Nature & Environment

Britain braces for invasion of 'ultra-rats' the size of rabbits

By T.K. Randall
September 15, 2022

Image: Brown Rat
Credit: Dunpharlain / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) Rats can be a menace at the best of times, but this year a combination of excessive summer temperatures and an abundance of food has greatly benefited these much maligned rodents, resulting in them growing to enormous sizes.

According to experts, once the temperature starts to drop in the coming weeks, the rats will begin looking to people's homes and gardens for warmth and to find new sources of food to eat.

Brits are already used to enduring the annual influx of giant house spiders in the autumn, so the last thing anyone wants is to be playing host to giant rats as well.

Some of the rodents can grow to the size of rabbits and they will eat absolutely anything."It is time to protect your garden, and home, now," said Chris Bonnett, founder of Gardening Express.

"Some of the imperative measures to take to protect yourself and your home are laying preventive scents around your home and clearing any rubbish, debris and garden waste that's accumulated during summer."

Rats are particularly adept at breeding - producing up to 72 offspring a year which are themselves capable of reproducing within a matter of weeks.

Making your garden as unattractive to them as possible is a good way to avoid any unwanted visits.

Source: Wales Online

Tags: Rats