A MAN goes to his doctor and says “Doctor, I’ve been having these weird dreams where rats are playing the soccer world cup.”
The doctor says “I see … I’ll write you up some tablets to stop that. Start taking them from tonight.”
The man replies “I can’t tonight but I’ll start taking them from tomorrow.”
“Why from tomorrow? Why not before going to bed tonight?” the doctor asks.
“Because the final is on tonight.”
Just thought I’d start a dry topic with a laugh.
If you use rat or mouse bait, you will have seen the ones marketed as ‘one feed’.
These contain what’s known as a second-generation anticoagulant poisons, and work with only a small amount being eaten, and just the once.
The problem is that the chemical remains in the dead mouse or rat and can poison and kill an animal that subsequently eats it.
So, animals like owls, tawny frogmouths, hawks and eagles, snakes and lizards and pets (like cats and dogs).
The older style rat baits take multiple feeds before the effects of the bait take effect and they break down in the rat’s body faster, so they pose a much less risk of secondary poisoning for other animals.
After many years of lobbying from wildlife preservation groups, animal welfare organisations and researchers, the government body responsible for regulating the use of chemicals – the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) – has released a report recommending that these second-generation anticoagulants be classed as a restricted product.
The result is that they won’t be sold to the general public over the counter at hardware and rural produce stores, but will be available to licenced pest controllers.
If you have some at home, you are still legally able to use them for a period of time, but it’s probably safer not to.
The older multi-feed rat baits will still be available – so things which contain warfarin, coumatetralyl and diphacinone – but will still need to be used with extreme caution to prevent anything else suffering from possible secondary poising … although the risk is considerably less.
Trapping is still a very good control option.
The snap-traps work well but there is a risk of catching something other than the intended mouse or rat – and there’s no coming back for the animal caught in a rat trap.
Live traps are becoming more popular.
These are either a cage or a tube style trap. Great for people who have native look-a-likes such as the cute little marsupial antechinus, as they can be released to live another day.
Down-side is you need to dispatch the pest animal humanely and then dispose of the body.
At my place, I tend to use snap-traps when I’m sure that the offender is a mouse or rat.
To make it safer for other animals, I put the trap inside a container (like a big ice-cream container with a lid and a hole cut in the side).
The dead animals I feed to the local kookaburras or bury deep in the garden.
If you’ve used one of the baits, you’ll generally not find the dead animal, but if you do, wrap them in a plastic bag and put them in your rubbish bin is probably the best advice.
Lastly …
Three rats are having a drink at the pub, bragging about how tough they are.
First rat says, “Guys, last night I ate a whole block of rat poison. Woke up this morning, didn’t even have a hangover.”
“That’s nothing,” says the second rat. “I ate the cheese out of a rat trap today; the bar came down over my back and I just hoisted it hoisted it off and came here to meet you guys for a beer.”
The third rat gets a message on his phone, finishes his pint and gets up to leave. “Oi, where are you going?”
“That was the cat – he’s getting grief from the neighbour’s rottweiler and wants me give Cujo a hiding like I did yesterday.”
