Monday, April 23, 2012

Durham pensioner kills 'giant rat'

A 'giant rat' has been caught and killed by a man in the North East of England. Grandad Brian Watson killed the large rodent with a piece of wood near Consett, County Durham. It was first spotted by the boyfriend of Mr Watson's granddaughter, while he was out cutting grass on a tractor.



Mr Watson said: "I heard him shouting there was a large rat. I came running round the corner. I managed to grab some wood on the way. It wasn't very fast. I managed to kill it there and then.

"I've never seen a rat as big in my life before. One reason why it was so big and slow is that it may have been pregnant. It was that big ... I think it was due to drop young ones," said Mr Watson.


YouTube link.

Afterwards, he tried to pick up the creature with a paddle - but it was so heavy the paddle broke. It was left where it was killed for several days, but when word spread of the find Mr Watson decided to destroy the rodent in a fire. According to some observers the animal was a coypu, which are also known as river rats.

7 comments:

Yaffle said...

Yup, it's a coypu

Annemarie said...

horrible disgusting creature,and its a pity that defenceless coypu had the misfortune to run into him

SteveC said...

I'm not a fan of rats but I do find it bizarre that when people find a unusual animal, their first thought is to kill it.

Ratz said...

Gosh, there's something I've never seen before, quick kill it! I hope for balance sake rats bite his crinkly old bum.

Anonymous said...

If he can collect twelve giant rat ears and six tails, he can turn them in at Qeynos for a piece of lowbie armor.

Ratz said...

The police are due to investigate: http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/18835

arbroath said...

Cheers for that Ratz.

I noticed it earlier and the words may be and in due course sprang out as suggesting that this gentleman probably won't be feeling any force of the law.

And what with him, (belatedly), cremating the creature he's pretty much destroyed any evidence.