Florida: giant rats as big as house cats

Florida (aka "America's Wang", aka "Floriduh") adds yet another item to its long line of accomplishments with the news that it's home to a species of giant rats. Specifically, rodents imported from Gambia and which now live on Grassy Key, an island that's part of that state's Keys. The island is actually part of the city of Marathon, and U.S. 1 runs right through it. It's home to the non-profit research center/tourist trap Dolphin Research Center.

The rats are 35 inches long and weigh 3 pounds, and they're suspected of spreading monkeypox to prairie dogs, which then spread that disease to humans in a 2003 outbreak. No one was killed in that outbreak, but one person was kept in an isolation ward for a few days, and another lost part of their eye. Now, the CDC is tagging the rats in an attempt to prove they were involved, and they're also trying to raise funds to eradicate them.

Florida, the vacation paradise.