Ravenous rats 'the size of beavers' are invading homes as pest control call outs skyrocket

Beyond the obvious global pandemic, 2020 has been a wild year that has made us feel like we're on the brink of apocalypse several times.

First an ominous green glow appeared around Mars. Then we were invaded by 'murder hornets'. Now starving rats are flocking to our homes in hopes of finding crumbs of food.

The British Pest Control Association (BPCA) has reported a 51 per cent increase in 'rat activity' during lockdown and an unusually high number of home call outs.

This is possibly because there are currently fewer functioning eateries in towns and cities, whose bins rats would once have salvaged a meal from.

Hungry rats have therefore been forced to travel further afield in search of food.

Field biologist David Greer told the BBC that he noticed a sixty percent increase in calls to his pest control company within weeks of lockdown.

He also commented that during one job he saw a rat "so big" he "thought it was a beaver".

The average size of a beaver is more than four times the size of the average rat in the UK (23 cm), meaning there are some abnormally large rats out there.

Rats are also becoming more audacious in their desperation.

BPCA's Natalie Bungay told the BBC:

[Rats have] become bolder, braver and more innovative in finding food and shelter in the shutdown.

Rats are even able to climb up drainpipes and into toilet bowls.

Sounds like the absolute string of nightmares 2020 had in store for us are far from over.