A Dublin family were given the fright of their lives when they discovered a monster 24 inch rat living in their home.
Grace and Ian Walters were horrified when the pest control experts revealed that the culprit for scratching noises they kept hearing from their loft, was a giant rodent, the size of a domestic cat.
More worrying for Irish residents, is that a member of the pest control team warned that this may become a normality, due to climate change and an increase in food wastage.
Marcus Giusti said: “I think it’s a lot to do with climate and hygiene. If people leave their household bins overflowing and in disarray, they are essentially creating a food source for these animals.
“The reason why there is pest control is that the rats can overpopulate very quick and become even more difficult to deal with.”
He added that he has noticed an increase in the amount of calls he has received about rats, and also that there is a trend that the rats he catches are getting bigger. However, even with that in mind, Giusti admitted that he was shocked by the size of this particular rat.
Several species of giant rats can be found in the wild around the world, normally in hotter countries. However, the new larger rats in Ireland are not a new species to the country, but are simply adapting, and thriving, in their changing surroundings.
