Is it a dog, is it a cat? No, it’s a rat the size of a well-fed domestic pet

Imagine finding an enormous 55cm rat in your own home.

That’s exactly what happened to one UK family after they found a huge uninvited guest in their house in a borough* in North Yorkshire. Somewhat surprisingly, a picture was shared on social media by local politicians.

With the rat’s size making it a potential record breaker, Conservative Party councillors David Taylor and Stephen Martin have criticised the Labour-run council, calling for a full vermin* study to be carried out across the district.

The super-sized rat was discovered in a property by a pest controller who had been called to investigate, the MailOnline reported.

While it was unknown how the rodent accessed the property, it was believed to have been nesting somewhere in the home.

Cr Taylor took to social media to express his disgust.

“It’s almost the size of a small cat. And it’s not a one-off,” he wrote.

“The longer this is ignored, the worse it will get. We need action – not just advice.”

In the post, Cr Taylor also addressed the issue of overflowing bins in the area.

He said that shops and takeaways dumped items in them, providing “easy food” for rodents.

In response to his post, dozens of locals responded to express their own concerns.

One wrote: “We cannot even use our back door to put rubbish out it’s that bad with rats – two just left dead in the street to rot – when did we become such a scruffy rundown place?”

Others called out the council, claiming that they have reported the issue of rubbish and food being left out on the street, but “nothing gets done.”

Another even claimed she saw a rat the size of her jack russell drinking from a puddle.

Black and brown rats can grow in size when there is a steady and abundant supply of food.

The Eston ward councillors pointed out that Redcar and Cleveland Council no longer handled domestic rat infestations*, placing the responsibility on residents to solve the problem.

But the councillors said that the problem had been made worse due to public land being left overgrown and overflowing with bins.

They called for a full vermin study and proper funding to tackle the mounting issue.

It is estimated that there could be as many as 250 million rats in the UK.

Rats can present a major problem as they can pose a serious health hazard, and also breed rapidly in favourable conditions.

Among the diseases carried by rats are leptospirosis*, salmonellosis*, and rat-bite fever.

Infection can be spread through contact with rat urine, droppings, bites, or through contaminated food and water.

“The council has a dedicated pest control officer who manages pest issues on council-owned land,” a spokesperson for Redcar and Cleveland Council said.

“While we no longer provide a wider pest control service, we do offer advice to residents where possible.

“The council continues to work with Beyond Housing, Northumbrian Water and other partners to address complex issues and explore potential solutions.

“There is also helpful guidance and preventative measures on our website to support people in dealing with pests.”

RAT FACTS
Respected in Chinese culture enough to be the first of 12 animals included in the Chinese zodiac*, rats still rate among the most maligned* mammals in the world.

As the Museums Victoria site notes, even the name “rat” is used as an insult. And their reputation truly does precede them, thanks to their long association with disease and death. The bubonic plague* – commonly known as Black Death – wiped out more than a third of Europe’s 14th century population. It remains one of the deadliest disease outbreaks in human history, claiming an estimated 25 million lives in just four years.

Rats have been blamed for spreading the plague for centuries but research published in 2018 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science found that lice leaping from person to person was much likelier to be the primary transmission culprit.

Not so much dirty rats, then, as putrid people may have been to blame after all.

RATS DOWN UNDER
The brown rat (rattus norvegicus – the Norway rat) is an introduced*, invasive* species and is similar to the black rat (rattus rattus) and water rat. They like to hang out with humans and are really common in cities and urban areas on the coast.

Australia does have native rodents dating back a million years or so, including the bush rat and swamp rat. Size is the easiest indicator of origin – no native rodent grows to the size of the brown rat, and its naked looking tail is another hint.

The black rat has a longer tail than our native swamp rat, which has a much shorter tail relative to the rest of its body. The black rat also has larger ears that stick out, whereas swamp rat ears are rounded, small and flat to the skull.

One of Australia’s largest native rodents is the endangered* black-footed tree rat, a nocturnal* mammal that weighs almost a kilo and is found in the Kimberley region in WA and in the Northern Territory.

The Museums Victoria site states that where a rat was found and what it was doing can be a good indicator of the species. Native rats are generally shy and nervous, and feed on native plant shoots and the like, whereas black rats are bold. They will happily run along fence tops, clamber through trees, prance down pathways, and have even been known to eat directly from human hands. Ew.

Sections of this article originally appeared in The Sun and were reproduced with permission. Additional information was also sourced from Museums Victoria, the Australian Museum and the BBC.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• borough: a town, or a division of a large town
• vermin: small animals including rats and mice that cause problems for humans by carrying disease and damaging crops or food
• infestation: a large number of unwanted, disease-carrying animals and insects in one place
• leptospirosis: an infectious disease that damages the liver and kidneys, found mainly in dogs and farm animals and caused by bacteria
• salmonellosis: bacterial disease causing fever, stomach pain and vomiting
• zodiac: astrological scheme based on the Chinese calendar
• maligned: to be spoken of harshly or unfairly
• bubonic plague: serious bacterial disease
• introduced: not a native species
• invasive: an organism that has come into an environment from somewhere else and has a harmful effect on animals, plants, etc already living in that environment
• endangered: in danger of becoming extinct
• nocturnal: being active or happening at night rather than during the day

EXTRA READING

Rafting rat starts long journey for Australian mammals

Rare giant rat finally captured on camera

Hank the cat worn out by mouse plague

QUICK QUIZ

1. Cr Taylor likened the rodent’s size to that of what common domestic animal?
2. What action did the Conservative Party councillors call for after posting the image on social media?
3. Which rat is one of Australia’s largest native rodents and what else did you learn about it?
4. Rats have a prominent role in which zodiac calendar?
5. The Black Death pandemic took place in which century and claimed approximately how many lives?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Group inquiry
Get into small groups of three to four students to brainstorm issues associated with the big rat problem in parts of the UK.

Include the answers to the following questions:

• Why are rats a problem in cities?
• What attracts rats to homes or suburbs?
• What could cause rats to get bigger?
• How can we stop rat infestations?

Answer your questions on whiteboards or poster paper to present to the class.

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
The Kids News article points out that even the word “rat” is used as an insult.

Can you think of other things or animals that are used by humans as an insult or compliment? Write them below;

Rat = insult, meaning = someone who betrays others, sneaky or disloyal

G.O.A.T =

–

–

–

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Imaginative dialogue
Imagine you were there during the rat catcher event in the UK.

Create a conversation between two characters from the article – you may need or want to include yourself as one of the characters. Don’t forget to try to use facts and details from the article to help make your dialogue as realistic as possible.

Go through your writing and highlight any punctuation you have used in green. Make sure you carefully check the punctuation used for the dialogue and ensure you have opened and closed the speaking in the correct places.