SHARE
COPY LINK
VIKING RAT

OFFBEAT

‘I killed Sweden’s most famous celebrity’

After a 40-centimetre dead rat went all kinds of viral, The Local speaks again to the man behind the catch about fame, ruining a career in Hollywood, and getting accused of animal cruelty.

'I killed Sweden's most famous celebrity'
The rat measured 39.5 centimetres. Here it is shortly after it was caught. Photo: Justus Bengtsson-Korsås
"The most tragic thing about all this is that I've killed the most famous personality in Sweden," Erik Korsås told The Local on Friday afternoon. 
 
"I feel really awful; this thing could have been a Swedish superstar. It could have had a career in Hollywood."
 
Trademark humour from the 48-year-old, and it has helped his story about a 40-centimetre dead rat spread across the entire world.
 
Indeed, ever since The Local was the first to publish the story in English on Wednesday morning, the phones haven't stopped ringing. The BBC, the Daily Mail, Fox News and many more… all wanting to know more about the Rat from Hell, which is now also known as the Viking Rat, Ratzilla, and the Putin Rat. In fact, one BBC reporter told us that their version of the story had over one million readers.
 
More often than not, reporters let their imagination run wild, with one Australian paper trumpeting in its headline that a "Monster rat measuring a metre long" was terrifying the Swedish family.
 
"I don't know where they got one metre from… I guess things just get bigger as they travel," Korsås said with a hearty laugh.
 
 
The 48-year-old himself hasn't got off the phone either, with requests from Chinese newspapers and German TV stations to deal with this afternoon alone. 
 
"It's a bit hard to understand really, there are so many things happening in the world and people want to read about giant rats."
 
But it's not all good news. Some people have accused the Swede of photoshopping the picture while others claim the Solna resident is guilty of animal cruelty after he posed for a picture with the deceased Ratzilla. 
 
"I'm not a cruel person and that was never my intention. It's typical that people look for different angles on these kinds of things."
 
And as the weekend approaches, Korsås admitted that he was ready for a rat-free rest.
 
"And let me tell you, if we should get another rat, I wouldn't tell anyone about it. This is good enough."
 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.