Rat 'larger than a dog' found as vermin catcher warns 'they're getting bigger'

A rat catcher who has grappled with 50,000 rodents has said that vermin are "getting bigger and bolder". And Kieran Sampler isn't just exaggerating, having caught one monstrous rat that measured 22 inches from head to tail - the same size as a Yorkshire Terrier.

Although the 29-year-old former Lance Bombardier has yet to come face to face with a rodent that matches up, he revealed that many of the murids he deals with on a daily basis are around 18 inches long.

Kieran, from Wakefield, said: "Rats are getting bigger, bolder and more brazen. They're less bothered about humans, cats, or anything."

The dad reckons rats have become more courageous in recent years due to an increase in food waste on the streets and reduced pest control during the pandemic, reports Yorkshire Live.

Kieran, who has seven years of experience observing rodent behaviour, describes rats as cunning creatures, revealing that they alter their behaviour and routines - such as rising early to secure a prime food source. This makes them unpredictable and sets them apart from other animals.

He said: "Rats are used to detect mines in Cambodia, they're very smart animals. Say you've got two Easter eggs, one is Cadbury's and the other is Lindt. They'll go for the Lindt. Honestly! You'd have to see it to believe it."

He also told the tale of a particularly sly rat that repeatedly returned to file its teeth on the same abandoned car, even after the vehicle was moved several hundred metres away each time.

Keiran has been clearing homes and farms of vermin since 2018 and has trained his two Terriers, Poppy and Penny, to catch rats. He runs Vermicure Pest Control and established the Facebook group Yorkshire Rat Pack, a network of pest controllers across the county who share tasks and assist each other.

One of largest infestations he has encountered was at a three-bedroom house overrun by 22 rats, where the rodents scurried across his feet as soon as he entered. He also helped a woman who had failed to seal up a hole after removing her toilet, which let rats freely scamper between the sewers and her home.

But by far the biggest challenge he has faced was at a farm in hull, where the owner had recently taken over the property. The previous incumbent had left a large amount of corn to decay, attracting a mass of rodents.

Kieran said: "There were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of rats! Maybe thousands." After cleaning the area, he returned with his Terriers a few weeks later and caught about 250 rats, with most of them having moved from the site.

Kieran stated: "When you become a pest controller, it's completely different to hunting. You've got to respect the animals. With rats, they're very intelligent things. There's a big difference between killing stuff and controlling stuff."

But his work has led to death threats and abuse aimed at him and his young daughter. Hesaid: "Do I want to kill every rat in the world? No! That's not my job. The aim is just to reduce the population so it's manageable.

"If they're in fields or something like that, I'm not bothered. Everything has got to live. A lot of times, in farms and houses, you just have to reduce the food source. You don't have to kill them."

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