A British man’s home has been constantly being plagued by rats. For many years, he has been battling to get rid of them all. One day, he finally caught the “King rat,” which was almost the same size as a small dog. His wife took a photo of the victorious moment, and the man vowed to continue capturing the vermins when they returned.
82-year-old Derek Blamire from Blackburn, Lancashire, usually spends most of the day in the garden, tending to his birds. However, the free food seems to attract unwanted guests to the birdhouse. Derek admits that he has been battling these critters for years and so far, has caught around 50 rats.
A perceptive gardener, Derek believes that the spare land next to his garden is where the rats hide. They are attracted by the food they smell when Derek feeds the birds. He said: “I feed the birds, you see, and if you feed the birds, it’s obvious rats are going to turn up. There’s probably more rats than people.”
“I put seed and fat balls out for the birds,” Derek added. “It attracts all sorts of birds – jackdaws, starlings, magpies, sparrows, robins and wrens. Rats breed pretty quickly. There are small ones, which are young ones, and the older ones. The young ones are pretty easy to catch, but the older ones are really crafty. They won’t go into the trap, and they won’t eat the poison. So you’re lucky to catch one. The rats don’t bother me because I’m used to it. My wife, Sylvia, doesn’t like them.”
One day, he finally caught an 18-inch rat, which was almost as big as a small terrier dog. Derek is about 6’1”. When he picked up the giant rat he caught and captured it in a photo, the size comparison was quite stunning!
“It was quite big, from nose to tail. It was about 18 inches long. It was the length of a small baby,” said Derek. “It’d been knocking about for a few weeks.”
Derek’s wife, Sylvia, admits she was horrified by Derek’s latest capture. She said: “I was in the bungalow, and Derek was outside. I thought he must have been in the garden. He said, ‘Come out with your phone! I’ve got something to show you.’ When I opened the door, he was standing on the doorstep with that litter picker in his hand. It scared me to death!”
“I see the rats on the bird table,” Derek recalled. “They can climb up anything. They’re quick as well. As soon as you see them, they’re off. I stopped feeding the birds for a week, so the rats were a bit hungry. So it’s easier to catch them. I hadn’t put food out for the birds for a week. It was hungry, so it went into the trap after I put a bit of cooked chicken in it. I had a pellet gun, and I did one shot to it, and that was it. I’ve not seen any for a few days, but they’ll be back. They might disappear for a couple of weeks, and then all of a sudden, they come back.”
Although the “king rat” has finally been caught and terminated, Derek believes the others will be back after some time. He vows he will never give up hunting these vermins.
“I’ve lived here for about seven years, and I’ve caught over 50,” Derek said. “Sometimes I poison them. Sometimes, I catch them in a trap. If they keep coming, I’ll keep catching them. I’m not going to give up.”
Images credits: © DailyMail UK
