You probably think of rats as those small pesky critters sneaking around the garbage. Well you are in for a big surprise today because some rats out there are basically the size of small cats. Let us look at the biggest rats on the planet to see just how massive they actually get.
Meet The Sumatran Bamboo Rat
You probably think all rats are tiny but the Sumatran bamboo rat is actually a total giant. This huge animal lives in places like China and Sumatra where it stays busy eating roots. It is the biggest rat on earth and it looks really big compared to others.
A Body Size Of Twenty Inches
Just imagine a rat that has a body measuring a whopping twenty inches long before you even count the tail. It is honestly hard to picture a rodent getting that huge but they are very real and they live mostly underground.
They Weigh Almost Nine Pounds
If you try to pick one of these up you will definitely feel it because they can weigh up to almost nine pounds. That makes them heavier than a lot of human babies and certainly bigger than your average house cat.
The Gambian Pouched Rat Is Huge Too
Another massive rodent you need to know about is the Gambian pouched rat which lives across different parts of Africa. They have big cheek pouches to store their food just like hamsters do but on a much larger scale.
The Bosavi Woolly Rat Discovery
Experts came across a new kind of giant rat several years ago. They called it the Bosavi woolly rat. The animal is thirty-two inches long with very heavy gray fur. It looks like a stuffed animal. This rat is much bigger than the ones in cities.
Living Inside An Extinct Volcano
Scientists found a huge rat living inside an old volcano. It lives in a spot where people never go. Because it never met a human it was not afraid. The rat stayed calm when the team arrived. It is a very friendly giant.
The Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat
The Northern Luzon giant cloud rat is a very large animal from the Philippines. It lives way up in the forest canopy. These rats weigh six pounds and grow quite long. They look like fuzzy bears which makes them different from any normal house rat.
