Three Foot Rat Was Killed At A Brooklyn Housing Project

[CatWoman]

a 3 foot rat.

THREE FUCKING FEET!!!

I'm 5'2" - 5'3" :scared:

I would have broken records running the Boston Marathon if I saw this thing



Taken at the Marcy House projects in Brooklyn last week this photo apparently shows housing worker Jose Rivera holding a three-foot rat he killed at the end of a pitch fork.

Rivera told The Daily News he hit the rodent once and it kept moving, but he struck it again and it died. "I'm not scared of rats," he said, "but I was scared of being bitten."

Rivera was filling a rat hole when three came running up at him, but he managed to kill only one.

Officials at Marcy Houses say sightings of the larger rats have been coming in for several years, but this is the first time one has been killed.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/three-foot-rat-killed-brooklyn-housing-project-2011-8#ixzz1WAmu3nc4

[tenten]

1. well that was gross

:puke:

[bluestateguy]

2. Supposedly every plant and animal has a valid place in our ecosystem

And I'm sure there is some scientist who can explain the purpose of these disgusting beasts.

[csziggy]

26. I'm sure they have a place in the ecosystem where they belong

The biggest problem with them - and so many other species - is that they are out of their ecosystem without the predators and other factors that kept them from breeding out of control.

[cliffordu]

36. Yep - they can be food.

[handmade34]

45. absolutely

[hlthe2b]

3. "Probably a Gambian Pouched rat from the now illegal pet trade"

I don't like rats, either, but is the shovel/pitchfork grizzly death really the best solution?

[saras]

23. You're filling a rathole with a pitchfork and three of them come at you...

...the most likely alternative is that the rats win. Is that a better solution?

[hlthe2b]

35. Ongoing rat control?

I didn't see that he felt his life to be in danger. Perhaps he did....:shrug:

[WildEyedLiberal]

42. He said he was afraid of being bitten

Rats are notorious carriers of all sorts of nasty diseases, as anyone around in Europe in 1349 could attest.

[gratuitous]

4. A new hairpiece for T Rump?

In case the one he has now blows away with Hurricane Irene. Gotta have a back-up plan.

[Snotcicles]

27. It's a hell of a lot better then that lid John Mica wears around. nt

[KansDem]

5. The pitchfork threw me!

When I first saw the photo, I thought he was holding the rat and it had spawned some kind of weird, mutant "leg-wings," like maybe it could walk on its "wings," or those "leg-like" appendages "growing" out its back.

Weird...

[Poll_Blind]

9. LOL, no sit- me too! I read too much Lovecraft.

PB

[Still Blue in PDX]

17. Me, too - both the perceived mutation and the Lovecraft! nt

[Owl]

16. He's shoving it at the camera. The 6 tine pitchfork would have to be 3' across too.

[XemaSab]

21. The tail counts in the length

I totally buy that as three feet.

[Owl]

33. A big rat, but not 3' long... (including the tail).

[Maeve]

44. Exactly--it's an old trick

here's a Snopes story with a similar rattlesnake pic that makes it seem larger by positioning it close to the camera.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/txsnake.asp

[Mojambo]

6. Holy fucking hell.

That is one big rat.

[CatWoman]

8. cue James Cagney

you dirty rat :rofl:

speaking of which -- wonder where Swampy is?

[postulater]

7. Big enough for dinner.

I've eaten squirrels that weren't that big.

[deaniac21]

10. The rats we have down here all have 4 feet.

[MH1]

38. ba-dum.

:D

[provis99]

11. one of the few species that thrive around human contact.

Along with coyotes, cockroaches, flies, and other disgusting animals.

why can't cute things like dolphins and buffaloes thrive around us? We just attract disgusting animals...

[marmar]

37. True that.

nt

[Poll_Blind]

12. I did a quick error level analysis and it looks like the picture is undoctored.

You can view the ELA here. If, for instance, the rat was photoshopped in later, it would appear differently from the background image. That's not to say that if someone resaved the image again they couldn't fake out ELA, but that's the best image I can go on and those are the results with what was provided.

PB

[msanthrope]

13. We're gonna need a bigger cat. n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

24. You win the thread

:thumbsup:

:rofl:

[msanthrope]

28. Thank you.... I love that movie...n/t

[JBoy]

30. LOL. Awesome.

[fishwax]

32. nice!

:rofl:

[chrisa]

34. Best reference ever. I bow to you, sir.

[CatWoman]

46. that's hilarious

:rofl:

[RagAss]

14. I heard he hung out by a steroid dealer !

[Uben]

15. Impossible!

That rat has all four feet! I can see em!

[myrna minx]

18. Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist. ...

[Still Blue in PDX]

20. BWAAA HAAAA HAAAA HAAAAAA! nt

:rofl:
:rofl:
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:rofl:
:rofl:
:rofl:
:rofl:
:rofl:
:rofl:
:rofl:
:rofl:

[Still Blue in PDX]

19. A found a picture of one of these guys that isn't so scary . . .

The plaid harness takes away a bit of the "rattiness," but if I saw three of these guys coming at me I'd be slinging a pitchfork, too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambian_pouched_rat

Haven't posted images here in ages, so forgive the link.

[undeterred]

22. Thats a huge fricking pitchfork!

[Owl]

31. Exactly. A 3 foot wide one, as measured by the rat head to tail.

[undeterred]

41. At that size he should have been paying rent.

[stevedeshazer]

25. Um, anyone hear from Swamp Rat lately?

:scared:

[CatWoman]

40. I asked that upthread

:(

[alphafemale]

29. dah---AAMMMM!

:wow:

[cwydro]

39. Sheesh...how about a graphic warning...nt

[Myrina]

43. ... now imagine what a 6- 10 foot storm surge will flush out of NY's underbelly?

:hide: :hide:

[L. Coyote]

47. Once humans realize how tasty they are, they will be doomed to either extinction or

feed lots :rofl: