Giant Rat - Big Norway Rat in Seattle

09.22.2007 - This photo was sent to me by my brother-in-law Sean, who I trained, and who now operates his own wildlife removal business in Seattle, WA. It's of a giant Norway Rat, or "hog rat" as he called it. I've gotten some very large rats myself here in Orlando Florida, but none as big as this beast! Norway Rats are, on average, larger than the Roof Rats, or Black Rats, that I deal with. Most striking to me is the short, fat tail of this Norway Rat. Roof Rats have very long, black, sleek tails that are longer than the body length. This is probably because Roof Rats require more balance (that's what a tail is for, by the way), when they are jumping through the trees and running across power lines. I can't see this fat fellow pictured above nimbly jumping across branches and running up walls. Though it probably could. Rats are amazingly nimble creatures. Sean caught this giant rat in the basement of a home in Seattle. That's another difference between the rats - giant Norway Rats like this tend to live below ground more than Roof Rats do. This fatty apparently couldn't get enough food, because it went for the bait on Sean's trap. Luckily, the rat traps that we use are strong enough to kill even a rat of this size instantly. Sean was amazed at the size of this rat, especially after he dealt with the svelte rats of Orlando, so he measured it and emailed me this photo so that I could see for myself the size of this hog.