Giant Rat “Ratzilla” Terrorizes Family

The media in Sweden is going haywire of the news a giant rat (Ratizilla) invasion. This story sounds like something out of a horror movie. But much to the Korsas family, it was their reality. Ratzilla measured almost sixteen inches long, not including its tail, according to the DailyMail.co.uk. Gnawing its way through concrete and wood, Ratzilla had created a tunnel via a ventilation pipe and made himself a home in the kitchen behind the dishwasher reports WSOCTV.com.

Ratzilla had been eating leftovers from the bins under the sink, reports BBC.com. It was not reported how often those particular bins were emptied.

The Korsas family, consisting of mother Signe and daughters Dana and Erica, 17 and 15 and sons 13-year-old Justus and six-year-old Laurentius thought something was amiss when their cat refused to go into the kitchen any longer. Sounds like a case of Tom and Jerry and it is quite possible Ratzilla had been intimidating the cat for some time without the family’s knowledge.

It wasn’t until it was time to empty the bins that Ratzilla was discovered. Signe Bengtsson-Korsas said, “I was terrified. It was so huge that I barely saw what it was and I jumped up on the kitchen table,” according to DailyMail.co.uk. She and two of her children tried to scare Ratzilla away, but it didn’t even phase him. He was so bold that he sauntered all around the kitchen floor. The cat, Enok, must have been on his fifth life by this point.

DailyMail.co.uk reports that local exterminators were called out and brought industry-sized traps. But Ratzilla was not going to make this easy. Once the traps were set in place, the Korsas family heard a huge snap. They just knew Ratzilla was gone for good. The Korsas girls did not have a problem making it known that they wanted nothing to do with Ratzilla, dead or alive. However, the boys were all about making this a hunting expedition.

Much to their surpise, Ratzilla was still alive, and carrying the trap along with him as it dangled from his neck. Mr. Korsas told DailyMail.co.uk that it must have scared the giant rat because he scampered underneath a wooden plant, which slowly choked Ratzilla. The Korsas family actually admitted that they felt sorry for Ratzilla when they thought about him dying slowly.

However, Enok the cat, is quite relieved, and may not be chasing mice any time soon.

The males of the Korsas family posed for pictures with Ratzilla who weighed 2.2 pounds. Let’s not find out how they know this. When the local news reported this story, the Korsas family received all sorts of responses from the public. According the BBC.com, one person said the family should freeze Ratzilla’s carcass for posterity. I guess to bring out at parties? While others said they couldn’t sleep after reading the article.

But one of the most interesting statements was from Dr. Jan Zalasiewicz, of the University of Leicester in the UK, who told the BBC that scientists believe that rats could eventually grow into the size of sheep. At least they wouldn’t be able to sneak in behind the dishwasher.

[Photo via: Guioteca.com]