Viral Photo of Rat at Albany New York Walmart Is an Internet Hoax

You have probably seen the viral photo of a rat at Walmart, but is it actually what it seems to be?

The last thing you want to see at a grocery store are visible rodents. I am not naive enough to believe that there are not pests at a place where they store food, but seeing one out in the open just skeeves me out.

By now you have likely seen the photo going around social media warning people to stay out of the Washington Ave. Ext Walmart because of a rat near the tortillas.

The photo was posted to Facebook on May 20th. It has been shared by over 900 people from all around the Capital Region.

"Stay out of the Walmart on Washington Ave"

 

At first it is probably believable, but I decided to look into this further to disprove the authenticity of this post.

Read More: Six Cities in New York Named Most Rat-Infested

I took a drive over to the Walmart on Washington Ave Ext. in Albany to make sure my suspicions that this was a hoax were actually true. Always trust your gut because I found that this was not even what that Walmart even looks like in the grocery area.

Not where the tortillas are kept

If you look at the viral photo it shows the tortillas on a display piece and not on the end of an aisle. At this Walmart they are kept at the end of the bread aisle.

Now I know what you're going to say next, "Well BJ maybe they moved them to that spot." True, but even if they did the floor does not match with the viral photo.

Floor Doesn't Match

In the now viral photo it shows a tile floor, but the floor here is clearly cement (or concrete I can't tell the difference).

I went to investigate further and the only similar style display I could find to match that was near the freezer section and contained snack crackers. As you can see the floor also doesn't match with the photo.

Also there appears to be a garbage can or pole near that display that is missing from this one clearly seen at the Washington Ave Ext. location here in Albany.

With all the misinformation out there it's always important to make sure you look into these situations to verify them on your own. With the amount of times this photo has been shared it was a good idea to go check it out for myself so that I could let you guys know to one, stop sharing it and two, this Walmart does not have rodents running around in the open.

Consider this myth busted.