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Scream.... Rat in the bunny shed

Bungle bunny

Mama Doe
OH went out to the buns and saw a rat in there, there is droppings and everything, my skin is crawling. We are going to go out there tomorrow and rip it all apart. We are going to bring the buns in the house and put a trap out there. Oh My God........:shock:

How bad is it? Does anyone know???? What would you do
 
I would fix whevever it got it and mesh the base to keep them out, and I wouldn't want a rat to get in with my buns so I can understand your panic, but......... it's just a wild animal looking for food.

Poor wee ratty <:3( )~~~
 
Poor wee ratty <:3( )~~~[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I get that, I feel sorry too, the trap will be humane and OH will take it onto the farmland near us.
I am a real animal lover but I just cant live with a rat out there that I know about.
 
I know of a couple of bunnies that were bitten by rats and got ill from it, one had to be put down the other was fine but just seemed 'odd' apparently.

However, when I was a kid we kept the rabbits in the stables, and then the stables got infested with rats when they dug up the sewers accross the road. It was horrible and we must have had loads, if you went into the stable in the evening you saw/heard them shoot up the walls as they heard you coming.... urgh. But none of the 20 or so buns were hurt, although we did find that one mummy rabbit had killed one once, we found it dead near her nest, we're not sure if it attacked her litter (she rejected the litter, which unusually was just one baby). But I dont think they generally actively attack rabbits, or we would have had lots more problems...

edit: do you have a dog? We never had rats in the house because they could smell the dogs, even though the whole street got them in their houses, so it may be an idea to walk a dog round the shed to try and deter it.
 
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Also, I dont mean to scare you, but be aware that there may be more than 1 rat, and if you disturb a nest they will scatter, so be careful if you find rat holes, dont dig them up like someone I know did!
 
If you relocate it, it will probably just come back.

I agree with repairing the hole it go in through and meshing the shed. Keep all food in plastic containers above floor level. There will be many more than one.
 
I know of a couple of bunnies that were bitten by rats and got ill from it, one had to be put down the other was fine but just seemed 'odd' apparently.

That was probably Weil's disease, it's a form of leptospirosis that some wild rats carry. The sypmtoms in people are similar to flu.

do you have a dog? We never had rats in the house because they could smell the dogs, even though the whole street got them in their houses, so it may be an idea to walk a dog round the shed to try and deter it.

Another solution would be get a cat :D
 
Thanks everyone

I have 2 cats, they used to go in and out of the cat flap at the back of the house and often used to sleep in with the buns. I had NO rats.

Then I got two dogs, now the cats go in and out of the house at the front because although the dogs are used to cats, the cats wont be near the dogs, so now.

Part of me wants the dogs to go into the bunny enclosure to get the rat(s) but at the same time I feel sorry for the rat(s). I hate them, they make my skin crawl but I have a real difficulty killing them.
 
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