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Several Rat Types

Rats are the most dominant species of rodents on earth, belonging to the Rattus genus of the family Muridae. Lots of rat species exist in the planet. Most rodents are herbivorous, but some are omnivorous. In general, there are 2 basic types of rats. They are black or roof rats and Norway or brown rats. Both are believed to have originated in Asia & are now widely spread all over the globe.

Black Rats

Roof rats (known as Rattus Rattus) are also called black rats and ship rats. They are commonly black, have a slender built, 16-21 cm long & weigh about 80-300 gram. Their tail is longer than the head & body & their nose & muzzle are pointed. They are called roof rats because they are climbers. Their paws are built to climb and make nests in higher parts of homes, attics, rafters & crossbeams of buildings.

Norway Rat

The brown rat, which is also known as the Norway rat, house rat, gray rat, barn rat, & wharf rat, is the larger of the two mentioned here, and one of the best-known species. Rattus norvegicus is their scientific name. Their other name refers to their grayish-brown body, with a lighter colored stomach. A fully-grown brown rat is 18 to 26 cm long & weighs between 400 and 600 gm. Their tail is shorter than its body & their nose & muzzle are blunt. They prefer moist conditions & nest in deep burrows.

At around three to four months of age, these rats start to breed. They breed 1 to 13 times a year and produce 1 to 22 in a litter. Black rats & brown rats eat about the same things. Their diet mainly consists of seeds, nuts, grains, vegetables, fruits, cereals, meats and invertebrates. They eat about one-third of their weight in food every 24 hours.

They damage structures, contaminate food & carry deadly diseases. Some of the diseases potentially fatal to man that spread through rats are Weil’s disease, plague, salmonella food poisoning and toxoplasmosis.

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