14 Horrifying Photos Of Gambian Pouched Rats

Giant Gambian Pouched Rats have been found on Grassy Key in Florida, two years after they were thought to have been eradicated.

According to Yahoo:

Gambian rats have been rapidly reproducing in the Florida Keys despite a decade-long effort to wipe them out. KeysNet reports the invasive, African native species first began showing up between 1999-2001 after a local exotic animal breeder released eight of the rats into the wild.

“We thought we had them whipped as of 2009,” said Scott Hardin, exotic species coordinator for Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “We think they have not moved far but they clearly reproduced,” he said.

1. And here are 14 images you will never be able to forget:

This picture was uploaded to Flickr in 2009 by the man in the photo with the caption: “This is me holding a Gambian pouch rat caught on Grassy key, Florida. This is a female that weighed about three pounds.”

Source: flickr.com

2.

This photo was uploaded by the same man above with the caption: “This is a caged Gambian pouch rat caught on Grassy key, Florida. This is a female that weighed about three pounds.”

Source: flickr.com

3.

The rats have been used to to detect land mines in Africa.

Image by Howard Burditt / Reuters

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Image by Howard Burditt / Reuters

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Image by Howard Burditt / Reuters

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This rat was found in a Bronx, New York Foot Locker store.

Source: lifestyle.aol.co.uk

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From the Marcy Housing Projects in Brooklyn, New York.

Source: nydailynews.com

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Source: flickr.com

14. THE SIZE OF A BOTTLE OF WINE

Source: feathersandfur.co.uk