“He just came to help cook,” one commenter wrote – referring to the Disney film. Ratatouille.

“It’s huge,” said another.

Others called the rat “Stuart Little” and “Geronimo Stilton”, two children’s literary characters.

But some commenters took pity on the rat, with one saying: “Oh take him home, he’s hungry.” »

A university spokesperson told the Herald the lone rat “was no longer alive” and it “ceased to exist” yesterday.

“Our pest control company also carried out a thorough search of every stairwell and entry point. They believe the rat entered through an exterior door that was left open.

“No other entry points have been identified. All traps around the building are empty, so we believe this is an isolated case.

The resident who filmed the video also captured a pigeon helping itself to fresh ingredients behind the counter of a Auckland Central Metro last month, forcing the restaurant’s short-term closure.

The pigeon can be seen dining at the restaurant in the meat section of the Symonds Street Restaurant for about 15 seconds before a Subway employee rushed over, punched the counter and scared the bird away.

The creator of the video can be heard calling out to staff members and saying, “There’s a bird eating all your stuff.” As if it’s just a matter of selecting all the elements.

“Why don’t they have a blanket?” “, asked a commenter on the TikTok video, viewed more than 200,000 times.

“Thank God I just ate the cookies,” said another.

The video also prompted a comment from Subway New Zealand, which said: “Hey, we’re sorry to hear that. Please contact our Subway team… Thank you very much, Subway.

The video’s original poster responded: “You really need to clean up this Subway store, it’s so disgusting and needs better food hygiene please.”

A Subway spokesperson said the franchise takes customers’ health and safety seriously.

“As soon as the Symonds St restaurant team were informed, the food was thrown away and removed from sale, and the restaurant was closed for a thorough and intense clean.

“Team members have received additional training and have taken additional steps to prevent this from happening again. »

The spokesperson said the Symonds St restaurant would soon undergo a “complete restaurant renovation”.

“We look forward to sharing the new, refreshed restaurant with the community soon.”

The restaurant has a food rating of A, according to the Auckland Council website.