‘The rat family ate our pasta bake’: Soton students share Portswood rat horror stories

Unlike many of the universities across the country, Southampton isn't so easily stereotyped. Newcastle has fit students, Leeds has drugs and Bristol has its nightlife. However, one thing Southampton definitely has is… rats.

You would honestly not believe the number of rat videos sent to our Instagram.

It's something we bond over: "Did you see that rat on the way to Avenue?" "No, but I did hear one last night when I was trying to sleep", an icebreaker to say the least.

We've heard that the rat situation is particularly bad at the moment, with drain issues in Portswood meaning rats are climbing up and out of people's toilets. This inspired us to ask Soton students for their worst rat stories. Why? Maybe to feed your curiosity on how gross Portswood really is? Or to make you feel better about your dry, warm and rat-free house? Either way, this is what university is all about, right?

"It swam up my toilet and was convulsing on the floor"

A rat was found in the downstairs bathroom of a house on Gordon Avenue (unsurprising)…ALIVE! It had been crawling around the room for days until it was seen "convulsing" behind the door after most likely eating something poisonous.

When the pest control man came round to deal with the situation he admitted that "if it had bitten you, you could've gone blind" AND that apparently rats swimming up people's toilets is a common issue because "the council are having troubles with the drains"?!

One of the house threatened to move back home to York after this incident, the other admitted "I have not had a peaceful wee since".

"A rat family ate our entire pasta bake"

A group living on Cedar Road found not just one rat, but a whole family of rats. They apparently heard some weird noises behind their kitchen cupboard and saw that there was a rat living behind it. A few weeks later, they found the rat, dead, in the middle of their living room floor.

Once the mumma rat was dead, all the baby rats decided to take over the house – running through their kitchen and living room. The babies went in their food cupboards, their bins – they had no fear. To console themselves, the flat decided to group together and make a giant pasta bake before a night out which they could come back to, the fools, as the rat family devoured it before they got home.

The full video is on our Instagram.

"I found a very wet, dead rat on my bathroom floor"

Days before the Christmas break, a house on Highfield Crescent heard strange noises coming from their downstairs toilet that they rarely use.

When they checked, they found a very wet, dead rat on their bathroom floor. To make matters worse, when they told their landlord, he said he could only get someone round after Christmas…this dead rat was going to be there for a whole month.

They took charge, got three plastic bags, a bin bag and rubber gloves and dealt with the situation like true independent 19-year-olds.

"A large rat landed on my barefoot"

A student on Livingstone Road experienced her living nightmare when she woke up after a night out, feeling already very sorry for herself. She emerged from her downstairs room to get some water and heard an odd thudding sound. She turned, looked to her left and saw a rat rolling down the stairs (clearly having the time of its life). Frozen in fear, she didn't move and the rat landed on her barefoot.

She told The Soton Tab: "It was warm and heavy… I ran, jumped onto the kitchen table and cried for an hour."

Head to our Insta for more rats and memes.