, sit out of sight with a .22 air rifle and a twelve bore shotgun.
The smaller, young rats were the first out of the holes and they would go for the pellets. They were winged with the air rifle and then used to let out a squealing sound which attracted the attention of the elders.

They would even then, gingerly come out of the holes to try and drag the wounded young back in. As each came out we again used the air rifles to pick them off as they came but this time aim to kill.

Eventually you would hear this strange sound and scores of them would appear and rush at the young to get them back in. It was at this point that the shotguns would be put to use as there would literally be 30+ at a time coming out of the holes.

Later we would go down with a shovel and clean up but even though there might be a bag full at a time, you could not rid the farm of the problem as they bred as fast.

As Stu says, controls do need to be bought into force for everyones benefit and health



Dave

 

[Lid]

Dave

Did you ever try gassing the tunnels after you'd reduced the numbers by shooting? If you do this with rabbits you can very nearly get rid of the lot, at least for about a year or two.

 

[Dave]

We tried everything Leighton but the tunnels were too deep and vast to get any real effect. As for Jack Russels, the farm ones wouldn't even go near the holes []

Dave

 

[martin.]

THIS IS NOT JUST A PROBLEM ON COMERCIAL FISHERIES
the increase in the level of the water table over the last few years has meant that there has been an increase in the number of rats on the riverside & in the towns ect being seen
ive spent nearly 40yrs fishing the rivers in the countryside & small towns & i have seen a large increase of them


tight lines.
martin.
talk fishing flip football

 

[anyexcuse]

I guess when it comes down to it, this isnt an anglers-only problem but is a national problem.True we can add to it or lessen it's effects by our actions, but unless the government take the threat seriously, little money will be pumped into the eradication of our long-tailed friends. I dare say that unless the Cabinets sarnies are polished off one day by a family of parlimentary rats, nothing will get down!
All you can do in the meantime is complain like hell to your local council. I'm not sure whether commercial fisheries would have to pay for a ratcatcher to visit, or whether the council would do it out of duty of care. But once you've complained to the council, someones got to do something or you complain again.

Dave@Brynmill&DistictAC

 

[angler-mark]

Dave, most of the RATS I know about, WORK in parliment [][][]

Tight Lines

Mark

 

[scouse carp]

A commercial fishery i go to has the odd friend or two over by the looks of things after a match on a saturday and they are armed with shooters and they go looking for the rats, suppose it gets afew but dosnt stop the problem!!!!!

If you are first you are first, if you are second you are nothin - believe you are the best and then make sure you are! - Bill Shankley

 

[carper2002]

The rat problam is going to get worse i dont know what its like
in your neck of the woods but here in middlesbrough the council
will only take rubbish from wheelie bins any bags over and above
just get left for dogs and god knows what else to rip apart and feed of so in time its going to be a bigger problam than a few
when your fishing (a well known Northern Fishery) is wick with them but they are trying to sort it out
cheers

RONNIE (carper2002)

 

[Ian C]

Good thread guys[]

I'd say that most comments here have some creedence and the problem is unlikely to improve without some drastic action. Bearing in mind that there is a rat for every persson in the UK really drives home just how many rats there are, and how big the problem is [:0]

I personally think the fishery owners should make an effort to control the pests or encourage some form of controlled cull by willing members. I'm not one for totally desemating the rat population, but I think a more natural balance could be acheived if a controlled cull was done properly/regularly.

A report from the BBC 11/2/2001...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1165043.stm

Taken fron the 2002 national rodent survey...
http://www.npta.org.uk/Press release 1.htm


Ian C

 

[Ian C]

Sorry. I don't think the second linked works. So try this one...

http://www.npta.org.uk/Press%20release%201.htm



Ian C