Garden Rat

[danco1987 27]

Did a bit of pest control today - I've noticed a couple of rats coming into our garden from underneath the shed of the garden oppose. They've been feeding on the seed that is falling from the bird feeders in our garden.

 

Well both my BSA Scorpion pcps are being serviced by XTX Air at the moment so the task fell to my .22 Vmach Brit Webley Xocet springer.

 

I have been smearing peanut butter and chicken paste at the foot of the tree near the feeders and put some cut logs behind the baited area to act as back stops. The two rats have been feeding on the bait for the past two days but I haven't been able to get the door open and take the shot. They've only been feeding during the day which is annoying as I've been baiting up in the dark but they just haven't been feeding on it until late morning/early afternoon time.

 

Today I spotted one of the rat feeding around midday and it even started fighting with a squirrel over the peanut butter. I opened the door as quietly as possible and it scurried off into the bushes. I lay in wait, inside the house, 14 yards away for a couple of minutes and sure enough, back it came and started feeding. With the rat in my crosshairs, I waited for it to present itself for the shot by feasting on the bait and I gently squeezed the trigger - whack!

 

One rat down, one more to go! Well, probably more tbh, I can't see there only being two.

 

I haven't used my Xocet in a while as I do all my rabbiting with my 177 BSA Scorpion so it maybe only gets a plink now and then. This Xocet was well up to the task though. I've been practising with it the past two days, adjusted the trigger and zeroed the AGS 3-9x40 scope and it was ready to go. Shot it over the chrony with its favourite pellet - H&N FTTs 5.53s and it's still shooting 10.8 fpe consistently. The Vmach kit really does speed up the firing cycle and with a gentle hold, the accuracy is really quite impressive.

 

Edited August 17, 2021 by danco1987

[bushing lad 114]

well done mate keep at them dirty things

[danco1987 27]

Will do - I've got some more peanut butter out as we speak, thought I'd give them another try at night.

Some of the neighbours have children so these rats could be a serious health hazard if they're urinating in play areas and on climbing frames etc. I'll see if I can get the other one and if I spot any more, then I'll have to go and talk to the neighbours about them suggest they get some poison/traps down to eradicate them.

[tomburras 2,722]

well done danco1987, nice bit of vermin control there

[Orange55 2]

Usually in my experience if you are seeing rats during the day there are plenty around not just one or two.

[danco1987 27]

I thought that might be the case. The peanut butter I put out last night was still there until around midday today, when I went out for a couple of hours, now its gone. Trouble is the squirrels and pigeons love the stuff too so they could be consuming it. Ar well I'll just keep popping the rats off that I see

[jandcguns 65]

Great shooting and I know a man who's has just purchased a Webley xocet and they are actually very good guns and could I ask what silencer have you got on the rifle ?

[Rabid 1,936]

Well done, but as has been said, you will have more than two, that looks like a medium aged male(can't be certain from the pic) they are the ones that will be doing all the digging, but they will also be doing a lot of breeding.

 

I have been popping rats in a garden for a friend, he thought he had one, I shot 7 the first evening, and had almost 20 over a coup,e of weeks, the night scope I got was an eye opener I can tell you, looking round his garden and seeing eyes almost everywhere !

 

Keep at them, horrible little blighters, good shooting.

 

Rob.

[danco1987 27]

Great shooting and I know a man who's has just purchased a Webley xocet and they are actually very good guns and could I ask what silencer have you got on the rifle ?

 

It's a Webley Xocet XS model which is the carbine version with the silencer. Webley's equivalent of the BSA Lightning but made with a much better trigger and generally a better springer overall I have found. They came ready fitted with the "black hole" silencer I heard it called somewhere. There were no internals in the silencer, completely empty inside, more of a cocking aid. I believe that was standard. So I measured the inside diameter and asked UKNeil from the airgunbbs forum to make some internals which he kindly did and its quietened it down nicely.

Cracking little springers - even better with a Vmach kit in it. I'm going out rabbiting with it on Tuesday evening.

Edited March 31, 2013 by danco1987

[Matt Cottrell 23]

Great shooting I two am doing some rat shooting in my garden had 22 so far all with my hw97 started with peanut butter but after I had shot a few they seem to leave it so started put bread out they go mad for it

[jake d 2]