David's Digest

I know I am not alone in being concerned at increasing numbers of rabbits this year. Like the rat population they have benefited from a series of mild winters and few casualties from cold weather and now they are everywhere. We poison rats around the farmyard on a regular basis and have kept them down to manangeable proportions. But there are still plenty out in banks and hedges ready to infest buildings if we get a cold spell. And although we shoot rabbits at night whenever we can, effectively controlling their numbers often seems like a lost cause.

So, I was interested to hear of an American device, now available in the UK, that might help to control all troublesome rodents. Last week I went to see it demonstrated.

Called a Rodenator it consists of what looks like a giant oxy-acetaline welding gun with rubber tubes attaching it to canisters of propane and oxygen. The nozzle of the gun is placed into a burrow (or rat hole); the adjacent holes are pushed in and sealed with a spade; then the mixed gas consisting of 3% propane and the rest oxygen is turned on for about 45seconds, or more if the warren is a big one. After a suitable period the gas supply is turned off and a button is pressed to activate a battery powered spark plug which explodes the gas in the tunnel.

The idea is to destroy the burrow (or rats nest) but any "residents" are destroyed as well. It is simple and safe to use, so long as the rules are followed (despite delays in granting it a Health and Safety certificate). And from the demonstration I saw it looks like it does the job for which it is intended.