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RAT WITS’ END

Genius rats as big as CATS on rampage in our home – we didn’t think it could get worse, now we’re living in terror

• Published: 7:00, 20 Sep 2023
• Updated: 11:38, 20 Sep 2023

A CARER and her elderly mum today tell how they are living in terror after their home was invaded by super-sized rats.

Horrified Vanessa Molloy, 33, and mum Margaret, 69, say the monster vermin are running riot through their ravaged clothes and belongings.

Shocking photos and videos capture the rodents on the rampage at their council house in Cois Coille, Tralee, Co Kerry.

The rats first started causing havoc in their garden three years ago.

But Vanessa reveals the bulging beasts are now causing mayhem inside the property.

The frantic young woman told The Irish Sun: “It is getting out of hand.

“The rats are just getting bigger and ­bigger and stronger and smarter.

“At the start they were just in the garden. But last week I was away on a holiday and they got into the house. There were four caught in traps inside in the house.

“They are running all over the place, they are bigger than the cats that are in the estate. They are as big as cats basically.

“I live with my mum Margaret and she is going out of her mind with worry. We are living in terror basically. It is a nightmare, it has been absolutely awful.”

Traumatised Vanessa says the rats have been feasting on berries growing on the trees at the back of her property.

The panic-plagued daughter, who cares for mum Margaret, has been waging an all-out-war against the rat invasion.

Vanessa has rolled out traps and boxes left by Rentokil.

But the frustrated daughter, who has just completed a veterinary bioscience course and works as a part-time cleaner, admits the rodents seem to be winning.

Vanessa told us: “They are sneaky, clever f***ers. A lot of the time, they are dodging the traps.

“It’s horrible. I have just disinfected the whole house again after the rats got in again. As we speak, three traps went off. But they are getting faster and smarter and escaping them. They don’t go near the traps pest control has left.

“I am so stressed out. I care for my mum. She is really ­terrified, I feel so bad.

“The rats are so, so big. You would think it was a cat, you wouldn’t believe it was a rat. I worked on farms, I have never seen a rat like this before. They are huge.”

FORCED TO BIN BELONGINGS

The under-siege family have been forced to pack their belongings into plastic containers, while other items have had to be binned. Vanessa explained: “We’ve had to throw away lots of our property, lots of our clothes.

“The council were kinda thinking we were just making a big deal about it but they need to realise how serious it is.

“We’ve just removed everything, we’ve been forced to throw so much away. I can’t keep things in the house anymore.

“It was OK washing and washing stuff for a while but the rats just keep coming.

“We threw away all the bed clothes, everything that is in the hot press, stuff that is in the shed.

“We keep the house lovely, our garden you could actually eat your breakfast off. But the rats just keep coming.

“We have to get this dealt with. They seem to be nested in the shed, I just can’t get rid of them. They keep coming back.”

The family believe the rats are emerging from the sewers and lapping up berries from trees at the back of their house.

‘JUST WANT AN END TO NIGHTMARE’

Vanessa told us: “They are going into the shed and at the back of us, there’s bushes with berries and stuff and that is a massive food source for them

“They are just running about, doing what they wish. I’ve seen loads of them, I’ve become used to them now, that’s how bad it is.

“You would hear them running around and moving, dragging stuff around.

“I have been working with pest control but it is not getting any better.

“They’re still in the house. I just want an end to this nightmare. It is the amount of money that I’m spending as well.

“All these rat traps are not cheap, all the plastic boxes that I’ve had to buy to put our personal belongings into, throwing away all of our bed sheets and our blankets.

“It has cost me a fair amount of money. And my house is just full of plastic boxes and going to dumps. It is costing me enough and driving me mad. I have gone through a full box of medical gloves.”

Vanessa issued an impassioned plea to Kerry County Council for urgent action, with the rats also featuring on TikTok.

GOING TO BECOME A MASSIVE PROBLEM

She told The Irish Sun: “I don’t want to cause too much trouble with Kerry County Council, I just want this resolved.

“They need to do more. I think they should look at trying to rip down the food source of the berries at the back.

“Our neighbours have taken the bells off their cats so the cats can try and keep on top of it. But it just keeps happening.

“I want to make people aware. It is not just my problem, it is going to leak into the town.

“It is going to become a ­massive, massive ­problem if we don’t highlight it and do ­something about it.

‘This needs to be taken seriously. I don’t want to slate the council, I just want them on my side.”

Vanessa laid bare the impact the ordeal has had on her mum as she pleaded for more assistance.

BRAZEN AND SMART VERMIN

She continued: “I am so worried about my mum, I’m at my wits’ end.

“I’ve been doing everything I can to get rid of the rats. I had all the traps set out and everything.

“The council have provided some help but I need more help.

“I have had to change my mum’s ­medication and everything with the rats getting into the cupboards. They are really brazen, the rats go everywhere.

“It was bad when they were outside the house now they are inside.

‘They are not hiding, they are coming into the house. They are so brazen and ­getting smarter.

“I’ve contacted the council lots of times. But it is just getting worse. It is a very serious situation.