Not Great, But Seems I Must Be Doing Something Right.

[RemyBolt 420]

Got a call from the farmer to clear out House 10, double check House 1, and do what I can with House 2. Last time I was in house 10 I took one shot, killed one rat, and the farmer said he didn't see any more in there for months. So I was excited to be back there. There has been a few months of time passed in which the rats will have bred! This is going to be a slaughter!

 

I looked at the temperature reading in my car. It was 4 degrees. Immediately I start to panic. "Crap. It's 4 degrees. I'm using CO2. Everyone knows CO2 sucks at low temperatures. I'm going to end up injuring some rats tonight, and they'll take revenge. They'll chew through my break cables. I hate rats. My pellets won't even get out of the barrel." It seems I have a tendency to over-panic about minutia. But when I get into the first chicken house, I smile. It's as toasty as any house. CO2, maximum performance! Happy me.

 

In House 10, I know I'm not going to be able to bust out huge numbers. The main reason being getting into the building itself. Opening the padlock, the warning of the security light, unbolting the door, the creaky hinges, and a few other things give plenty of warning the rats. This means I'm only really taking out deaf or retarded rats. So I'm not too expectant of high numbers. When I got in there, I looked around...nothing. It seems taking the slow and stead approach to entering the building was not the best plan. So I pulled a set of stairs into a position that meant that I can sit in great comfort, relaxed up against the wall, reclining, oh, and so that I can shoot where the farmer said he had seen rats. Aside from the chicken poo ammonia smell, the feathers all over, and the fact I could hear rats scurrying through the ceiling, I was happy as can be. While pulling the stairs into place, I knocked a tray of eggs and cracked 6 of them. BOLLOCKS!!! Not a good start, but thankfully not the end of the world. I would have just replaced them and apologised if not for the fact that they were on the 4th row from the ground up of a 20 level collection. Not good. I had an image of trying to replace them by lifting off all the eggs and dropping around trays of 32 eggs a time (I think it's 32 eggs). So instead of having great manners and sorting the damage...while risking total catastrophe, I just messaged the farmer and apologised. When I was all set up, I looked back and noticed a dead rat between 2 breeze blocks where the stairs were. Well, he wasn't initially dead. Initially he was hiding...very BADLY. Imagine standing in the gap between 2 tables and thinking "I'm playing hide and seek". Like I said, I was only expecting to get dumb and retarded rats. This one was both! So, instead of letting his fellow rats bully him for being an idiot, I did the only kind thing I could think of, I put a pellet through it's head. First one of the night.

 

Looking down the egg belt I manage to see a set of eyes bobbing up and down, but they were quiet a distance away and my night vision needed a change of battery. I couldn't make out if it was a cat or a rat. Thankfully the style of movement confirmed to me that it was a rat. One quick trigger pull later and it was a furry paperweight lay on an egg belt. It'll be good to hear about that fella dropping off the egg belt when it's collection time. Two down in 10 minutes, not a bad start.

 

Then the fun begins...the waiting game. I set up watching this small hole the farmer said they scurry into. And I wait. And wait. And wait. After about 20 minutes through my night vision I see the glowing of an eye poking out of a 1cm gap between the feed pipe and the wall. The head pops back down to the hole I was initially posting up on, and then vanishes up again to look through this small gap. I decide to wait until it comes out, so that the body can be retrieved. Boredom gets the better of me and I pull the trigger. Perfect shot! I hear the satisfying thud and then the scurrying sound of a twitching out rat. Smooth. I felt like a rat-sniper. Very pleased with that shot. This was going to be a great session.

 

But low and behold, the tunnel of doom had struck. Last time I took a shot and put down a rat that fell down the wall cavity, I did not see another rat all night, and the farmer didn't see any for months. After an hour of waiting I was not planning on sitting there any longer. Even though it was most comfy.

 

Down to House 1 to make sure that had been cleared off properly. Got down there and heard a couple of rats. But that was all. Didn't actually manage to see anything alive. The remnants of a mid week session lay about...mostly. But I think the poison and secondary poisoning had done a great job. I was very tempted to wait it out and clear the last few, but I did not have the desire to sit around. So, House 1 was pretty much clear.

 

Now, down to House 2. This is the daddy! This is where the rats have been an issue. I sneak, like a super ninja, into the lower chicken poop area. Thank goodness for the upper deck area. I had a nice clean place to post up and start popping rats. Only issue, my batteries were really waning and I hadn't packed many replacements. The replacements I had were over in my car. I pop on my night vision and struggle to look through the system to find the rats. Using a 4x scope would seem good, but not when you have to scan an area methodically because the rats could be anywhere.

 

I managed to bag one rat down there. But, most importantly, I know where they'll be! This is a MASSIVE advantage as it means I can go down there with a camping chair and just post up and start taking shots.

 

I ended the day with 5 rats, only 1 retrievable.

 

With House 10, I think I may have made a stupid mistake. I need to cover myself when looking through the night vision. When it's on, the backlit screen illuminates the area too much! This will explain why I'm not getting many shots, because they can see me. Next time I'm down there I'll be sat with a fleece blanket over my head to block out the light.

 

Next time I'll take a camera.

 

I had planned to set a load of snares for the rats, but I forgot a drill and screws to attach the snares.

[villaman 9,983]

Nice write up , we went out to the egg farm on Friday night only had 6 ,not a lot about

[RemyBolt 420]

Nice write up , we went out to the egg farm on Friday night only had 6 ,not a lot about

Yeah mate, it's weird at the moment. Go back a couple of months, I was happily bringing back 20+ a session, and having a session on Friday night and another on Saturday night. Looks like we're doing too well.

[j j m 6,553]

good shooting mate

[shep41 31]

Two & half dozen eggs to a tray mate and thanks for a brilliant write up.