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Ex-Bar Owner Strictly 18-Inch-Tall RAT ‘The Size Of A Small Dog’ After Being Teased By Giant Rodents<!-- wp:html --><div></div> <div> <h2>The king of rats is dead! 18-inch-long rodent ‘the size of a small dog’ is killed by cafe owner after seven-year battle to death</h2> <p><strong>Derek Blamire, 82, and his wife are constantly at war with rats invading his house </strong><br /> <strong>The pensioner from Blackburn said he caught 50 pests in seven years </strong><br /> <strong>Ex-bar owner Derek says the creatures are streaming into his yard from a nearby land</strong><br /> <strong>In his latest shot, Derek is holding the 18-inch rodent in a photo taken by his wife </strong><br /> <strong><span class="mol-style-italic">Is your house infested by mega rats? Email tom.cotterill@mailonline.co.uk </span></strong></p> <p class="author-section byline-plain">By Tom Cotterill For Mailonline </p> <p class="byline-section"><span class="article-timestamp article-timestamp-published"> <span class="article-timestamp-label">Published:</span> 11:56, October 31, 2022 </span> | <span class="article-timestamp article-timestamp-updated"> <span class="article-timestamp-label">Updated:</span> 14:06, 31 October 2022 </span> </p> <p> <!-- ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/gb/news/none/article/other/para_top.html --> <!-- CWV --><!--[if !IE]>>--> <!-- <!--[if IE]>--></p> <p> <!--[if !IE]>>--> <!--<!--[if IE]>--></p> <p> <!--[if !IE]>>--> <!--<!--[if gte IE 8]>>--> <!-- <!--[if IE 8]>--></p> <p> <!--[if IE 9]>--></p> <p> <!--[if IE]>--></p> <p> <!--[if !IE]> --> <!--</p> <p> <!-- SiteCatalyst code version: H.20.3. Copyright 1997-2009 Omniture, Inc. More info available at http://www.omniture.com --> </p> <p> <!-- End SiteCatalyst code version: H.20.3. --> <!--[if IE]>--></p> <p> <!--[if !IE]> --> <!--<!--[if IE]>--></p> <p> <!--[if !IE]> --> </p> <p> <!-- <!-- CWV --></p> <div> <p class="mol-para-with-font">A great-grandfather at war with giant rats infesting his yard has claimed to have captured an 18-inch rodent the size of a small dog.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">For the past seven years, retiree Derek Blamire has been locked in a constant battle with the pests that invade his yard to feast on his bird feeders.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">So far, the 82-year-old has trapped 50 rodents in poisoned traps, and his latest find took place last month.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Derek’s wife Sylvia Blamire, 80, snapped a photo of the creature being held up by her six-foot-tall husband.</p> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">Whopper: 6 feet Derek Blamire holds up the 18-inch rat with some trash pickers. Derek, 82, spent seven years battling the rats that infest his garden in Blackburn</p> </div> <p class="mol-para-with-font"> “It was quite large, from nose to tail it was about six inches long. It was as long as a little baby,’ said Derek from Blackburn, Lancashire. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">‘It had been right for a few weeks.</p> <div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS news"> <h3 class="mol-factbox-title">Have rats invaded your home? </h3> <div class="ins cleared mol-factbox-body"> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span class="mol-style-bold">Are you at war with huge rats invading your house? Please email tom.cotterill@mailonline.co.uk</span></p> </div> </div> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“I’ve lived here for about seven years and have caught over 50. Sometimes I poison them, sometimes I catch them in a trap.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“If they keep coming, I’ll keep catching them. I’m not going to give up.’</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Unimpressed Sylvia said she was “scared” by Derek’s latest capture. She added: “I was in the bungalow and Derek was outside, I thought he must be in the yard.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">He said, ‘Come out with your phone, I have something to show you’. When I opened the door, he was standing on the doorstep with that garbage picker in hand. I was frightened to death.’</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Avid gardener Derek said he believes the rats that live on the free land next to his yard are attracted to the food he hands out for the birds.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The pensioner said: ‘I feed the birds you see and if you feed the birds, it is clear that rats are showing up. There are probably more rats than people.</p> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">The retired cafe owner claims to have killed at least 50 rodents terrorizing his yard. Pictured is one of the creatures</p> </div> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">Derek says the rats are coming to feast on his bird feeder and invade his yard from nearby land</p> </div> <p class="mol-para-with-font">‘I put seed and fat balls for the birds. It attracts all kinds of birds – jackdaws, starlings, magpies, sparrows, robins and wrens.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">‘Rats breed fairly quickly. There are small ones, those are young ones, and the older ones.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">‘The young are quite easy to catch, but the older ones are very cunning, they don’t trap and they don’t eat the venom, so you’re lucky to catch one.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“I’m not bothered by rats because I’m used to them, Sylvia doesn’t like them.”</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Derek gets involved in a lengthy cat-and-mouse game, laying traps for the critters to run into that the older crafty animals avoid – opting instead to feast on the bird table.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">To address this problem, Derek temporarily stops feeding the birds to trap the hungry.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Derek said, “I see the rats on the bird table, they can climb on anything, they are fast too. Once you see them, they are gone.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“I stop feeding the birds for a week so the rats are a little hungry so it’s easier to catch them.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">‘I hadn’t set food for the birds for a week, they were hungry and they went into the trap after I put in a piece of cooked chicken.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“I had a shotgun and I put one shot at it and that was it.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“I haven’t seen one in a few days, but they’re coming back. They can disappear for a few weeks and then suddenly they come back.’</p> </div> <p> <!-- ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/gb/news/none/article/other/inread_player.html --></p> <div class="column-content cleared"> <div class="shareArticles"> <h3 class="social-links-title">Share or comment on this article: </h3> </div> </div> </div><!-- /wp:html -->

The king of rats is dead! 18-inch-long rodent ‘the size of a small dog’ is killed by cafe owner after seven-year battle to death

Derek Blamire, 82, and his wife are constantly at war with rats invading his house
The pensioner from Blackburn said he caught 50 pests in seven years
Ex-bar owner Derek says the creatures are streaming into his yard from a nearby land
In his latest shot, Derek is holding the 18-inch rodent in a photo taken by his wife
Is your house infested by mega rats? Email tom.cotterill@mailonline.co.uk

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A great-grandfather at war with giant rats infesting his yard has claimed to have captured an 18-inch rodent the size of a small dog.

For the past seven years, retiree Derek Blamire has been locked in a constant battle with the pests that invade his yard to feast on his bird feeders.

So far, the 82-year-old has trapped 50 rodents in poisoned traps, and his latest find took place last month.

Derek’s wife Sylvia Blamire, 80, snapped a photo of the creature being held up by her six-foot-tall husband.

Whopper: 6 feet Derek Blamire holds up the 18-inch rat with some trash pickers. Derek, 82, spent seven years battling the rats that infest his garden in Blackburn

“It was quite large, from nose to tail it was about six inches long. It was as long as a little baby,’ said Derek from Blackburn, Lancashire.

‘It had been right for a few weeks.

Have rats invaded your home?

Are you at war with huge rats invading your house? Please email tom.cotterill@mailonline.co.uk

“I’ve lived here for about seven years and have caught over 50. Sometimes I poison them, sometimes I catch them in a trap.

“If they keep coming, I’ll keep catching them. I’m not going to give up.’

Unimpressed Sylvia said she was “scared” by Derek’s latest capture. She added: “I was in the bungalow and Derek was outside, I thought he must be in the yard.

He said, ‘Come out with your phone, I have something to show you’. When I opened the door, he was standing on the doorstep with that garbage picker in hand. I was frightened to death.’

Avid gardener Derek said he believes the rats that live on the free land next to his yard are attracted to the food he hands out for the birds.

The pensioner said: ‘I feed the birds you see and if you feed the birds, it is clear that rats are showing up. There are probably more rats than people.

The retired cafe owner claims to have killed at least 50 rodents terrorizing his yard. Pictured is one of the creatures

Derek says the rats are coming to feast on his bird feeder and invade his yard from nearby land

‘I put seed and fat balls for the birds. It attracts all kinds of birds – jackdaws, starlings, magpies, sparrows, robins and wrens.

‘Rats breed fairly quickly. There are small ones, those are young ones, and the older ones.

‘The young are quite easy to catch, but the older ones are very cunning, they don’t trap and they don’t eat the venom, so you’re lucky to catch one.

“I’m not bothered by rats because I’m used to them, Sylvia doesn’t like them.”

Derek gets involved in a lengthy cat-and-mouse game, laying traps for the critters to run into that the older crafty animals avoid – opting instead to feast on the bird table.

To address this problem, Derek temporarily stops feeding the birds to trap the hungry.

Derek said, “I see the rats on the bird table, they can climb on anything, they are fast too. Once you see them, they are gone.

“I stop feeding the birds for a week so the rats are a little hungry so it’s easier to catch them.

‘I hadn’t set food for the birds for a week, they were hungry and they went into the trap after I put in a piece of cooked chicken.

“I had a shotgun and I put one shot at it and that was it.

“I haven’t seen one in a few days, but they’re coming back. They can disappear for a few weeks and then suddenly they come back.’

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