The rat hunting season often lasts from the lunar month of September to the lunar month of December after the summer-autumn rice crop. During this time, many households in Canh Nau can earn around VND1 million (USD45.4) per day.

Rat meat is considered a speciality in Canh Nau and Di Nau communes. 

The meat is sold in all local villages at quite high prices.

There are many rat meat stalls at Canh Nau Market which opens from 4 pm to the late afternoon. However, each stall with just around 5-10 kilos of rat meat is often sold out within a couple of hours.

Hien, a local resident, said that previously just some households used to sell rat meat, but over the recent years, more people have hunted rats to meet the big demand. These days, most of her family’s members come to fields to catch rats.

Not only local restaurants but also many people in Hanoi’s neighbouring localities have also come to Canh Nau to buy rat meat. 

Many families can catch 7-10 kilos of rat per day, earning VND500,000 and VND1,000,000 per day.

From early morning, hunters in Thach That rush to fields, bringing with them tools and bags to catch rats. They also go to fields of other districts such as Quoc Oai and Chuong My districts for hunting rats. They said that hunting rats is also a way to help them protect their paddy fields and crops.