Giant rats the size of cats plague Swedish town

Residents in a town in northern Sweden are being told to keep their doors and windows shut, due to an ‘invasion’ of rats the size of cats. The escalating rat problem in Sundsvall, caused by the relocation of a recycling centre, has even forced a local kindergarten to keep children indoors. The council in Sundsvall has now launched an extermination campaign using snap traps, and if that doesn’t solve the issue –  the rats face guillotine traps and electric shocks. ‘These aren’t the normal rats you see in the forest,’ Benny Sagmo, head of wildlife preservation in Sundsvall, a town of some 52,000 residents, told TT. ‘They’re as big as cats. ‘If we can’t stop it, there’s no knowing how big the issue might get. ‘But I know we will put a stop to it – no matter the cost.’ The cause of the problem is a local recycling centre – branded a ‘Sheraton Hotel for rats’ – where the rodents have been able to breed and find food aplenty. The centre is currently being moved to a different location, meaning the rats have effectively been turfed out and forced into the residential area nearby. (Read more)

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