UK PMP catches 19-in. rat

© Terry Walker / TPPestControl on Facebook

Terry Walker, managing director of TP Pest Control Services in the U.K., caught a 19-in. rat on the job with the help of his dog Max — and has photos to prove it.

“You would struggle to find a pest controller who has found a bigger [rat],” Walker tells a U.K news source. “I’m on the professional forums, and most of us would agree that’s a big one for the whole of the U.K. It’s the biggest I’ve ever caught.”

The “rat the size of a cat” has gone viral, with many news sources in the U.S. and U.K. reporting on the story. The U.K. has reported rat (Rattus rattus) sightings have been skyrocketing due to warm summers, reduced trash removal. Researchers say increased resistance to store-bought poisons is also a factor.

“This comes down to a lot of things including refuse at the back of buildings, people feeding birds, foxes, badgers,” the pest management professional (PMP) says. “Keeping chickens is also a definite contributing factor. Basically, the rats will go onto the bird tables, into the chicken coops and take their feed.”

Walker, who has more than 20 years of experience catching rats, released photographs of the 19-inch rat he caught on a business estate in Poole, where the pest management firm is based.

“My contracts for business premises are growing on a daily basis,” Walker says. “We’re finding that more and more people are having more and more issues.”