[Build] [Noisebridge-discuss] The rats are getting ballsy

Kelly hurtstotouchfire at gmail.com
Tue Mar 9 23:51:38 UTC 2010


I think that your point about needing to seal holes is actually the
first step to any solution.  There's a grocery downstairs and the
neighbors keep a trash pile. The supply of rats is infinite--whether
or not we kill them.

I personally think that our rat problem might not be so bad but
there's really no way to gauge it while we have so many holes in the
walls and ceilings.  I bought two cans of spray foam which I'm looking
forward to using.  But the larger holes will need actual patching.  I
think it would be very useful to determine if there are any holes that
no longer need to be open for construction purposes.  Patching holes
is generally fairly simple, so it might actually be helpful to take
that off the agenda of our skilled laborers.

I'm not adamantly against the use of kill traps, but I think that it
would be really disrespectful to use them without trying any other
methods first.  And as long as the holes are not patched, we can't
give non-lethal options a fair shot.

-Kelly

On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 15:36,  <krux at thcnet.net> wrote:
>> This is extreme.  The rats are a serious health threat -- vermin.  If
>> we had a roach infestation would you advocate catch-and-release of
>> them?  Do you swat mosquitoes? What about all those microbes you
>> slaughter when you wash yourself?  Where would we release them?  By
>> encouraging them to leave, we make them someone else's problem, and
>> others will kill them.  Do you really have the moral high-ground?
>
> I agree with you here.  From friends in New York, where rats/mice are a pretty
> big problem, electric traps are a fairly effective, clean, and humane method
> of killing them.  You need to more powerful electric traps for use with rats,
> since their hearts will restart when using the weaker mouse models.  However
> you still need to find where they are coming into the space, and do what you
> can to prevent entry, as well as eliminate food waste and such that is going
> to prove a great attractor of them.  Remember that rats are pretty smart
> rodents, so if there is a way to get in, they'll find it.
>
>> I've had rats as pets.  Tame ones are great pets and I wouldn't dream
>> of harming them, but we need to be pragmatic here.
>
> I have as well.  If they didn't start making me break out in hives, I'd
> probably still have them as pets.
>
> perl -e 's++=END;++y(;-P)}\n?k++=;<+xru}?print:??;'
>
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-- 
Kelly Buchanan
Barker 210E, 510-643-9744
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute
University of California at Berkeley



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