Is It Real Or A Hoax? Giant Rat Found Near Kid’s Playground

A viral photo of a humungous rat found next to a children's playground has been questioned. However, Tony Smith, the gas engineer who allegedly found the rat on Thursday insisted that the four-foot-long rodent in the picture is real.

The Daily Mirror reported that the 46-year-old engineer claimed that he spotted the giant rat, which is the same size as a four-year-old child, while working at a block of flats in Amhurst Road at Hackney Downs, East London. He said the horrifying creature, estimated to weigh 25 lbs, was lying dead in a bush next to a kid's playground.

Smith said he took a photo of the rat while being held by his friend James Green, a 46-year-old electrician. In the picture, the size of the rat is hard to gauge as Green holds the alleged giant rat at arm's length and close to the camera.

Can you smell a rat? Monster rodent could be simple camera trick https://t.co/bB46tkGBXX pic.twitter.com/nJ1tFA7qIG

— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) March 11, 2016

But Smith insisted that it is indeed a giant rat. "This is the largest rat I've ever seen in my entire life," he said. "I've got a cat and a Jack Russell and it was bigger than both of those put together."

According to Dr. Dougie Clarke of the University of Huddersfield, the giant rodent may be an African pouch rat, a popular pet. He said that it is possible that the animal escaped from its owner's home and met an untimely death.

The Guardian reported that the photo and story of the massive rodent were first presented by news agency SWNS. The photo has since gone viral and trended on Twitter as the Hackney Rat.  But some alleged that the giant rat is a hoax, saying the photo used an optical illusion "forced perspective" to make the rat look bigger.

Twitter user Oliver O'Brien said that rat may be large but it may not be quite as big as what the photo shows. He estimated that the rodent is two feet long and not four feet.

The "giant rat" is two foot rather than the "four foot" claimed in the press. Perspective trick. Here's my working: pic.twitter.com/DYGE3hPDSz

— Oliver O'Brien (@oobr) March 11, 2016

Moreover, Twitter user Daniel Bentley tweeted a photo of a man holding a rat from two different perspectives. The first photo showed the rodent in a normal size while it looked huge on the other.

@elenacresci forced perspective pic.twitter.com/DHkxcbXHm3

— Daniel Bentley (@DJBentley) March 11, 2016

Hackney Council, the department in charge of pest control in the area, also posted a picture implicating that the 'giant rat' theory is a hoax. The council said its pest controllers did not find anything in the area.

@laurenlaverne Our pest controllers visited & didn't find anything. We're pretty sure it's not THAT big though. pic.twitter.com/sbIckBLghV

— Hackney Council (@hackneycouncil) March 11, 2016