By Chad Love

Remember that one time when you were a kid at the carnival walking down the seedy, sticky midway trying not be creeped out by all the carnival barkers waving you over to their booth. After a little time and a little too much cotton candy and funnel cake you finally got up the nerve to pony up your fifty cents to see the giant, terrible, bloodthirsty man-eating rat contained in an escape-proof cage waiting just beyond the tent flap? And remember when you finally, and with great trepidation, peeked down into the "Cage 'O Doom" expecting to see an animal worthy of your nightmares munching on body parts, and instead all you saw was an overgrown guinea pig nibbling on a lettuce leaf and farting?

Well, move over sideshow capybaras, there's a new giant rat in town...

From this story on yahoo.com:

When it comes to giant rat infestations, New York gets all the attention. But a breed of giant Gambian rats have been rapidly reproducing in the Florida Keys despite a decade-long effort to wipe them out. KeysNet reports the invasive African native species first began showing up between 1999-2001 after a local exotic animal breeder released eight of the rats into the wild. "We thought we had them whipped as of 2009," said Scott Hardin, exotic species coordinator for Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "We think they have not moved far but they clearly reproduced," he said.

The rodents, officially known as the Gambian pouched rat, are the largest known breed of rats in the world. They can grow up to three feet in length and weigh as much as nine pounds. Wildlife officials fear that if the rodents make it to the Florida mainland, they could devastate local crops. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been working with Florida officials to wipe out the rodents, and there are only an estimated few dozen at large, but they can reproduce quickly and do so only five months after being born. After producing a litter, the Gambian rat only has to wait another nine months before having another litter, bearing up to six babies at a time.

Officials thought they had successfully gotten rid of all of the Gambian rats back in 2008, but several of the burrowing creatures recently began showing up in the yards of local residents. "We were skeptical but went back and talked to people and [saw] there were rats that we missed," Hardin told KeysNet. Using cantaloupe and peanut butter as bait, officials plan to distribute another 200 traps in an effort to clear the keys of the Gambian rats, some of which are larger than the average house cat.

Cheer up, Floridians. At least now the pythons will have something to eat other than your shitzues.

Comments (13)

from fezzant wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

What about the Arayoesses?

Rodents of unusual size? I don't believe they exist.

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from Kris24 wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

Invasive snakes eating invasive rats = problem solved. Kind of like a cartoon except instead of a dog chasing a cat chasing a mouse. We have a dog chasing a snake (per earlier post about the labs flushing the snakes) chasing a rat.....Okay....works for me.

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from jakenbake wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

Ugh, I hate rats. We have them thick as thieves here in Baltimore, just saw one run across the street as I was walking home. Gives me the willies thinking they could end up in the house...

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from bass bomber wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

My grandma was just talking about these yesterday.

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from Quinton Schmelz... wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

sorry but that would be ROUSes (Rodent's Of Unusual Size)... wow, sounds like one could have fun with a shotgun or .22...

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from Sayfu wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

We have them bigger than that here in Ideeeehoo! I never get out of my driftboat when floating the rivers, and wear thigh high leather boots when walking in the woods/brush. Size #6 shot is not big enough to stop a charging, adult rat!..00 Buck is needed in a 12 ga. 3 1/2" shell! And the only thing that keeps their population down are the increasing number of wolves that we have!
West Nile disease from a mosquito bite is much welcomed over an incounter with one of those rats!

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from ITHACASXS wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

I wonder if you could pass them off as fried rabbit or squirrel stew. Wouldn't that be a riot.

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from Sayfu wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

ITHACASXS..Ever eat in a Southern Florida Chinese restauarant? Beef and mushrooms?..or Brocholi and beef?

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from Gtbigsky wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

Don't worry about the rats. The pythons and other invasive constrictors will eat them just as they are eating everyhting else in the Glades

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from Fat guy Aaron wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

man Florida is all screwed up, we should put a giant wall up on their border to keep the exotics from spreading.

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from jamesti wrote 1 year 10 weeks ago

not sure what i would do if i ran across a 3ft rat.

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from mspl8sdcntryboy wrote 1 year 10 weeks ago

We have shot rats about 16" long in our back yard before, they had to weigh at least 5#. Although 3' long rats are a nightmare, living in Georgia, it wouldn't take long for them to reach the middle of Georgia.

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from Trapper Vic wrote 1 year 10 weeks ago

Used to shoot rats in our barn back when I was young with 22bird shot and a flashlite taped to the barrel. There was a grain mill across the street and the basement was crawling with them. It took some real cajones to go down there. I'm up for a rat shoot in the Keys anyone else?

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from Kris24 wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

Invasive snakes eating invasive rats = problem solved. Kind of like a cartoon except instead of a dog chasing a cat chasing a mouse. We have a dog chasing a snake (per earlier post about the labs flushing the snakes) chasing a rat.....Okay....works for me.

+3 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from fezzant wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

What about the Arayoesses?

Rodents of unusual size? I don't believe they exist.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from jakenbake wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

Ugh, I hate rats. We have them thick as thieves here in Baltimore, just saw one run across the street as I was walking home. Gives me the willies thinking they could end up in the house...

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from bass bomber wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

My grandma was just talking about these yesterday.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Quinton Schmelz... wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

sorry but that would be ROUSes (Rodent's Of Unusual Size)... wow, sounds like one could have fun with a shotgun or .22...

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Sayfu wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

We have them bigger than that here in Ideeeehoo! I never get out of my driftboat when floating the rivers, and wear thigh high leather boots when walking in the woods/brush. Size #6 shot is not big enough to stop a charging, adult rat!..00 Buck is needed in a 12 ga. 3 1/2" shell! And the only thing that keeps their population down are the increasing number of wolves that we have!
West Nile disease from a mosquito bite is much welcomed over an incounter with one of those rats!

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from ITHACASXS wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

I wonder if you could pass them off as fried rabbit or squirrel stew. Wouldn't that be a riot.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Sayfu wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

ITHACASXS..Ever eat in a Southern Florida Chinese restauarant? Beef and mushrooms?..or Brocholi and beef?

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Gtbigsky wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

Don't worry about the rats. The pythons and other invasive constrictors will eat them just as they are eating everyhting else in the Glades

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Fat guy Aaron wrote 1 year 11 weeks ago

man Florida is all screwed up, we should put a giant wall up on their border to keep the exotics from spreading.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from jamesti wrote 1 year 10 weeks ago

not sure what i would do if i ran across a 3ft rat.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from mspl8sdcntryboy wrote 1 year 10 weeks ago

We have shot rats about 16" long in our back yard before, they had to weigh at least 5#. Although 3' long rats are a nightmare, living in Georgia, it wouldn't take long for them to reach the middle of Georgia.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Trapper Vic wrote 1 year 10 weeks ago

Used to shoot rats in our barn back when I was young with 22bird shot and a flashlite taped to the barrel. There was a grain mill across the street and the basement was crawling with them. It took some real cajones to go down there. I'm up for a rat shoot in the Keys anyone else?

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

Post a Comment

 

All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.