Dove, I think that the council differs from council to council .
I may have said before on this forum , where we used to live we were seeing rats .they were from a nearby garden that had just been left to dump things . It was reported and because it was not council property they could do nothing. but they did advise the use of an air rifle . The neighbour who reported it was given this in writing along with a pest kill company's details .and what they charged .
Cangran the firearms law is nothing to do with the council - it's English law and is enforcable by the police.
As I said, an air rifle in the right hands can be a very good solution to a rat problem, but it's a good thing to point out the legalities of the situation.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Sorry dove ,just 're read my post, your are right but I didnt mean i disagreed with what you said .I was refering to the council's dishing out different advice.
Aha - got you - yes it depends such a lot on whether the council offices and officers are plagued by vermin, or whether it's just a problem that affects the council tax payers
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Best rat control is to sneak out in bitter cold weather and when they are semi frozen hit them with a shovel. Sorry just being silly
The birds here are eating as fast as we keep putting things out. I don't leave stuff overnight but get up early to feed & water them, feel guilty inside drinking tea when I know they are hungry.
I disagree that one cannot legally own an air rifle capable of firing beyond the boundary of the premises.
What is illegal is to fire pellets or allow them to ricochet beyond the boundary of the premises.
Most air rifles could easily put a pellet beyond the boundary of most gardens. The actual range being far in excess of the useful killing range if an elevated shot were taken.
To comply with the law I only take a shot at a rat that is on the ground, so a missed shot will hit soil and not ricochet. I also have a situation where if for some unexpected reason it did ricochet, it can only hit a pile of logs within the boundary. I also have a target holder/pellet catcher which very effectively prevents sighting shots from leaving the premises.
You can legally shoot within 50ft of a highway too, just so long as it doesn't effect anyone.
There is more on the law and code of practice here:
It is an offence to fire an air rifle pellet beyond the land where you have permission to shoot, unless the occupier of the neighbouring land has also given you permission. Where someone under 14 is shooting, both the young person and the supervising adult can be prosecuted.
It is also against the law, in England and Wales, to fire an air rifle within 50 feet of the centre of a highway if this results in someone being injured, interrupted or endangered. These offences could be committed, for example, when someone is shooting in their garden close to a road and the pellets ricochet onto the highway.
It is an offence in Scotland to discharge any gun in a culpable or reckless manner. This means shooting without caring about the safety of others.
It is good though to discuss these things, as in the wrong hands one could easily make a mistake and as air rifles are treated the same as any firearm, the consequences could be quite dire!
Just a thought, has the food got a lot of wheat, cracked corn, split peas in that the birds are intentionally scattering? Any food that gets dropped in our garden immediately gets eaten by the ground feeding birds. It contains suet pellets, hulled sunflowers, black sunflowers and miscellaneous seeds with added herbal wormer (Vermex). I get it from wilkos, it's mid price range and the birds really like it.
It was well worth mentioning the laws Dove, buying an air rifle means owning a gun and being aware of the responsibility that goes with it.
Birds are going mad for the food here too KEF, filled the peanut feeder up before I went walkies this afternoon, just filled it up again as it had been stripped bare in a couple of hours, usually lasts them the day!
Gemma we have a sunflower feeder and nut feeder and both are getting emptied within 3 hrs, now topped up until the morning. The ground feeders are having wildbird seed, sultanas and chopped up windfall apples. OH says better fed than him
Regarding rats I have no feelings of guilt at poisoning them I put it where people's pets can't access it.
Posts
Dove, I think that the council differs from council to council .
I may have said before on this forum , where we used to live we were seeing rats .they were from a nearby garden that had just been left to dump things . It was reported and because it was not council property they could do nothing. but they did advise the use of an air rifle . The neighbour who reported it was given this in writing along with a pest kill company's details .and what they charged .
Cangran
the firearms law is nothing to do with the council - it's English law and is enforcable by the police.
As I said, an air rifle in the right hands can be a very good solution to a rat problem, but it's a good thing to point out the legalities of the situation.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Sorry dove ,just 're read my post, your are right but I didnt mean i disagreed with what you said .I was refering to the council's dishing out different advice.
Aha - got you
- yes it depends such a lot on whether the council offices and officers are plagued by vermin, or whether it's just a problem that affects the council tax payers 
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I feed the birds regardless.
Best rat control is to sneak out in bitter cold weather and when they are semi frozen hit them with a shovel. Sorry just being silly
The birds here are eating as fast as we keep putting things out. I don't leave stuff overnight but get up early to feed & water them, feel guilty inside drinking tea when I know they are hungry.
I disagree that one cannot legally own an air rifle capable of firing beyond the boundary of the premises.
What is illegal is to fire pellets or allow them to ricochet beyond the boundary of the premises.
Most air rifles could easily put a pellet beyond the boundary of most gardens. The actual range being far in excess of the useful killing range if an elevated shot were taken.
To comply with the law I only take a shot at a rat that is on the ground, so a missed shot will hit soil and not ricochet. I also have a situation where if for some unexpected reason it did ricochet, it can only hit a pile of logs within the boundary. I also have a target holder/pellet catcher which very effectively prevents sighting shots from leaving the premises.
You can legally shoot within 50ft of a highway too, just so long as it doesn't effect anyone.
There is more on the law and code of practice here:
http://basc.org.uk/airgunning/basc-air-rifle-code-of-practice/
Firing pellets beyond your boundary
It is an offence to fire an air rifle pellet beyond the land where you have permission to shoot, unless the occupier of the neighbouring land has also given you permission. Where someone under 14 is shooting, both the young person and the supervising adult can be prosecuted.
It is also against the law, in England and Wales, to fire an air rifle within 50 feet of the centre of a highway if this results in someone being injured, interrupted or endangered. These offences could be committed, for example, when someone is shooting in their garden close to a road and the pellets ricochet onto the highway.
It is an offence in Scotland to discharge any gun in a culpable or reckless manner. This means shooting without caring about the safety of others.
It is good though to discuss these things, as in the wrong hands one could easily make a mistake and as air rifles are treated the same as any firearm, the consequences could be quite dire!
I agree with you Gemma - I worded my post badly
However, as you say, "....in the wrong hands one could easily make a mistake .... the consequences could be quite dire!"
A relative of mine blinded a fourteen year old friend who ran across his line of fire when he was using an air gun.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Just a thought, has the food got a lot of wheat, cracked corn, split peas in that the birds are intentionally scattering? Any food that gets dropped in our garden immediately gets eaten by the ground feeding birds. It contains suet pellets, hulled sunflowers, black sunflowers and miscellaneous seeds with added herbal wormer (Vermex). I get it from wilkos, it's mid price range and the birds really like it.
It was well worth mentioning the laws Dove, buying an air rifle means owning a gun and being aware of the responsibility that goes with it.
Birds are going mad for the food here too KEF, filled the peanut feeder up before I went walkies this afternoon, just filled it up again as it had been stripped bare in a couple of hours, usually lasts them the day!
Gemma we have a sunflower feeder and nut feeder and both are getting emptied within 3 hrs, now topped up until the morning. The ground feeders are having wildbird seed, sultanas and chopped up windfall apples. OH says better fed than him
Regarding rats I have no feelings of guilt at poisoning them I put it where people's pets can't access it.