# "Rats the size of cats" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 27, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528 "2011-12-27T16:23:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/61 "2011-12-29T16:04:56Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > With all due respect, that’s very unlikely. As I said above, it is very difficult to evaluate size accurately in the field, especially lacking a direct comparison. It’s much more likely that your size estimate was off than that you actually observed rats substantially larger than any others ever recorded. **“That’s the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on! He’s got huge, sharp… er… He can leap about. Look at the bones!”** (_Monty Python and the Holy Grail_) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/62 "2011-12-29T17:48:53Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > **“That’s the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on! He’s got huge, sharp… er… He can leap about. Look at the bones!”** (_Monty Python and the Holy Grail_) Worst part of the film. Everyone knows rabbits are lagomorphs, not rodents! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/63 "2011-12-29T18:00:37Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Worst part of the film. Everyone knows rabbits are lagomorphs, not rodents! 😛 King Arthur lived (of course, he’s mostly mythological) before 1885, when Brant first described it and split it off from the rodents. Linnaeus lumped rodents, lagomprphs & even the Rhino into “Glires”. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/64 "2011-12-29T20:42:57Z")
> [@indian](#): > > I am no expert in this. > > But these rats were exception.My dad had seen one scaring a cat on one occasion.( cats were no big sized either) > . What about a rat scaring (and even attacking)[**four** cats](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiJiMOfvRVI&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/65 "2011-12-29T21:00:02Z")
^So _that’s_ what a rat with [toxoplasmosis](http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=toxoplasma-infected-rats-love-their-11-08-17) looks like. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/66 "2011-12-30T01:55:13Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > So you say I’m lying? I believe you are joking. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/67 "2011-12-30T17:03:30Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I believe you are joking. I was not joking, the rat was the size of a cat. Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/68 "2011-12-31T00:33:06Z")
There’s a photo in [this story](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4688453/Giant-rat-caught-in-China.html) of a giant rat caught in a residential area of Fuzhou, China, a city of 6 million. I mean, it must be true if a story comes out of China, what? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/69 "2011-12-31T17:16:24Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > I was not joking, the rat was the size of a cat. Without factual corroboration, your allegation is worthless. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/70 "2011-12-31T17:24:51Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > There’s a photo in [this story](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4688453/Giant-rat-caught-in-China.html) of a giant rat caught in a residential area of Fuzhou, China, a city of 6 million. > > I mean, it must be true if a story comes out of China, what? The story identifies it as probably being a Sumatra Bamboo Rat, _Rhizomys sumatrensis_, which gets much bigger than any _Rattus_ rat. There are “rats” of sorts and other rodents that _are_ as large as cats. However, based on available evidence this does not include wild \*Rattus norvegicus \* or _Rattus rattus_, the species mentioned in the OP. Note also that in the photo, the rat is being held much closer to the camera than the person in the background, so it appears much larger than it actually is. If you really want a “Rodent of Unusual Size” consider the fossil Giant Pacarana [Josephoartigasia monesi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephoartigasia_monesi), which was the size of a cow. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/71 "2012-01-02T21:06:09Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Again, “I have seen big rats” doesn’t provide any substantive support for the allegation that wild _Rattus_ rats reach the size of cats. I’ve seen a lot of rats over the years and they don’t usually phase me. This one had me running across the street. Just because I wasn’t prepared with a camera and a scale doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/72 "2012-01-02T22:26:39Z")
> [@LurkerInNJ](#): > > I’ve seen a lot of rats over the years and they don’t usually phase me. This one had me running across the street. > > Just because I wasn’t prepared with a camera and a scale doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It just means that you have no real evidence that the rat was actually the size of a cat. If you thought it was, you were almost certainly mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/73 "2012-01-02T22:46:55Z")
I’m sitting here having some chips and salsa, but there’s no evidence (acceptable to Colibri) for it, therefore it did not happen? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/74 "2012-01-02T23:34:07Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > I’m sitting here having some chips and salsa, but there’s no evidence (acceptable to Colibri) for it, therefore it did not happen? Many people have been known to eat chips and salsa. No wild _Rattus_ rat has been documented that has been the size of the smallest known adult cat. The probability that you might be eating chips and salsa is far far higher than that you observed a rat the size of a cat. Claims that something that is not known to occur has occurred need documentation beyond “I saw a big rat.” I believe there is a reasonable chance you might be eating chips and salsa. I don’t think there is a reasonable chance you actually observed a rat the size of a cat. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/75 "2012-01-03T05:25:15Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Many people have been known to eat chips and salsa. No wild _Rattus_ rat has been documented that has been the size of the smallest known adult cat. The probability that you might be eating chips and salsa is far far higher than that you observed a rat the size of a cat. > > Claims that something that is not known to occur has occurred need documentation beyond “I saw a big rat.” I believe there is a reasonable chance you might be eating chips and salsa. I don’t think there is a reasonable chance you actually observed a rat the size of a cat. Colibri is right. As usual.🆒 (except when we’re debating, of course…)😃 ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/76 "2012-01-03T22:23:47Z")
If I ever have question about rats I’m asking \*\*Colibri \*\*for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/77 "2012-01-04T01:58:32Z")
I think James Cagney saw lots of rats that were bigger than cats. (Yes, I know he didn’t actually _say_ … Oh, never mind.) ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/78 "2012-01-04T02:13:23Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > If I ever have question about rats I’m asking \*\*Colibri \*\*for sure. I believe he is a biologist and an expert in this field. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/79 "2012-01-04T02:25:36Z")
> [@indian](#): > > I believe he is a biologist and an expert in this field. Is the field the study of rats? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528/80 "2012-01-04T03:03:30Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > Is the field the study of rats? Oddly enough he studies birds the size of insects. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rats-the-size-of-cats/607528.md?page=5)