Target Pest article from the New Zealand Herald:

Larger than normal rats – some the size of kittens – are being reported following a long dry spell that has caused a population boom.

The dry conditions have led to an increasingly large number of rats and mice as the hot weather has provided perfect breeding conditions.

Target Pest NZ, a nationwide company, has been receiving more calls over the past few weeks than it did to this time last year, and is now handling 20 to 30 callouts a week.

Workers have reported finding bigger rodents than usual.

At an Auckland factory this week, owner Norman Kerr removed a rat weighing about 900g – the biggest he had seen and the size of a small kitten.

The average rat weighs 500 to 600g.

“We’ve caught a few big rats lately and it’s all about the available food they’re getting to,” he said.

“They’ve been able to access more food outside, but also inside.

“We had a factory stocking noodles and there was the dry type and the type fried in fat.

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