The Giant Rat

http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=03-P13-00025&segmentID=7

Well, the good news is that the animal eating all of our garden grown vegetables was not a gray rat.  The bad news?  It was a giant rat.  

No really.  That’s not my own adjective or nickname.  It’s a giant rat.  That’s the species that took over my yard, gardens, and comfort zone. (I am sure there is some sort of Princess Bride “Rodents of Unusual Size” joke to be made here, but that would make my husband way too happy and I don’t want to encourage him.)

After something began gnawing our tomatoes and eggplants in large ways, with scratch marks on each side, I approached my gardener.  "It's a frog," he had said. Yes.  Same gardener who I caught standing in the garden, hose in hand, watering plants in a rainstorm.  Oh, I miss Shoman.

So... call me crazy, but I wanted a second opinion. It was the perfect time for one; that afternoon an exterminator was being sent to the house after a large something had gnawed a hole right in the side of our house and could be heard overhead scurrying around at night.  The exterminator was to come, confirm that the animal was not inside at the moment, and then we would promptly have the wall patched to keep it out.  My totally humane plot to rid our house of critters.  Well, aside from the unavoidable lizards and flatty spiders that donned our walls around the clock. 

When the exterminator came, I approached him about the vegetables.

It was definitely a giant rat.

The giant rat is an animal commonly found in tropical and subtropical areas.  In Africa, there are two species: the Gambian pouched rat, and the giant pouched rat.  These omnivorous critters love to live in old termite mounds, forests, and thickets... and our yard was perfect.  With a thick bamboo grove next to our largest veggie garden, and a large abandoned termite mound on the other side, they were in heaven.  And probably setting up shop for the long haul.  Known for their enthusiastic breeding capabilities, the giant rat is considered a dangerous invasive species that can hoard so much food in its mouth (hence the pouch name) that at times it cannot get through the door of its home upon return.  There have been reported cases of these rats killing babies and the elderly in South Africa, so though they look cute, they are not to be messed with. 

The exterminator had joked with us, as the giant rat is prized as a sought-out food in a number of African countries. Why didn't we just consider them part of our farm?  We could have a braai (South African word for barbeque) every day when they really started reproducing!

I am all for letting animals live and let live. But that was one day I put down my ASPCA card down and asked the exterminator to help us.

Thank God neither of these pictures are my own…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1393836/Giant-rats-eat-babies-South-Africa-townships-separate-attacks.html