Trapping, Body Spring Traps

[Guest Keal G Seo]

Been looking for a reason to get some traps. Recently had a large rat in our garden and it is apparently living in the gutter's drain. Needless to say we want it gone and this presents me the op to get some traps. I am a bit confused on the sizes though. What size do I need for large rats? I would like something just small enough for them but could fit larger game later. I think the #160 coon size might be too big for this rat, if they are for coons the sizes I am used to seeing. He/she is about 10-12 inches from nose to butt, tail about doubles that.

Anyone have any clues?

[Squid]

Way too big #110 I believe is what you need.

[Dolomite_supafly]

And I would like to see a 10" rat, not including the tail.

 

It would be the biggest I have ever seen in the states.

[UncleJak]

And I would like to see a 10" rat, not including the tail.

It would be the biggest I have ever seen in the states.

downtown Nashville 3am I saw one bigger than that. A rat that big requires a bear trap!

sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[Guest Keal G Seo]

And I would like to see a 10" rat, not including the tail.

 

It would be the biggest I have ever seen in the states.

Lol I have had a pet rat that was 8". Barn/wood rats (what we always called them) can get quite a bit larger.

The one I had as a pet wasn't the large pouched rat, just a white rat. I think someone had sold it to a pet store and it just got thrown in with the feeder rats. A friend had gone to get some feeders for his snake and saw that it didn't fight when handled. Offered it to me and I took it. I had it for about 2-3 years. He was super sweet and never tried to run off. I can't see keeping a wild one though, no doubt it would bite and try to escape. Not to mention all the diseases it might carry. If/when we catch it I will post a pic. Until then, here is my ole pet Algernon :) Can't really make a size comparison but you can see my finger there and guess with just the nose to shoulder length would be 2 knuckles.

[JAB]

And I would like to see a 10" rat, not including the tail.

 

It would be the biggest I have ever seen in the states.

 

When I lived at my Grandmothers on East Fifth in Knoxville while attending UTK, she had a detached storage building that had two attached carports (we called it a 'garage' but I'm not sure it was, technically.)  There was a large storm drain directly behind her storage building, in the alley.  One day I was in the building and heard something moving around on the shelves in the back.  I shined a light to see what it was and the darned thing kind of hissed at me.  At first, I thought it was a possum but when it came out of hiding to run away I got a better look and realized it was a huge rat that was simply as big as a good sized possum.  I'd say it was every bit of 10 inches, not including the tail, if not more.  I only saw it once (thankfully) and have never seen a rat nearly that big, since.

[JPS]

We have one (?) that keeps eating the tomatoes in my garden..  Last time this happened we had a good line-of-sight and my kid sat watch in the dining room window with a BB gun.  Now the garden has been moved around the corner of the house, so that's not an option.  May have to get a trap myself.

[Guest Keal G Seo]

We have one (?) that keeps eating the tomatoes in my garden..  Last time this happened we had a good line-of-sight and my kid sat watch in the dining room window with a BB gun.  Now the garden has been moved around the corner of the house, so that's not an option.  May have to get a trap myself.

Yeah, only BB gun I have is a 25 year old Red Ryder. Just doesn't have killing power anymore. Was thinking about getting a new .22 and some shot shells but figure this is an excuse to get back into a bit of trapping. Also if you are looking at getting body traps, Squid was right, the #110 seems to be the right size...4.5 inches. The #160 jumps up to 6" and would probably be just too big. Otherwise a 2 dollar rat trap from Wally World would prolly work for ya.