I've gotta say this is a new one to me. I live in a fairly new construction with some landscaped areas and long hallways with lots of units. Occasionally I'll see a possum, rat or raccoon in the halls. If I see one, I'll usually give them some space to get away –– some stretches of hallway are pretty long without an exit.

Tonight I was walking and came upon a rat who ran away and hid in front of a neighbor's door. We looked at each other for a minute and then the thing charges me .

You now have the bubonic plague it was nice knowing you.

I had a Prairie Dog charge me at Devil's Tower years ago when I got too close to his hole.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1dAQN5QcZU

Yeah.  They'll charge you sometimes.

I was in Alaska and I had a Norway rat cornered.  I was trying to kill it with a stick and it charged me and started jumping and squealing.

They can jump about waist high.  It was touch and go for awhile there, but he was trying to bite my junk and I was trying to cave in his skull.  Finally he should have zigged when he zagged and I caught him right behind the ears.

Afterwards, a couple of guys said they didn't know who was screaming more - me or the rat.

<pops beer and sits back in chair>

We found one recently in our house. Wife said it was in the bedroom. I said "well close the fucking door and trap that son of a bitch!". She did, and we made a game plan. She would chase it towards me and I would dispatch it. So I grabbed the stout end of my salmon pole and we went to work. Bad idea. That thing went bat shit crazy. Literally jumped a foot in the air trying to get at my knees and bite me. In a strange moment of samurai slow motion I managed to get a strike and break its neck.

Corner a rat, and I promise you, it WILL fight for its life. Scared the shit out of me.

See? This man knows the truth.

This is why we have dogs.  My dogs will literally tear a skunk in half together just for fun.  I've never seen a rat try to get near my house (and I live in the country)...but if my fox terrier sees one, I guarantee it would be game on and the other one would grab the other end.

.25 acp?

I had a thread like this a month or so ago.

I was in a cave in Georgia at night and a big ass rat charged me.

Then I ran into an overhang because it was dark and was semi knocked out.

Charging rats = scary shit.

My bald spot finally grew back though

Good luck with that. Try it and tell us how it goes. Unless you shoot better than god, I see pain in your future.

<sigh>

Two grizzled veterans of the rat wars.

We'll have to start going to reunions or something.

Ok; I ran. I didn't want to admit it in the OP, but from reading the responses I'm ok with sharing it now.

I used to have pet rats growing up, but I don't want to fuck with a wild anything unless I have to.

I think my manliness was a casualty of the Rat Wars.

I still have flashbacks to this day. And the nightmares..... Oh the nightmares.

When I was fifteen or so, an old shitbox house down the road from my folks place got demo'ed and the rats that had been living in it spread out through out the neighborhood.  I had just turned my light out to go to sleep when I heard some scratching sounds coming from my closet.  I turned the lights back on, and I see a rat with a 9" body and much longer tail chewing on a bag of babnana chips that I had recently gotten as a Christmas present.  It froze up as I sorta stared at it for a bit, I slowly reached for a book I had on my nightstand, and chucked it at him.  He jumped and came running AT me, but decided to hide under my bed.  Since my folks were asleep, I grabbed my cheesy un-sharpened swap-meet katana sword and went out to the living room to grab my parents dachshunds.  I tried to get them worked up into kill mode for a few minutes, but they just kinda looked at me like what the fuck do you want me to do?....  

I decided I needed to take matters into my own hands, so I bent over and started thrusting the sword under my bed, hoping I could scare it out and let the dogs do the rest.  The rat stayed put, but the dogs started to take notice, and one of them ventured under the bed.  There were immediate snarls and squeaks, and the second dog headed in for what I thought was the kill.  

I stood back listening to the asswhooping when the rat decided to break contact.  He came running at me pretty fucking fast, and I sorta shrieked and swung the sword down... Hitting him square in the pelvis.  I continued to beat his little body as hard as I could for 15 more seconds or so, and when I was done, he was puking his dead guts out.  The dogs grabbed him and did the kill shake, but he was pretty much a bag of mush at that point.  I pushed the dogs away from its lifeless body, and picked it up at the end of the sword.  it litterally draped over the blade like it had no bones in its body.  

My folks woke up, came running to see WTF was happening.  My mom freaked out like you'd expect a mom to, but my dad looked down at the floor and scowled at me for the 20-30 new dents in his oak hardwood.  He just shook his head and walked off, but I could tell he was pissed about his floor.  I think the only reason he didn't chew my ass was that I had made a good solid kill on the rat, and he didn't have to deal with it.

It's a common reaction.

When confronted by a rat, there are two types of men...

The first will stand his ground and valiantly defend himself, his family and his domination at the top of the food chain.

The other will scream like a girl, drop their purse, kick off their heels and run screaming into the night.

I'm not here to judge you.

I just made raccoon scurry away with a stick. He got all mad and shit, but he ran away. I think he knew I would just bash him in the head so tonight....he just walked away. I think he will pick his battle on a different day.

S&W J Frame .22 and CB shorts...

I prefer the combination method I scream like a little 5th grade girl this makes them think I am retreating I then go in for the kill. I find this to be more effective!



 

 

Finally a use for the Taurus Judge, charging rat defense.

Would call for a blade 45

My rat story goes way back. When we where kids the fence row behind the house was covered in weeds and honeysuckle. The rats that lived there where huge up to a foot long. One day while crossing the fence we saw a nice size one venture out into the ditch. We started chucking rocks at it about 15 to 20 feet away. I got the once in a life time shot and hit the rat right on the head. This alone would make a good story but it's not over. My friend's white German Shepard sees the rat, in its last flops of death, runs over grabs it flips it into the air and gulps it down. Yep he swallowed it hole. Ugh nasty but no more rat. :)

Keeping a Python (snake, not the Colt) around the house helps with those critters too.

When I was 14 or 15 we shot rats with our .22 rifles out on the country. I'm not sure if you can do that anymore (PETA?)

We do have a pet rat. One of my Army buddies PCS'd back CONUS and couldn't take it. My HH6 wanted to keep the damn thing, but I kinda took a likin' to it now. He's pretty damn cool and acts more like a dog sometimes.

Seems like several Rat War vets. One even has PTSD. The Varmint Cong are getting bolder.





 

zombies.....

If you must shoot, aim between the eyes, as they will charge if wounded. Oh the humanity!

In the early-mid 80s open pit dumps were still around in rural areas,    It was a fun time to sit nearby and shoot rats at night with a 22.   Yes,  occasionally one would charge you..    Thats what the 20ga was for

I had a mouse charge me once and I sort of ran.  It was a few years ago when I was still living at home with my parents.  One of my friends was visiting and was in the food pantry.  He shut himself in there and when I went to open the door I saw a mouse running around his feet and I yelled holy shit its a mouse.

Then my friend started screaming and high stepping in place.  The mouse comes charging out of the pantry right towards me.  I did what any brave man would do and jumped straight up onto the island in the middle of the kitchen.  I must have jumped 4 feet straight up due to the massive adrenaline dump.  Needless to say I ended up killing the mouse in a trap the next night so I won that war.

You guys can be manly and talk shit all you want. I don't give a fuck if you are a space shuttle door gunner. When a big ass black rat decides it is you or him, I promise you, you might just pee a little and start to worry about your man card.

At my last job, we had a bathroom out in the warehouse.  I went to take a crap and when I closed the door, a rat was staring me down.  I calmly called a coworker on my cell phone and had him bring me a mop handle.  And then, it was on. He said it sounded like a barroom brawl with me screaming "DIE, MOTHERFUCKER, DIE".   It took me like 10 minutes to kill that SOB.  God, he was quick.  Yep!  He charged me a couple of times.  I kicked him across the shitter once with my steel toed boots.  Good times!

Just get a cat, like a bobcat.


Just get a big enough litter box.

"Aim between the eyes, Joe.  Sometimes they charge when they're wounded."

Edited because I wouldn't want anyone to thing Mr. Mauldin didn't know the difference between "they're" and "their".

I thought this was gonna be a contractor thread.

Even Willie and Joe recognized the viciousness of a rat.

Worse than the Natzis I tell ya.

Bump for more rat stories.

Little known Fun Fact:

Rat Island was so named after rats inhabited the island after a Japanese ship ran aground in the 1800s.  Rats multiplied and devastated the bird population.  

The state of Alaska actively went after the rat population about a half dozen years ago with an aggressive poisoning programs.  They believe the island is now rat-free, but they are monitoring it to make sure.

I used to have pet rats. They sure are nimble little fuckers.

Same tour in Alaska - we had a female Sailor wake up with a rat sitting on her chest.

From what I understand, that young lady could scream really loud.