Westfield shopper records huge rat in food court: 'Terrifying'
A shopper has captured a concerning sight at a Westfield shopping centre in Sydney, sharing a video of what appears to be a large rat scurrying across the food court.
The video, which was captured at Westfield Parramatta, was uploaded to Reddit on Monday.
The footage is opens with a bird's eye view of a seemingly clean food court, until a rat runs across the dining area and out of sight.
Not the first time, say Westfield shoppers
Some Redditors commented that this isn't the first time a rodent has been spotted in the centre.
"Used to work in the centre sometimes past midnight. There were often whole packs of rats, some which were the size of small cats or dogs. Their screeching was terrifying at night to hear," one Reddit user said.
"I've seen one at the same spot before too! Level 1 Food Court! Running towards the restricted entry/exit," wrote another.
"Everyone tuck your pants into your socks!" added a third.
"That's terrifying, amazing and wtf all in one," commented a fourth.
Westfield responds to rat footage
A Westfield Parramatta spokesperson told Yahoo News that measures are in place to prevent situations like these.
"Together with our retail partners, we conduct regular and proactive pest control inspections and activities in our centre," said the spokesperson.
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Footage divides opinion on Reddit
Although some users have labelled the rat's appearance as "horrible", others have jumped to Westfield's defence, claiming that the presence of rodents in a large city is unsurprising.
"You can find them pretty much everywhere in cities. Lots of hiding places available, plenty of food, not many predators except maybe your neighbour's cat," one user said.
Some Redditors have chosen to see the lighter side in the rat sighting video, which was captioned "Ratatouille - Parramatta Edition", in reference to the 2007 animated movie Ratatouille.
"Remy is late for work again!" one Redditor joked, referring to the main character from the film.
"Don't mind that chonky boy, he's employed to keep the floors clean there," said another.
"Where's Garfield when you need him?" added a third.
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