Mutant Rats

In Pests, Rats & Mice

Mutant Rats:
So says the front page of the Daily Star. This follows a ‘story’ of a 16 inch rat that supposedly chewed it’s way into a family home in Sweden. There is a picture of a large rat caught in a rat trap. The caption reads: The giant rat was caught in a big industrial trap after chewing through concrete. The trap in the picture is a normal sized rat trap, I don’t think that there are any ‘industrial sized rat traps’. This story is typical of the press looking for a story. Large rats have no advantage over small rats in fact they are at a disadvantage. Large rats are always heavier and slower, they can’t fit in small spaces, they offer a bigger target to prey species and need more food. It is the old males in the UK that grow to the largest size and these are past there prime and often have to forage in the more dangerous daylight hours (rats are naturally nocturnal) to avoid being attacked by younger, stronger more dominate rats. Like humans the older animals (if they survive) get out of condition and fat. They also state that these rats will be coming over to the UK.

At PEST UK the media are always contacting us to comment on the size of rats, the rat population explosion, poison resistance in fact anything dramatic. If we tell them that rats are on the decrease or resistance is not a problem then we don’t get quoted so it is in our or any other pest control company to exaggerate any information on rats to get a mention in the press. This encourages pest control companies not to tell the truth and this coupled by the media’s take of such stories leads to these types of stories being rubbish.
Rats BPCA Advice