[LadyDoc]

the cats here in the Philippines kill birds and mice, but yes, the rats are huge, the size of a small cat. But our Labrador kills them...

but mainly we have to rely on periodic rat poison, which is dangerous and we have to watch out that the dogs don’t eat it.

guns will work, but the problem is you don’t see them: We will only see one or two rats, but after the rat poison works, we sometimes collect eight or ten huge dead rats.

[Equine1952]

Agreed. We shot the rats at the city dump at night with a light years ago. They are hard to get rid of for sure. Poison always worries me, and I feed the cats enough they are not hunting for any reason but that it’s what they do. I feed birds and I don’t want them hurting them. They still do sometimes, but I’m hoping they’re being slowed down some.

[PA Engineer]

A bit of history I'd like to share. I've studied and owned a Maine Coon. They are one of a few (if not only) indigenous US breeds. Historically they were recognized as "ratters" and employed on tall ships.

Years ago we had one very large male (26lbs) who was trainable. He had a natural instinct to hunt large rodents while also ignoring birds.

Because of their coats they would not be suitable for the Philippine climate. In the northeast US they are perfect for keeping the pests out of the gardens.

Sadly, I probably would not raise another because of their health problems later in life.