Prolonged closure of restaurants over lockdown has forced rodents to flee cities.
Hordes of giant rats that are immune to poison and carrrying a wealth of diseases are moving away from the cities and setting up colonies in the suburbs in search of food.
Daily Mail reports that the prolonged closure of restaurants, cafes and other eateries during lockdown in Britain has resulted in less food available for the vermin and they are instead moving further out into residential areas.
There have even been reports of hungry and territorial rats turning to cannabilism in recent weeks.
A survey from the British Pest Control Association revealed more than half of UK rat catchers have seen a surge in complaints about infestations, The Sun reports.
Rat catcher Martin Kirkbride, of Openshaw, Manchester, told the Telegraph that he believes there are more rodents in the UK now than during the industrial revolution, but they mostly live in sewers.
He said: 'They live with us and are here because of us. The more people there are, the more food there is for the rats.'
Scientists have also found an increase in rodents spotted in the suburbs since lockdown began.
Professor Steven Belmain, of Natural Resources Institute in Greenwich, added that while some will move back to the cities after restrictions end, many others will continue to maintain their new strongholds in the suburbs.
He said: 'What is happening is they are moving into residential areas and finding food sources there, so deciding to make it home.'
Away from Britain, other countries are experiencing a similar problem with rats during lockdown.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has put out a new advisory alerting people to be aware of 'aggressive rodent behavior' on the unsuspecting public.
'Community-wide closures have led to a decrease in food available to rodents, especially in dense commercial areas,' the CDC said. 'Some jurisdictions have reported an increase in rodent activity as rodents search for new sources of food.'
'Environmental health and rodent control programs may see an increase in service requests related to rodents and reports of unusual or aggressive rodent behavior,' the advisory reads.
Speaking about the rodent turf wars displayed by the rats, Bobby Corrigan, an urban rodentologist, said: 'It's just like we've seen in the history of mankind, where people try to take over lands and they come in with militaries and armies and fight to the death, literally, for who's going to conquer that land.
