A THREE FOOT rat was found swimming in a river in Kilnascully by a man out for a walk last week.

The rodent, which has been named Rodney, is a coypu American swamp rat and he’s three times the size of your average Irish rat.

He’s now being cared for at the Kildare Animal Foundation Wildlife Unit where one worker told TheJournal.ie that the semi aquatic rodent is “a good looking rat anyway”.

Dan Donoher from the Unit told RTE Radio One’s John Murray show:

He’s not just an ordinary Irish rat, there’s no fear there’ll be an epidemic.

Rodney is the first one of its kind that anyone has ever heard of here in Ireland. Donoher said:

“It would have to be a person with a specialised set-up that would have him – so he could live in a natural enough environment.

It must have escaped or been released into the wild because ordinarily they would not be found here.

The search is now on to find a home for the furry creature with Donoher adding, “He doesn’t have any fear in him so we think he must have been a pet. He’s in good enough condition.”

It’s hoped he may find a new home somewhere like the zoo or at Fota Wildlife Park.

Read: Rats are “dancing a polka set” in Killarney according to one councillor>