Wild rats caught in the rice fields of Cambodia are being sold for their meat in Vietnam.

Rats are usually considered to be filthy and disease ridden. The wild rice field rats caught in Cambodia, on the other hand, are considered a delicacy.

Due to the rats' organic diet of rice stalks, the roots of wild plants and crop vegetables, they're becoming a hot commodity on the meat market in neighboring Vietnam where the meat is reportedly an expensive delicacy.

After the rice harvest during June and July, the rat-catching season begins.

At that point in time, the rats have little food to eat. It also coincides with the rainy season that forces the rats above ground, making them much easier to capture.

Some of the rat traders are able to catch over fifty pounds of rats in one night.

Once caught, the rats are brought to the border between Cambodia and Vietnam to be sold.

According to one of the catchers, the rat's meat tastes similar to pork.

The meat can be prepared in many different ways, such as being boiled in a soup or minced into a Pâté.
Not only does the sale of rats help locals out, it helps protect the rice crops too.