It was definitely the weirdest sense of pride anyone's ever felt in their lives, but last year's animal frenzies were among the bright spots in the weird catalogs of "Only in NYC" sh*t we've come to love and adore about our city. 

We had Pizza rat, which devolved into staged celebrity appearances by Donut Rat. We had Pizza Raccoon, uptown Alligator, and even Milkshake Squirrel. 

This year we've had Freddie the runaway cow in Queens that we all fell in love with up until he went to retire in the garbage pits of New Jersey, and we've found warmth in the whimsy of snow rats bouncing about in Brooklyn. 

But this sh*t's child's play compared to what London engineer Tony Smith found a four-foot rat while working Thursday. 

We'll say that again: This rat is four feet long. 

Like, can you even imagine?

Smith found the creature dead in a bush near a children's playground, which, if we're being honest, is probably the dopest thing you've ever deprived small children of finding. 

Seriously, can you imagine hanging out on the swing set, full of life, dreams, and the promise of years and years only to find an impossibly huge rat in a bush? It's like Stand by Me meets Fievel Goes West. 

[anad]

The rat weighed upwards of 25 pounds, andSmith said that the estate where he was working is currently suffering through an infestation of rats, with a veritable cornucopia of poison left around to kill them.

He told the Daily Mail, "The bins get left open nearby so these little fellas have a pretty good diet." Well, good to know that they're eating well. 

Unfortunately, we need to consider this idea that pest control experts have been warning us for the last few years: they're mutating.

Not exactly like X-Men, but as close as you can get, it's feared that rats are becoming immune to the usual regimen of toxic poisons used to kill them.

So, while they're busy not dying from poisons, they're just feeding off more and more litter and thrown-away food we leave around. 

Could we ever see a rat this big in NYC? Not likely. NYC's a pretty perfect natural death trap for the rats. With a billion different ways to die outside of your average poisoning, you can assume you'll never run into a rat this big if it makes you sleep any better. 

Check out 8 Best Ways to Get the Most Out of NYC's New Public Boozing Policy. 

[via Daily Mail] [Feature Image Courtesy Daily Mail]