Giant rats supposedly found in South Africa.

[UFO_Monster]

http://forum.newzimbabwe.com/Index.php?/topic/41128-giant-rats-killed-and-ate-two-babies-in-south-africa/

It wouldn't surprise me if this were true, but the picture has me curious. Why hasn't this reached national news?

[Still Waters]

http://forum.newzimbabwe.com/Index.php?/topic/41128-giant-rats-killed-and-ate-two-babies-in-south-africa/

It wouldn't surprise me if this were true, but the picture has me curious. Why hasn't this reached national news?

It did -

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1393836/Giant-rats-eat-babies-South-Africa-townships-separate-attacks.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

[Doctor_Strangelove]

Rats can grow to amazing sizes as is. Especially when on a diet of human flesh.

No, seriously. Rats in the trenches of WWI got to be size of cats from eating corpses.

[Eldorado]

No, seriously. Rats in the trenches of WWI got to be size of cats from eating corpses.

And some of them made it all the way up to be Generals.

Edited June 5, 2011 by Eldorado

[Leah G.]

I don't know, it looks like a opossum to me....

Edited June 6, 2011 by Hatch

[Keymaker]

I think it's quite plausible that a rat could grow like this in such squalid conditions, these places must be a rat haven.

[LadyPhoenix]

African giant pouched rats (not really rats at all) can grow to be up to three feet long. Icky, but real.

[bunji]

i dunno we have tons of possums and rats around here it it looks like a rat to me.

[Night Fury]

These "Giant Rats" are a species of rodent. they have reached the news; there was documentary about them. They carry lots of diseases

[Emin]

Wow for certain now i'm going to be paranoid as hell, next time i hear a sound in the middle of the night.

[Carnivorous Entity]

Eugh... this reminds me of the prologue in the Jurassic Park novel where some of the escaped Comsognathus kill an infant. That picture looks a lot more like an opossum to me, though.

[Erowin]

Kind of sad, but... I want one! Hand raise a baby one, get a cute little rat pet. And you could let it run around freely, since it would be so big! You could take it on walks! I've always thought rats were cute, though most people hate them. I guess they are mean, and disease ridden. But if you hand raise one it would be a sweet pet!

[JohnnyBravo]

I am from South Africa, and I thought this was pure rubbish, until I checked out a few local newspaper sites.

I didn't know these giant rats even existed but apparently they do:

http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article510106.ece/Townships-of-our-past-vs-our-present

[Erowin]

I am from South Africa, and I thought this was pure rubbish, until I checked out a few local newspaper sites.

I didn't know these giant rats even existed but apparently they do:

http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article510106.ece/Townships-of-our-past-vs-our-present

You should mail me one!

[JohnnyBravo]

You should mail me one!

Lolz, the only thing you would getting in the mail would be an empty box with a big hole at the buttom, and probably my bitten off fingers.

But they would make great guard dogs hehe.

[ShinerAnt]

LOL, to be honest. I work in a big factory that makes petrol and all other chemical stuff, and I have always heard the guys talking about these huge rats that are as big as cats. I never believed them. Well, one night I was standing in the smoke hut outside when I saw something in the corner of my eye, when I looked I saw this huge rat, kind of whitish and brown and he was running into the plant. That was quite a shocker. I think its the chemicals they are exposed to that makes them that big lol. Now whenever I go into the plant I keep my eyes EXTRA open.

They also catch birds and one even killed a cat? That I dont know for sure as I have only heard the guys talk at work. They are very active at night time.

[BiffSplitkins]

Reminds me of the 'Giant Rat' you get to see at the state fair for a dollar. Which is nothing more than a Capybara.