I’m a rat control expert – here’s why giant ‘super rats’ are taking over our homes… and you’re to blame
A PEST control expert has revealed why giant super rats have been taking over UK homes.
Stuart Halliday, 42, owner of Pest Control, says Brits only have themselves to blame for the increasingly large vermin.
Homes and gardens up and down the country are being invaded by the pesky rodents which appear to be growing in size every year.
And Mr Halliday says their growth is down to “humans making their lives easier”.
Stuart told The Sun: “The main thing causing them to get bigger is their food sources.
“Like humans you get some big humans and you get some small.
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“But if you’re eating really well and you’re doing really well and there’s nothing much about to knock you on the head you can get bigger - and then your babies can get bigger.
“These rats have got all the food they want from people putting fats down the drain which then turns into fatbergs.
“It's also because of people flushing food they don’t want. Bits of spaghetti, rice etc - whatever is falling down the drain when you're washing your dinner plates.
“If people want to stop super rats for one stop putting so much food in the sewer. Stop letting things go down the drain.
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“Even food on the streets, in the park, in your garden. You might be out and think you’re feeding the birds but you’re not. You’re also feeding the rats.
It’s thought a lack of predators also means the rodents are able to grow in size.
Mr Halliday explained: “The only real predators that rats have got are badgers and foxes.
“But they don’t have access to the sewer - so if you’ve got rats coming up from your sewer there is nothing to stop them.
“The only predators they have in the sewer are bigger rats. So the answer to becoming the alpha rat is to become the biggest rat.
“Because of this evolution will make them bigger.
“The other thing is that some rats are becoming resistant to rodenticide and therefore they can get bigger - it's just evolution.”
Dealing with pests everyday, Mr Halliday has seen some very large vermin over the years - but one rat in particular has stuck with him.
He explained: “Every now and then you get a super rat - we call them daddy rats.
“I had one a few years ago and he was so big that he was walking around with a rat trap on his head.
“These traps are all ruled by a governing body so they’ve all got a certain tension to the string so that they kill instantly.
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“But this rat was so big that he was walking around with it on its head like it was wearing it as a hat.
“It was just too big for the trap to come down.”