A giant rat has been spotted climbing a tree in Edinburgh.
Shocked residents watched on as the rodent clung to a branch in the Balgreen area of the capital. The animal, which was the size of a small cat, was pictured by local man George Kelsey on Tuesday.
In the image, which was shared with Edinburgh Live, the rodent appeared to be minding its own business balancing high up in the tree. As it took a break from the sewers and rubbish dumps, the animal seemed to be enjoyed the view as it watched passers-by.
While the sight may have horrified some, George is a lover of rats and insists they unfairly get a bad time from those who dislike them.
George said: “In Balgreen, when we do rats, we do them big. Very big. And put them in trees.
“I thought it was an ROUS. A rodent of unusual size. It was massive, and in a tree. I like rats and think they have a bad press.”
Historians say that the dislike of rats potentially dates back to the mid-14th century. Rats were seen as dirty, vicious and the spreaders of disease including the plague - which caused the deaths of more than a third of Europe's population.
However, a recent study has found that it was humans rather than rats that were responsible for the spread of the Black Death.
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