Signs of the Apocalypse: Earthquakes, Hurricanes, and...Giant Rats?

Well, if they were fleeing New York in advance of Irene, I'd be even more worried.  But still...this is not a good sign:

A giant 3-foot-long rat met its maker at the Marcy Houses recently, when Housing Authority worker Jose Rivera stabbed it multiple times with a pitchfork. The 48-year-old says he believes there are at least two more on the loose out there, which he spotted when filling a rat hole last week.

 An expert at the Wildlife Conservation Society told the Daily News...it is likely a Gambian pouched rat, and was probably someone's escaped or discarded pet. The head of the Marcy Houses Tenant Association says these giant rats have been spotted over the past six years; and one resident told BBN that eight big rats were recently killed in one day.

Tenants believe the rats have been breeding with Norway rats in the area, and are "spawning a super-breed of rodents" that "gang up on the cats."

Yuk. Probably means nothing. Probably. But in reviewing the Seven Signs of the Apocalypse, I came up with:

First sign is the arrival of false prophets. (Barack Obama as God, perhaps?)
The second horseman is associated with conflict and war. Accordingly the sign here would be the outbreak of wars. (More than we can count right now)
This third horseman of the apocalypse rides a black horse with scales in his hands. He is associated with commerce and therefore is said to bring an imbalance in the costs of goods. Famine is his legacy. (See the price of food lately?)
The fourth sign is widespread death. (hmm...not yet)
The fifth sign is a mass murdering of Martyrs. (not here yet either. But I find the fact that First Responders and Clergy have been denied access to the 9/11 memorial ceremonies this year to be certainly allegorical, at the very least...)
The sixth sign is the earthquakes, darkness, and red colored moon. (gulp...)
The seventh sign is quite simply- calm silence.

OK, nothing about giant rats, or even ROUS.  But still, if someone tells you they don't think they exist...