Cute Gigantic Muskrat Sculpture Pops Up in the Dutch Countryside!

Using local materials and craftsmen, artist <a title="Giant Musk Rat Sculpture Rests in The Dutch Countryside" href="http://www.florentijnhofman.nl/" target="_blank">Florentijn Hofman</a> sculpted a gigantic sculpture of a <a title="Giant Musk Rat Sculpture Rests in The Dutch Countryside" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskrat" target="_blank">muskrat</a> taking a peaceful nap in the Dutch countryside. Located at Nieuwerkerk -- the lowest point in The Netherlands at 22.5 foot below sea level -- this rodent sculpture was built to highlight the damage that these animals are said to cause to dykes. Taking up 105 x 26 x 40 feet of space, the hairy animal is obviously not aware of its real-life peers chewing and burrowing into the man-made sea barriers.<br>

Made from local biodegradable materials, the cute giant sculpture blends in with its surroundings.

It was built back in 2004 to show the size of the problem that the animals are said to cause to waterworks and <a title="Giant Musk Rat Sculpture Rests in The Dutch Countryside" href="http://geography.about.com/od/specificplacesofinterest/a/dykes.htm" target="_blank">dykes</a> in the geographically low-lying country.

<a title="Giant Musk Rat Sculpture Rests in The Dutch Countryside" href="http://inhabitat.com/big-yellow-bunny-made-from-local-swedish-materials-is-easily-the-size-of-a-building/big-yellow-rabbit-florentijn-hofman-1/" target="_blank">Hofman</a>'s muskrat was mainly built with local sustainable materials - he started with a wooden structure covered with local thatch.

<a title="Giant Musk Rat Sculpture Rests in The Dutch Countryside" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatching" target="_blank">Thatch</a> is a low-cost material widely used for building roofs and made from various typed of dry vegetation like straw, water reed, or sedge.

The rat's wooden structure was <a title="Giant Musk Rat Sculpture Rests in The Dutch Countryside" href="http://inhabitat.com/green-guide-to-prefab-the-history-of-the-kit-home/" target="_blank">prefabricated</a> in a workshop and taken on-site to be covered and sculpted with the dry plants.

Big as the problem and cute as the real thing, Florentijn Hofman's Muskrat has probably already melted back into the <a title="Giant Musk Rat Sculpture Rests in The Dutch Countryside" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands" target="_blank">Dutch</a> environment.