A man hunting rats with an airgun (one of the only kinds of hunting you can still get away with in England I guess) was surprised by cat sized rats who have caused a panic in the sleepy hamlet of Ravenscliffe. From The Sun:

HORRIFIED neighbours told yesterday how their homes are being invaded by giant rats – including a 30-INCH LONG monster that was shot dead.

The rodents, twice the size of common types, are plaguing an estate in Bradford, West Yorks, often appearing in kitchens and lounges.

It is feared some could be “super rats” from South America.

[…]

But the shaken man who shot it in the head – 31-year-old Brandon Goddard – yesterday revealed FOUR others of the same size scuttled away to safety.

And he said: “They were more like Ratzillas than rats.

“I got out of there as fast as I could. Who knows how many there will be if they’ve been breeding?”

The shot rat, feared to be from a species native to South America, is TWICE as big as common British types and the largest seen here.

The residents of Ravenscliffe estate in Bradford, West Yorks, are used to seeing massive rodents that sometimes appear in their kitchens and lounges.

[…]

Brandon toted an air rifle as he went “ratting” with pals on the edge of the estate – which they had heard was rife with rodents.

The group heard “rustling and scrabbling” before the five huge rats shot out from behind a wall. Brandon, a manager at a cleaning firm, said: “The first went right past but we got the second one. Then three more got away.

“I’ve seen thousands of rats during the course of my work and go shooting a couple of times a week. But I’ve never seen any as big as this. The one I shot was absolutely terrifying. I was shaking. Goodness knows where the others went. I’m glad I don’t live there.”

After taking the photo, the ratters dumped the shot rodent in undergrowth. It is thought it was eaten by a fox.

The estate has long had a monster rat problem. Rebecca told how her cat Marie cornered one in her lounge. But it stood and fought as it was just as big as the moggy.

A neighbour clobbered it with a baseball bat.

And he and Marie took five dead rats to the local council’s offices, tipping them over a desk to demand action.

Rebecca said: “They came quickly, blocked holes and put down poison. But people still see them outside regularly.”

Neighbour Julie Briggs, 28, told how she and partner Andrew Denton, 24, hear rats fighting and squealing in the walls of their rented semi, which stands opposite open countryside.

Mum-of-six Julie said: “I find droppings on the cooker when they get into the house. I’ve seen them in the lounge as we watch TV.

“At night you can hear them chasing each other in the loft. They sound like drag racing cars as they screech across the rafters.”

Last night experts called the shot rat “extraordinary” and said the colony was worth investigating.

I should say so. There’s been much talk of this being an exotic South American species but the picture looks like a regular rat to me. When I heard about this story I thought it could be a muskrat, but that looks more like a Bronx sewer rat … on steroids.

About 60 miles away two large rats were caught in a East Midlands factory that were identified as common brown rats. Each was two feet long, approximately twice the normal size.

Britain isn’t alone however. In 2009 a giant rat was caught in China that weighed about six pounds. It was tentatively identified as a Bamboo Rat and six pounds would be it’s normal size, but the creature was found far outside it’s natural territory.

Are Britain’s giant rats hybrids of exotics with native species, or evidence of a crumbling empire whose sedentary urban populace has allowed vermin to grow to brutish proportions? Either way a hunting season should be declared before these filthy beasts spread a disease or eat a baby.