# Air rifles for pest controll



## woodtickgreg (Mar 8, 2014)

I have had this big a$$ smart rat on my patio for awhile. I have taken many out with my sheridan pump air rifle, had it since I was a kid. So I was huntin that sucker yesterday and I finally got a good shot at it, pulled the trigger and it barely made a noise and the pellet never reached the intended vermin. What? Try again, same thing, must have a bad seal or "o" ring. No rat killing for me. So I get this wild idea and google air rifles, I think I like the RWS model 54, Just a bit outa my price range right now. Guess I better get the sheridan repaired, I'll send it in, and just dream of the RWS bad a$$ german air rifle..........lucky rat......for now.

Reactions: Like 3


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## Mike1950 (Mar 8, 2014)

Why not fix the sheridan. My best friend when I was a kid had a .177 sheridan and I had a matching pistol/rifle benjiman . I bet I shot 10,000 bb's through those 2.
I did a house for a guy that had a german/scoped air rifle. He had a 30 yd shooting range in the basement. You could drive nails with it. GIANT safe in his basement with spendy guns- coolest one was a thompson sub machine gun. He also had a very expensive security system and 2 giant Rots.


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## Tclem (Mar 8, 2014)

Get a cat. I let the two stray hang around. No more lizards no My more birds messing on my back porch no more rats building nest and chewing the wires on my tractor or living in my shop. Good kitties


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## ripjack13 (Mar 8, 2014)

Air rifle is better than cats....have you ever thrown a cat at a rat? Mmm....doesn't work to well.





















I'm kidding people....I have never done that. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn once.

Reactions: Funny 6


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## Tclem (Mar 8, 2014)

Depends on how big the rat is. Lol


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## woodtickgreg (Mar 8, 2014)

The rats around here aren't afraid of cats. Pellets in the head takes em out. Yup I'll fix the sheridan, it shoots a solid 5mm or 20 cal pellet through a rifled barrel, it's accurate. It probably just needs a reseal, the pump piston is working well, it just leaks down fast. But I do like those RWS guns, I have always wanted one. I like the one Male chicken to shoot instead of 8 pumps. Well I just like air guns in general. Air is free!

Reactions: Agree 3


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## Schroedc (Mar 8, 2014)

A family heirloom springfield bolt action .22 with a scope and a box of subsonic rounds works really well too

Reactions: Agree 1


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## HomeBody (Mar 9, 2014)

You're a dog guy Greg, why not get a terrier? I had two miniature Schnauzers years ago and the male was a rat killing machine. A friend had a barn with rats and we'd take them over there to thin them out. He'd jam the rat into a corner until it grabbed ahold of his beard, then he'd flip the rat right into his mouth and shake it until it was a dishrag. Pretty wild to watch. 
I just sold my RWS Diana M-34 to my brother. It was my dad's and I inherited it when he died. I'm in the sticks so I can use .22LR no problem. He needed the air rifle as he has a cabin in the mountains in NE GA with other cabins nearby. The M-34 was a laser. I could poof sparrows at 30 yds. every time. Gary

Reactions: Like 1


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## ironman123 (Mar 9, 2014)

Just got my wife a PumpMaster long barrel .177 Pellet Pistol. She just wants to shoo the grackles away from her bird feeders so she can watch the doves, cardinals and Blue Jays.

Ray


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## SDB777 (Mar 9, 2014)

I have an older RWS 48(.177cal), single pump and it still sends them out at over 1,000fps. This pellet rifle will not put down stray cats...but I never see them again. (Yes, stray cats are dumped around here all the time and Animal Control considers them to be 'predatory'-therefore they will not pick them up). Accuracy is okay with the open sight system that the rifle came with, but I thought I would scope it....bad idea. Did you know that the air rifle is harder on a scope then the 375H&H? Well neither did I.....open sights it is! I can adequately use the open sights out to 75yards.....good enough.

Unfortunately, folks that get the RWS air rifles don't generally sell them(bad for finding a deal on them, but it probably says something about the quality). I purchased mine new, and I am glad to have it. Since they can not be put on Craigs/eBay, not many places remaining for them to be found(gunsamerica.com maybe, but those used ones are higher then new).

Funniest looking 'cleaning kit' though....foam 'wad', you oil it and fire it.(at least the direction I have told me to do it). Cleaning rods for the .177cal are not cheap! I have a short one I use in my Contender .17Remington barrel(it is not long enough to make the trip all the way through the air rifle). Now if the .17Rem could be made as quiet as the air rifle......that would be fun!



Scott (sound like a commercial for RWS here....sorry) B


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## woodtickgreg (Mar 9, 2014)

SDB777 said:


> Accuracy is okay with the open sight system that the rifle came with, but I thought I would scope it....bad idea. Did you know that the air rifle is harder on a scope then the 375H&H?


Just an fyi, there are scopes made specifically for spring piston air rifles, yes they are hard on scopes. My pump Sheridan zings pellets at about 800fps with some pretty good knockdown energy to boot. I'll get her fixed and resealed and it will be good for another 30 years. I've taken out a lot of rats with it. (big game hunting in the city) I will get one of those RWS rifles one day though, I do like the model 54.

P.S. Gary, although I do like dogs I just don't have the time to give to one right now. It wouldn't be right to have a dog but not give it the attention that it needs. I do like terriers as well, but if you don't give them enough attention they will find unpleasant ways to entertain themselves. When I do decide to have another dog it will be when I have time to give to one.

Reactions: Like 3 | Agree 1


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## woodtickgreg (Mar 9, 2014)

Check these out! Small, light, extremely powerful, extremely acurate, and quiet-read silenced. Oooh me want one!
$1400 and up!But man are these things bad a$$, all match grade barrels too. I saw a couple other vids on you tube, 100 yard shots with an air rifle, wow.




I could be the king of the rat wackers!

Reactions: Like 3


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## Kevin (Mar 9, 2014)

For rats in my shop I use my Ruger MKI with CCI rat shot. Talk about fun and accurate - I love my MKI. I have only hit 3 in 7 years . . . but I have only gotten off 3 shots. :-) They are some fast little effers.

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## woodtickgreg (Mar 9, 2014)

Kevin said:


> For rats in my shop I use my Ruger MKI with CCI rat shot. Talk about fun and accurate - I love my MKI. I have only hit 3 in 7 years . . . but I have only gotten off 3 shots. :-) They are some fast little effers.


I'm in the city, gotta be quiet, air rifles rule, shot a bunch of em so far. They are smart, and you gotta be sneaky, if they see you or hear you there gone.

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## Kevin (Mar 9, 2014)

woodtickgreg said:


> I'm in the city, gotta be quiet,



Leave the big city. :-)

Reactions: Agree 2


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## woodtickgreg (Mar 10, 2014)

Kevin said:


> Leave the big city. :-)


You have no idea how much I want to, just can't afford to do it right now. Houses in the country here are at a premium. I really dislike the city, but that's where my work is right now.

Reactions: Sincere 1


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## ripjack13 (Mar 10, 2014)

Ha! How did I miss this!? An MK! I bet there was nothing left of that dirty rat. Lol




Kevin said:


> For rats in my shop I use my Ruger MKI with CCI rat shot. Talk about fun and accurate - I love my MKI. I have only hit 3 in 7 years . . . but I have only gotten off 3 shots. :-) They are some fast little effers.


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## Kevin (Mar 10, 2014)

ripjack13 said:


> Ha! How did I miss this!? An MK!



I'm surprised no one asked if it is a red or black eagle.


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## Mike1950 (Mar 10, 2014)

Dad had a bolt action pistol in the early 60's I think it was a XP100 bolt action single shot .221. Had a scope on it. weighed 4 or 5 pounds. Shoot a gopher with it and there was no doubt if you hit it. So I can imagine the results on the rat.


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## TimR (Mar 10, 2014)

It would be a full-time job keeping just the squirrels at bay around our house, but I do like scaring the )(*& out of them with a couple of relic air guns, a Benjamin 342 (22 cal) rifle I bought in 1973 or so, and a Crossman 150 (22 cal) Type 1 pistol. I have repaired the Benjamin rifle over the years for a link pin that keeps getting destroyed, but it seems to have not lost it's punch with about 6 or 8 pumps. It's very accurate with sights alone at 15 yards...after that, everything is too fuzzy anyway! The 150 got rebuilt a couple years ago by a guy (can't remember name) that put in new valve and seat and ported them like they do with competition arms. It's crazy the amount of punch it now has, and so easy to use.

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## ripjack13 (Mar 10, 2014)

Kevin said:


> I'm surprised no one asked if it is a red or black eagle.



Well....is it a red or black? knowing how old you are i assume its red.... ;)


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## ripjack13 (Mar 10, 2014)

Oh man....no nut kickin smilie. :(


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## Kevin (Mar 10, 2014)

ripjack13 said:


> Well....is it a red or black? knowing how old you are i assume its red.... ;)



I've always had the best luck buying guns. When I saw this in the gun cabinet years ago I said

_Hey is that some kind of Luger? 

No it's a Mark 1 Ruger .22. 

Looks old and it has a red eagle. I never seen a Ruger pistol that looked like this with a red eagle. Let me see it. 

The guy that sold it came back in yesterday and said we have it marked way too cheap. ($175)

Yeah? Well it sure is in great shape. Wrap it up sucker. _

I really said that too - I am a regular at that shop but in his defense he has some of the best gun prices anywhere online or off. I took it home and sat down at the computer to figure out exactly what I had. I ran the serial number and discovered I had bought 1951 Red Eagle Mark 1 that was made right before Mr. Sturm passed away. After that, Bill Ruger being the awesome dude he was, changed the emblem from red to black in memorium of Mr. Sturm who was his financial backer and the designer of the Ruger emblem. Turns out Mr. Sturm was an Heraldlist (spelled right?).

So while it isn't a rare collector's item it *is* pretty special. Last year I won a auction on a Ruger 10/22 that turned out to be a rare 5 digit early model original walnut stock in pristine condition. Think I paid $275 - I posted it here somewhere we could check. This is not the only time I scored a good gun deal I seem to have the knack even when I don't really know what exactly what I'm buying.

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## Kevin (Mar 10, 2014)

ripjack13 said:


> Oh man....no nut kickin smilie. :(





I didn't disable the smmilies - I just removed them from the window so it wouldn't be so crowded. If you know the code you can still use them. This is a feature with the new software. With the old we had to either disable or enable the smilies now we can still have them just not all in the window.


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## TimR (Mar 10, 2014)

I had to go find out who it was that repaired Crossman 150, it was Mac1Airguns, with the "hotvalve" option. I had someone different repair it a couple years earlier, and it was back in the closet after a couple CO2s went thru. I've put a dozen or more thru it since Mac1 repaired, and still solid sealing and delivery.

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## Kevin (Mar 10, 2014)



Reactions: Like 3 | Way Cool 2


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## Kevin (Mar 10, 2014)

I have never bought a good holster for it, I guess because I don't carry it, but with all the golpher problem we have in the front yard making the dogs bark at night I probably need to start keeping it on my hip in the evening while taking my tea and crumpets.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Mike1950 (Mar 10, 2014)

Nice pistol

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 2


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## ripjack13 (Mar 10, 2014)

Nice....real nice. You certainly have a nice pistola.....


I had a guy on MO who wanted to have me make em some custom grips for his mark III. I had blanks cut to size and then he balked. So I didn't get the opportunity to. However I did buy a set of stock grips for a pattern, so maybe someday I will make em.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Kevin (Mar 10, 2014)

I've toyed with making some for this, but it just looks so cool with the stock grips. i might make some out of ebony.


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## HomeBody (Mar 11, 2014)

Kevin said:


> I have never bought a good holster for it, I guess because I don't carry it, but with all the golpher problem we have in the front yard making the dogs bark at night I probably need to start keeping it on my hip in the evening while taking my tea and crumpets.


Gophers don't come out at night. Why would you think the dogs are barking at them? Gary


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## Kevin (Mar 11, 2014)

HomeBody said:


> Gophers don't come out at night. Why would you think the dogs are barking at them? Gary



They're barking at something nearly every night ever since the tunneling began appearing so I just figured what are the odds? And I haven't seen any evidence of armadillos so I figured they're barking at whatever is tunneling in our yard.


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## Wildthings (Mar 11, 2014)

Kevin said:


> View attachment 44997
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> View attachment 44998
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> View attachment 44999



You know this is authentic!! You ask how I can tell? Look at the toes in the pictures...that seals it!!

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## woodtickgreg (Mar 12, 2014)

So after I took a shot at the elusive patio rat and he realized my gun was just a puffer and could do him no harm, he brought a friend with him next time it showed up. I am not happy that my beloved Sheridan is down, I need to get it resealed asap!


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## Kevin (Mar 12, 2014)

Put out some sticky pad welcome mats for them. But don't be inratane (that's like inhumane to a rat) to them. Torturing rats will bring down the full fury and wrath of Karni Mata on you - and hell hath no fury like that of a female rat goddess' scorn.


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## woodtickgreg (Mar 13, 2014)

I won't use poisons or traps outside as there are other critters around that I don't mind. But rats.........I take them out as quickly and humanely as possible. Used to be a shot in the head did it, just either gotta get my gun fixed or get a new one in the interim until I get the Sheridan fixed. There's wild cats all over around here, but the won't mess with a rat, I have watched them. They will just watch it but won't chase it or attack it.


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## Mike1950 (Mar 13, 2014)

Sounds to me like you need bigger or braver cats!!!!


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## Kevin (Mar 13, 2014)

Never seen a cat that wouldn't attack a rat. Even my dogs are pretty good mousers. When they get a field mouse or rat spied they look like a polar bears pounding the ice after a seal. I guess those northern cats are too cold are too well fed to allow their instincts to kick in. I's be happy to send you some Texas cats - they are hunters for sure. I'll round a few up next time I go into town. Any particular colors you fancy more . . . . .


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## jmurray (Mar 13, 2014)

+1 on the kitties. i could jam a couple train track cats in a frb. they hunt down the river(huge rats). ive seen/heard some epic battles fishing at night. i took in a stray last year, he definitely earns his keep. he even kills stink bugs!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## brown down (Mar 13, 2014)

these seem to work well and your not using poison. now granted it isn't as much fun as shooting them but you might be able to thin them out quickly! 
I had a similar problem the last few years with squirrels and chipmunks digging in the gardens. 12 gauge bird shot out of my turkey choke does them in. I have a very very old pellet gun. Spring loaded, I can not find anything about it in ENGLISH. Everything is in german! the only thing i can find out about it was that the germans wouldn't throw darts at a bar they would bring their pellet guns and shoot darts at the bar. 

also am I the only one who thought putting the pressure gauge on the end of the cylinder and the barrel in the video Tick posted, is a bad idea. great looking rifles, just not the best spot to be looking on how much pressure you have left

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## woodtickgreg (Mar 13, 2014)

I have always thought that dogs where better with rats than cats, cats are good with mice, but a rat will stand it's ground. Dogs don't care, LOL I think terriers are the best raters, there just tenacious.
Also, Jeff, all of those pre charged pneumatics have a gauge, and they all seem to be in different places, most are in the front of the tube, Probably because it's cheaper to manufacture. I've seen some on the bottom of the gun and some on the side of the stock. It's mostly for filling, it's not like your looking down the barrel, the barrel can be pointed away from you and you can still see it from the side. But I get the whole common sense mentality and not being in front of the business end of a weapon.

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## woodintyuuu (Mar 14, 2014)

greg if ya give me the gps coordinates i can probabley get um from my shop . cupla hunderd mile shot NO PROB! WE DONT WORRY BOUT no stinkin noise
in the bush where i reside. In fact the big brown hooved rats are more of a target round here, bonus they eat nice tooo. cl

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## Kevin (Mar 14, 2014)

woodtickgreg said:


> I think terriers are the best raters


 
Jack Russels are rat rulers. No better ratter than a Jack.

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## ripjack13 (Mar 14, 2014)

A ripjack russel. Lol

Reactions: Funny 2


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## woodtickgreg (Mar 14, 2014)

So i feed the birds and squirrels on the patio, the usual bird seed and peanuts. The blue jays and wood peckers really like the peanuts. The black specs are niger seed, junco's and finches really like that stuff. But when the rats come in the bird feed pile is renamed the bait pile. Sorry for the crappy pics, spontaneous cell phone pic. This is the smaller of the 2 I saw yesterday. I might have to go to wall mart and by a cheap pellet gun till I get my rat wackin sheridan resealed. The ripped up foot stool is for the kitty's to do a little bird watchin.

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## Kevin (Mar 14, 2014)

If my rats were that tame I wouldn't need anything but a boot. Greg you have domestic rats. Are your cats really that lazy?

Reactions: Funny 4


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## woodtickgreg (Mar 15, 2014)

Kevin said:


> If my rats were that tame I wouldn't need anything but a boot. Greg you have domestic rats. Are your cats really that lazy?


That rat couldn't see me because of the glare on the glass, if it did it would be gone. The cats are spoiled domestic house cats, they rarely go outside and never unsupervised. They are all declawed in the front paws or we would not have any furniture. They wouldn't know what to do with a rat if they caught one! LOL. I have seen them nose to nose with the squirrels and they just sniff each other. Once the squirrels figured them out they don't even run from them any more. LOL And the cats aren't interested if there isn't a chase.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Mike Jones (Mar 16, 2014)

Kevin said:


> View attachment 44997
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Your post piqued my interest about the medallion color and config...sent me on a long internet search, and some will argue that it is not an "eagle", but a "Phoenix" and there are confusing ideas regarding the color schemes, Ruger apparently has changed colors with anniversary years and often the grips and medallions have been swapped so that these are not reliable indicators of age. Ruger has pages for year of manufacture for all serial numbers though if you are curious.

Your MK I is like several that I carried afield for years. I stayed with that gun even after falling in love with a Colt Woodsman (that spent too much

 time at the gunsmiths). 

Today, I walk with this MK III, and one of these days I'll snag some curly Koa and make a set of grips for it. A task that is just a bit more challenging than making grips for the MK I .... I tend to shoot a pistol more like shooting long guns, so the adjustable sights are the berries for me.

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## Kevin (Mar 16, 2014)

The only way to be certain is by the serial number. Mine nails it down as one manufactured before Sturm died. After he died Ruger pulled the red eagle/phoenix but yes you are correct that Ruger brought it back in several variations, but mine is an original red. 

Nice gun Mike. If your MK III is like my MK I it's dead accurate.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mike Jones (Mar 16, 2014)

A few years ago, I bought a Beretta _"Neos" _ U-22. Sexy lookin' and had sweet feel and balance in the hand. After two outings with that gun I took it back and traded the dealer (with some premium) for the MK III. The Beretta, IMO, had a horrible design flaw. There is a built-in thumb wheel devise for breaking down the gun for cleaning that required pliers or similar (not thumbs) to get it properly tightened. Not properly tightened, it would cause misfires, and partial ejections/jambs. On one occasion, my Marianne, experiencing a misfire, dropped the gun to her side and it went off with her finger nowhere near the trigger! The thumb screw was made of plastic, so I just couldn't see using pliers every time I went to clean it.

My MK III ain't so sexy lookin', and it's a bit barrel heavy, but I can count on it absolutely. And, it is as accurate as I can hold it. Through the years, many of my buddies have been surprised that a hand gun can shoot so accurately.

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## woodtickgreg (Mar 18, 2014)

I got a response from a guy right here in Bay City Michigan, was referred by Crossman who now owns the rights to Sheridan.
He said he will reseal the whole gun and it will be like new, also will install a new power valve, about $50.00The rat assassin will be back. I just gotta find a box big enough for an air rifle, maybe I'll check with my local gun shop.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## NYWoodturner (Mar 18, 2014)

woodtickgreg said:


> So i feed the birds and squirrels on the patio, the usual bird seed and peanuts. The blue jays and wood peckers really like the peanuts. The black specs are niger seed, junco's and finches really like that stuff. But when the rats come in the bird feed pile is renamed the bait pile. Sorry for the crappy pics, spontaneous cell phone pic. This is the smaller of the 2 I saw yesterday. I might have to go to wall mart and by a cheap pellet gun till I get my rat wackin sheridan resealed. The ripped up foot stool is for the kitty's to do a little bird watchin.
> 
> View attachment 45368
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Greg - Maybe I've been in New York too long but... that doesn't qualify as a "Rat" around here. Kids have those in glass cages in their bedrooms around here...

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 3 | Sincere 1


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## Brink (Mar 19, 2014)

That's no rat, it's a squirrel with notoedric mange. Poor critter lost his puffy tail fur.

Scott, ny rats? I had to work some of the garbage transfer stations in Hunts Point. The time I'm working on a wheel loader, and a pit bull runs by, galloping behind him was a rat.

Reactions: Funny 4


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## shadetree_1 (Mar 19, 2014)

Wildthings said:


> You know this is authentic!! You ask how I can tell? Look at the toes in the pictures...that seals it!!


 
Kevin knows how to take picture with toes! This ain't his first rodeo!


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## woodtickgreg (Mar 19, 2014)

Terriers rule!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pWRsnYscv30


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