A plague of monster rats is causing havoc in Auckland, fighting in broad daylight and growing by the hundreds.
Urban Pest controller Owen Stobart told The Project a rat infestation is taking over areas around central Auckland.
These aren't your cuddly Instagram rats or even your skittish 'roof rats' found at home.
These monster sewer rats are aggressive and have already bred into the hundreds, and there are concerns the infestations could soon grow into the thousands.
Stobart said sewer rats are considered to be "gregarious" - while other rats are usually scared of humans, these rats want to meet you.
He said the issue is down to a food problem as the rats are feeding on food waste from nearby businesses.
"I didn't see them underground, but I could hear them. I could hear them fighting and carrying on," Stobart said.
Stobart said in his 14 years on the job this is the second biggest rat infestation of this particular rat he has ever seen.
But Stobart said we shouldn't be deploying our hunter cats on the rats just yet - there is a way to get on top of the infestation by infiltrating their underground burrows with dry ice.
"Dry ice is the solid form of CO2 and when it changes from solid to gas it sinks because it's heavier than air," he said.
"So if you stuff it into the burrows what happens is the rats are at the bottom of the burrows and the CO2 drops to the bottom and just gently puts them to sleep, humanely without any pain."
So there is no need to be rattled, these pests will hopefully be under control soon.
