The Many Types Of Rats
Rats are the most dominant species of rodents on earth, belonging to the Rattus genus of the family Muridae. There are several species of rats in the world. Most rodents feed upon plants, but some feed upon animals as well. Generally speaking, there are 2 basic types of rats. They are black or roof rats and Norway or brown rats. Both are thought to have originated in Asia & are now widely spread all over the world.
Black Rats
Roof rats (known as Rattus Rattus) are also called black rats & ship rats. They are normally black, have a slender built, 16-21 cm long & weigh about 80-300 gram. Their tail is longer than the head and body and their nose & muzzle are pointed. As the name suggest, roof rats are climbers. Their paws enable them to climb & build nests in upper parts of homes, attics, rafters & crossbeams of buildings.
Norway Rat
The Norway rat is sometimes known as the house rat, brown rat, gray rat, barn rat or wharf rat. It is one of the best-known and is the larger of the two. Rattus norvegicus is their scientific name. Their other name refers to their grayish-brown body, with a lighter colored stomach. A brown rat in full size is 18 to 26 cm long & weighs between 400 & 600 gm. Their nose & muzzle are blunt, and their tail is shorter than its body. They prefer moist conditions & nest in deep burrows.
At around 3 - 4 months of age, these rats start to breed. They breed 1 to 13 times each year & produce up to 22 in a litter. Brown rats & black rats eat about the same things. Their diet mainly includes fruits, cereals, meats, seeds, nuts, grains, vegetables & invertebrates. They consume about a third of their weight in food every 24 hours.
They damage structures, contaminate food & carry lethal diseases. Some of the diseases potentially fatal to man that spread through rats are salmonella food poisoning, toxoplasmosis, Weil’s disease and plague.
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