Penticton residents should be advised not to put poison out to kill rats.
Rats will die from the poison, but so will the owls or other critters that pick up the poisoned rats — maybe even an outdoor cat.
The best way to get rid of rats is to live trap them and then drown them in a deep container of water with the trap doors taped shut.
I’m sure you do not want to poison the owls or any other birds or critters that may eat a poisoned rat.
Last summer, we trapped and disposed of 10 black roof rats. This summer, we didn’t see any live rats in our back yard, however, there was a large dead brown one in our back yard near a bird bath and, sometime later, a smaller dead roof rat on the path way. We suspect they had been poisoned in our neighbourhood by someone and we don’t know how they came into our yard, maybe looking for water. It was very disturbing.
Ramona Peterson
Penticton