Rats 'size of cats' getting bigger on discarded food in Normanby
Taylor said: "We've had about five or six brand new housing estates taking up a lot of what is probably rat natural habitat so it's just driving them inwards to look for sources of food elsewhere."They're going in the long grass to breed and then they're coming out to look for the food sources from takeaways."Conservative councillor Paul McInnes, of the Normanby ward, said it was not the first time residents had complained of "rats the size of cats"."Litter is a problem. With the amount of food that is available to them, they are getting bigger and bigger."
Brian Sowerby of Newton Aycliffe, has worked in pest control for 44 years and said the largest rat he had ever caught was 17 inches (43cm) long, also found in Normanby.He said: "Empty properties and development cause a big problem because when old sewers are dug up, the rats come to the surface and they've got to run somewhere."
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