Huge rat spotted!

[Prunella_Gatsby]

I was walking with my little Poodle, Tilly, in Peckham Rye Park, down towards the playground and cafe, then out of the blue this huge dirty dishevelled rat bounded out of the bushes! i did'nt know who got the bigger shock, Me, Tilly or the rat! I couldn't believe how big it was!

It was at least 1 and half time to two foot long - with quite big yellow incisors, its looked scruffy but well fed and i'm sure there are plenty more of its type as they are i believe very communal creatures. Aren't they suppose to be hibernating in the winter, or are they all weather creatures?

I was more worried for the small children running around, as it could easily have taken a small child down! It looked very mean and athletic.It could have jumped on me easily as i am disabled, elderly and with a walking stick...

Have any one else seen similar in the area?

[jane1]

i used to walk that way to work every morning and at least once a week, i would see a large rat, running out of the brushes, they are very big over there in the park.....................

[Mick Mac]

I feel another F Scott Fitzgerald tall story coming on.

[Jeremy]

I don't think rats of over a foot long would be completely unbelievable.

But I'm pretty sure we don't need to start worrying about being attacked by these beasts.

[EastDulwichRose]

Apparently rats of 2 feet long are quite common in built-up parts of London, where they have constant access to our food wastage, bins etc and they grow to quite large sizes these days.

I see quite big one walking along the Paddington canal on the way to work, they never bother me, but the cats don't even go near them a local houseboat owner told me, as their too scared to tackle the large ones!

P.s Prunella, itmust have been very unsettling to have seen a large one jump out in front of you, yes they are all weather animals and do not hibernate (ifound that bit of info' on the internet).

Be careful as they spread harmful diseases.

[Mick Mac]

Does 2 feet long include the tail? If the body was two feet long I'd be very worried.

[Mick Mac]

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://i33.tinypic.com/165oub.jpg&imgrefurl=http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h%3D0%26t%3D892943%26d%3D11189.06229%26nmt%3D&h=480&w=640&sz=40&tbnid=ez8Q2C_nfAk5CM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=120&zoom=1&usg=__SE0kcGlFlGVXHeCKApQwJVa7y9s=&docid=X38OHhJh-yW5JM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SpjuUMP5BqrX0QXdq4HgCw&ved=0CDwQ9QEwAg&dur=697

Now I'm worried.

[????]

Did it appear from under a wooden bridge by any chance?

[El Pibe]

:-)

[Isla]

I believe you Prunella. Loved the descriptive way you wrote that post, I have a startling image of this dishevelled, scruffy, mean & athletic, yellow-toothed beast lurking in the bushes now. Must have been a bit of a shock!

[Alan Medic]

Almost as big a shock when as you realised Tillie was a poodle and not a spaniel I guess.

[dbboy]

Is it called James!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bonniebird]

They don't hibernate and doubt very much that they would go anywhere near you or your dog or a small child, they are afraid of us in general

[pebblebeach]

bonniebird Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> .... doubt very much that they

> would go anywhere near you or your dog or a small

> child, they are afraid of us in general

Then you obviously haven't seen this news story http://www.itv.com/news/london/story/2012-11-16/rat-attacks-baby/

[KalamityKel]

Pebble - Very doubtful the rat intentionally jumped in the cot to attack the child. it was prob was being nosey and then found some strange live thing and acted out of fright!

[civilservant]

Agree - rats are clever social animals, and I doubt that in normal circumstances they'd do silly things like attack babies. See this http://www.sciencemag.org/content/334/6061/1427.short for an account of altruistic behaviour in rats. They are bright enough to learn how to release a fellow rat from a cage and altruistic enough to use this knowledge to help each other and share treats.

[JulieP]

A few years back when we had not long moved into our house, I was about to pop our young baby onto the play mat on the floor when something caught my eye. It was a rat (I would say 1.5 ft from nose to tail tip) wandering nonchalantly around my lounge. My large black cat was following it not sure what to do, I think it thought it was another cat as it normally caught mice and brought them in so had the hunting instinct. I was also following it, not sure what to do. It stayed there for about 15 minutes being followed around by myself (at one point with a rolling pin which I didn?t dare use) and the cat.

Needless to say pest control services were called immediately who suggested there was probably a rat run under the house and they were coming in through holes left where the service pipes came into the kitchen. We blocked the pipes and I have not seen another rat in the house since ? thankfully.

This rat was NOT scared of me, my baby or my cat and I dread to think of how many came in without me knowing between moving in and filling the holes. My skin still crawls thinking about it.

[civilservant]

Rats are not a threat unless they are harbouring disease! If they aren't in the house, I'd leave them be.

And why should they be scared of people? They're at the same level of the food chain as foxes or cats and probably much more intelligent than either.

[pebblebeach]

Civilservant, it was Bonnie who said they were afraid of people. Julie just gave an example of a time when a rat showed no fear. Anyway, how are you to know whether or not they're harbouring diseases, except wait until it bites you or your child? Also, I don't understand the comment you made about foxes, they mostly seem afraid when you chance upon one, even from several metres away.

Julie, that's a horrible story. I would have grabbed the baby and made a run for it - not at it, opposite direction =8-0

[civilservant]

JulieP, I wasn't criticising you - I am happy that you've managed things so that rats can't get into your house any more.

You are completely right that nobody would want to be bitten by a rat, but if they're living somewhere else, then no reason to bother them. I fear that there are people who would kill every rat or grey squirrel in the country, simply because they don't like them. I'm terrified of snakes myself, but wouldn't want them extinct just because of that.

Rats exhibit a moderate fear of people, but they are also curious (like foxes, or even people; curiosity is a trait associated with intelligence) and can hang around to watch what happens unlike a more timid creature, like a mouse, which will have rushed for the exit.

[Mick Mac]

If I saw I mouse I'd be standing on my chair shouting. If I saw a rat I'd expire.

[DJKillaQueen]

Lol Mac. I had no idea rats could grow so big and probably if seeing one would have assumed it to be a large vole or something else. I do think that rats and mice have had a raw deal PR wise though.

[JulieP]

Oh well, perhaps I ought to readjust my mind-set! The creature that gnawed its way into my house and wandered around the kitchen floor probably after spending some time ferreting through rotten rubbish and maybe a little jaunt along the sewer is actually a misunderstood and highly intelligent animal perhaps even cute / cuddly?.

I think you have made me feel slightly better about our friendly neighbourhood rats ? strangely. Probably won?t be inviting them back though.

[Alan Medic]

I still want to know how Pru managed to have a spaniel in one thread and a poodle in this one.

[Prunella_Gatsby]

Thats very easy Alan Medic, i have 2 dogs ( i would have thought that would have been obvious to a person of your intelligence....) i assume i am allowed to have 2 dogs! : )

Anyway, JulieP i really understand how you feel, its bad enough seeing a big rat outside your house, but inside is another matter! i was looking at the link provided by pebblebeach - about the young child attacked in her cot by a large rat. I would have thought the cat would have pounced on it, but sounds like the cat was afraid or unsure.