Someone recently asked me how to get a Rat Terrier to actually "rat", meaning to chase, capture, and kill their namesake rodent. I'm full of opinions...not necessarily based on personal experience with ratting but from working with the hunting instinct of other breeds.
Two observations...one, my barn was infested with rats last winter and I very smugly ensconced two of my highest-drive ratties there, thinking "HA! foiled you, rattus Norvegicus!" And for a week or so it did seem to work. I never found any bodies, but the rats themselves had vacated. Not for long, however. The signs were unmistakable...they were back, but had simply moved up to run along rafters and ledges that the dogs couldn't reach. And, very successfully, they still snuck into food bins from above...rats can climb quite well. Dogs can't. Strike one, Canis Domesticus. So for the remainder of the winter, the rats proliferated above a height of around six feet (my huntress Tuuliki can leap that high!), the dogs kept the floor of the barn nicely free of rats until the unfortunate day I accidentally left the door to the loft adjar and the dogs took out their frustrations (I think the rats taunted them from on high) on my chickens. My flock of fourteen roosters was reduced to four that day. The dogs moved back to the house, and I put out poison. Second observation: if you really don't want rats in your barn, don't keep chickens AND consign yourself to the grim necessity of poisons.
So much for personal experience. Now, truly, I think you could easily train ratties to rat. We do it with the Shepherds...no, not to catch rats, but to channel their hunting (prey) instincts into goals we have for them; who would think you'd need to teach a dog to bite? But, for schutzhund, that's precisely what we do. We start with youngsters, eight weeks or even younger, and we play with them in structured ways that channel their natural instincts to chase and bite into choreographed behaviors that ultimately end up with the incredible feats you see Police dogs do. Same for ratties...the local terrier people have competitions for "Earth Dogs" and they train their dogs for it...they buy rats, dig artificial "burrows" and teach the dogs to chase and corner the rats. I haven't done it, but I know the basic principle is the same as teaching my shepherds to bite the bad guy...start young, enhance existing instincts, channel the drive towards your goal, reward with a "taste" of the prey; in the shepherds case that's the guy's sleeve, for a rattie it might be, well, some of the trainers I've talked to go through a lot of rats! :))
You ever heard of the drowning trap? Old timers up here in Maine used it,some still use it: Basically, a barrel with a baited "float" which is basically a board that will shift out from under the rats when they go to the bait. It tips over with their weight, dropping them into the water below. Some people put antifreeze in those barrels so the bodies don't stink while they leave the barrel out for extended periods (yuck!), but I rather think that's not a good idea.
ReplyDeleteI bet there are plans on the net, too!
So now I know what happened to your exotic chickens. How awful!
Naw, the hens were safely behind their protective wire. It was the roosters who had free roam of the loft that were accessible and vulnerable. Four of them survived, unfortunately none of my pets or favorites.
ReplyDeleteI didn't deliberately intend to create a drowning trap, but passively discovered it when I found rats floating in the water bucket I use to haul water to the chickens. I had filled it to save myself time for the next day, and it happened to have been dry for awhile so the rats were thirsty. I haven't tried the baited version, but will give it a go. No antifreeze, that's at least as bad as poison baits for danger to other animals.
I love the picture, so attentive and happy with such a delightful curve of the tongue but it makes me think of spring, not fall.
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