V8 Rat (dead)

[davee1]

The rats have shown up here finally. The weeks and weeks with nothing to shoot are over. The owls are hitting the rats on the roof and my dogs are telling me that there's a rat in my truck engine. Of course, I already knew that ratty was there, because I saw his poops the other day when I replaced the truck battery. Quite a few rats now have lost their lives thinking that my truck engine compartment is a safe haven. But this time was special, because I would be using my Beeman P17 and Tomahawk pellets to bring ratty down.

Tonight I found ratty thinking that he was invisible under the intake manifold of the V8 enginge sitting in my Tundra. I decided to use the P17 because I knew that any rikoshays would be harmless(I had glasses on),damage to the enginge was not possible, and the radiator was protected in this particular angle. I used my left hand to light ratty up with a flashlight and my right hand to sight up the P17 on ratty. Only his hindquarters were available. Pop! Man!!!...that rat rocketedinto the inards of the undercarriage, where he met the gnashing of teeth from my two dogs, and they kept him confined under the bed of the truck...but they couldn't quite get to him!!! I looked with the flashlite...I had a shot!!! Why does it take so long to reload???!!!! Will he be there when I look again? Yes!!! I fired into his midsection about 3.5 feet in front of me!!! The Tomahawks were taking him down but he needed one more to put him out. He now had wedged himself in between a brakeline turn and a rail...but my sights on the P17 were easy to put behind his ear!!! I reloaded and he was still there!!! POP!!! I saw the red spot right behind his ear...and...he fell to the ground under the truckbed with a thump.Max pounced on ratty immediately and I heard something go "crunch". I asked Maxie boy to "bring it out so Daddy could see" which he gladly did. He was so happy!!!And the rat was being crunched up with a fury...all those weeks...and no rats!!! My dogs get the rats too!!!

Now...how do I get the rat away from Max without offending him? A biscuit!!! A simple dog biscuit. Max takes the biscuit and I take ratty. This rat was a full grown male roof rat, nice and heavy, about 18", head to tip of tail. Its funny how they stretch out after being crunched. Well...I sailed ratty over the fence into the wild area, and I'm ready for more. How 'bout you?

[Gene_SC]

Good account of the rat patrol Dave...:) I have not seen any rats around my place but lately I have seen hundreds of big black birds flying and landing in open fields. Today it looked like several hundred of them landed in my back yard while I was working in the shop. I looked out the door with amazement. I had no air rifle with me at the time either. But Missy my Min Pen scared them off...:( She thinks she is a bird dog I guess.. lol.

Gene

Sounds like Grackles!  Shoot 'em...shoot them all!!

[shadow]

Those rat's do like the warm spot's hehehe good shootin to take care of him and I'm sure he's got extended family ready to move in. Ed

[tat2dman]

Almost makes me wanna move to the city,almost! :p

[Big_Bill]

Good going Dave,

Those little buggers will chew up your wiring faster than you say squirrel !

That P17 sounds like an interesting shooter !!, mummmmm

Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.

Bill

[davee1]

hehe...you bet Ed...we go rat huntin' every nite.  Used to be that we'd get one or two each nite too.  But I think the folks around here are poisoning them.  Pickins are real slim now, but not just because of the time of year.

[davee1]

city bordered by 200 acres of grassland, with two small hills for a backstop. Its like heaven for me starting...NOW!!!

[davee1]

Yep there are some nibble spots already, so I have to be vigilant. They also hide in the barbecue. Thats way easier. The grate makes them feel invisible. See, the problem with them thinking that they are invisible...well...nobody ever lives to tell everybody else that it dont work!!!

[davee1]

Gene...around here the rat patrol is nitely except Nov~Jan. Grackles and other bird vermin are a rare sight. Great birds like Mockingbirds and Kestrels are a plenty, and I would never harm them and they know it. The good ones are with me everytime I go out in the backyard. At nite, the burrowing owls scream at the skunks, giving me a general location. The owls love me, I guess because I'm taking out one of their predators. The smaller skunks can go into the owls burrows and hurt the babies/eggs and maybe even the adults for all I know...but luckily the owls are out when the shunks are out because they both hunt at nite.

Gound squirrels, rats, mice, gophers, and skunks are what I have to fight. The crows dont come near this place anymore. And an occasional coyote gets popped in the arse from 75~100 yards away with the 350M.

Good shooting, in Baltimore I can just sit and wait til just about sun fall an those suckers come out almost like the work buzzer just went off. There is just so many of them I'm thinking about getting a Talon SS so that i could shoot without cocking to date I am at 683 and counting

[davee1]

Right on Mike!!! Sounds like time to set up a shootin team and take em out in groups...nasty little wild vermin. Of course there are those who like them as pets and that's ok....but those ones that are comin down the walls and leavin that grease trail...its up to folks like us to defend others from ratty'sdiseases, even though some people may not understand. My hat is off to you Mike...you've done well. Keep up your battle...the plague and lepto is not needed on this earth, I am sure.