Ratzilla

[Con]

Or for those of you who grew up with Fawlty Towers

Manuel: I say to man in shop "Is rat." He say "No, no, no. Is a special kind of hamster. Is pedigree Siberian hamster." Only one in shop. He make special price: only five pound.
Basil: Have you ever heard of the bubonic plague, Manuel? It was very popular here at one time. A lot of pedigree hamsters came over on ships from Siberia.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2589961/Monster-15-inch-rat-terrorises-Swedish-family-chewing-CONCRETE-wall-make-home-kitchen.html

[endfire79]

wow, I thought they only got that big in New York City.  I thought food was too expensive in Scandinavia and that there'd be less to tempt them with :(

Reminds me of a quote from Cheers:
Cliff Clavin: You know, there's a lot of misunderstanding about rats. The rodendus vermikitis as they're called in Latin. It turns out our long tailed friend wasn't after all responsible for the dreaded bubonic plague as alleged through history. Yes, sir. It was caused by an animal called the bubon. That's right, and the threat by the way is still with us. So if anyone does see a bubon, contact your local authorities.
Carla Tortelli-LeBec: [looking straight at Cliff] What if we just see a boob?

[eyebiter]

.

[skeptical.platypus]

Also,

For those who did not grow up on Fawlty Towers,  I'm sorry for your loss.

[skeptical.platypus]

I wonder if the Swedish rat is proof yet again of the law of unintended consequences. High standard of living for humans mean Rats of Unusual Size?

[bob48]

That critter is the stuff of nightmares

That book scared the poo outta me.

[Martok]

I apologize for stating the stupidly obvious, but good lord that rat is f-ing enormous!!!  I'm normally not freaked out by large rodents, but that bastard gives me the heebie-jeebies just looking at him. 

Also:  Chewed through concrete??!!!!!!!!  What in the actual f***...  :o 

[Staggerwing]

Also:  Chewed through concrete??!!!!!!!!  What in the actual f***...  :o 

http://www.ratbehavior.org/Teeth.htm

The enamel of rat incisors is hard, harder than iron, platinum and copper. Specifically, measured on Mohs hardness scale, the rat's lower incisors rank 5.5 (diamond is a 10)

The eruption rate (the rate of growth) of the rat's incisors is very high: the adult rat's upper incisors grow on average about 2.2 mm per week (0.31-0.32 mm per day), and the lower incisors grow about 2.8 mm per week (0.4 mm per day) (Addison and Appleton 1915). It takes about 40-50 days for new tooth generated at the base to reach the tip. The entire tooth is therefore never more than 40-50 days old (Schour and Massler 1942). This rapid growth also keeps the rats' incisors from getting cavities: any cavity would rapidly grow out and be worn away.

The rate of incisor growth varies under different circumstances. If the incisors are trimmed, they grow faster, 1.0 mm per day (+/- 0.1 mm) (Law et al. 2003), so if a rat tends to gnaw on hard substances and thus wear its incisors away quickly, the incisors will grow faster to compensate. Individual incisors can grow at different rates depending on its length and that of its neighbor: if one incisor is shortened, it will grow back faster than the others