I doubt that an airsoft rifle (assuming a 500fps boltie or similar) would be capable of doing a 'clean' kill on a rat at point blank, let alone at any distance. Using a 22. on the other hand, would be a much better method.
I did mean an air rifle something like a .177 4.5mm shot, it was late which is my excuse. Re removing the food source. Often the food source is something you wont be able to do much about such as a neighbours poor rubbish keeping method or a shop/restaurant.
Pretty sure the op has ruled out killing them. Like I said just use humane traps and take them off to the field. Then invest in a repellant, be it chemical or electronic.
Only problem with humane traps and releasing them elsewhere is your probably passing the problem onto someone else. A couple of years ago I shot a rat 3 times in the ass with an air rifle and it squeeked 3 times and then walked off with no injuries wtf, super rat.
Hey, you suggested to send them to me, so obviously you trust I'd do a more humane job. Sorry for going all Buddhist on your ass, but it's the whole thing of labelling them as vermin that are best off dead that I have an issue with. They are opportunistic animals, and they carry disease, and they can compete with us for the same ecological niche, so yeah, they can be a problem and we may need to kill them. But the words we use determine the way we think. In the past we used to think that animals and plants were commodities put on this earth by God for us to use as we saw fit; the result in the end was massive pollution, extinction of species, loss of forests and the sort of livestock farming practices that led to Mad Cow Disease. Be mindful of how you interact with the ecology that you depend on. Perhaps it's easier to kill a rat if you label it as vermin, but let's be honest, this is just interspecies competition. Now being a human I'm of course on our side, but that doesn't mean that I think lightly about killing rats. I'm pleased to read that you don't either.
I do see some humans as vermin too, just as a footnote; re: rapid breeding, consuming resources with no meaningful output or contribution to the earth. Those kind of people need to be wiped out too...
It's not me that has any issue with killing them. I want it done with a minimal amount of suffering to all. It's the other half who is against the killing of said rats.
My advice comes in two parts : 1) is it definitely a rat? my old neighbour called in pest control over what I believe were actually water voles, during a particularly harsh winter. He blamed our composter, I blamed the fact that his wife baked cakes and they left lots of mess around their bins and left them open, but irrespective, it had the wrong shaped face and water voles are protected species. In any event, rats outside are rats outside, and unavoidable really. Rats (and any other vermin) *inside* are a problem. 2) check your local council website, they may well provide a free service (ours did, but as our neighbour was more concerned about protecting his wife's cake-making business he probably didn't want to endanger their operating license)
It almost certainly died somewhere else, slowly and painfully. Never, ever fire at an animal's hindquarters. An air rifle (or rifle-rifle), used properly, is an extremely humane method of pest control; used improperly, it's a tool of torture. While a rifle (or FAC-rated air rifle) has the power to kill vermin and small game even when not aimed properly, a legal-limit air rifle (one you can buy without a firearms certificate) does not. Do not fire on anything unless you're assured of a clean kill; with small game and vermin, that means a head or heart shot. For birds, that's a head shot only as the pellet won't have the power to penetrate the feathers. Practice on paper targets at various ranges. Do not fire upon a living creature until you can hit the head of a 1:1 scale paper rat every single time. (Plus, obey the usual rules of firearm safety: there's no such thing as an unloaded gun; do not point the gun at anything you do not wish to destroy; keep your booger-hook off the bang-stick until you're ready to make something deaded; be sure of your target and what lies beyond it.) If you, OP, or anyone else does opt for a lethal method of pest control (whether it's air rifle, traps or poison), do not touch the corpses with your hands. Build a fire, pick them up with a disposable pair of tongs, and incinerate the bodies. Feral rats carry some really, really nasty diseases that you absolutely do not want yourself or anyone else coming in contact with. But, if you've read nothing else from this rather lengthy post: do not shoot anything in the arse with an air rifle. Ever.
+1 Having been shot with one, at point blank, I agree with that sentiment wholeheartedly. I won't bore you with the details but it took several weeks to be able to attend the throne with anything approaching comfort.
I can lend you my cat, She really hates rats and she is so chuffed after killing one will bring it in to show me. Missus is not so keen on this display mind, no idea why?
Yah, cat kill rats but sometime rats are clever. They can go around inside the house without cat notice them.
That explains it. I'm more than guilty of typing the wrong thing when tired, so no harm, no foul Also, agreed - a well aimed .177 4.5mm shot would be sufficient in a clean, quick kill.