(Image credit: Getty) Rat conservation status Rattus xanthurus - Northeastern Xanthurus rat, or Sulawesi white-tailed rat.Rattus rattus - House rat, or black rat.Rattus osgoodi - Osgood's Vietnamese rat.Rattus norvegicus - Norway rat, or brown rat.Rattus lutreolus - Australian swamp rat.Rattus hoffmanni - Hoffmann's Sulawesi rat.Here is the taxonomy of rats according to ITIS: Most house rats - 91 to 97% - die within their first year of life, according to the University of Michigan. Rats typically live around two or three years. By the age of three months, the brown rat is ready to reproduce. 28 ounces) are born, according to the American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association. Tropical rats tend to only have one to six babies at once.Īfter a gestation period of 21 to 26 days, babies that weigh only around 6 to 8 grams (.21 to. Brown rats can have up to 22 young at once, though eight or nine is more the average. Female rats can mate around 500 times in a six-hour period and brown rats can produce up to 2,000 offspring in a year, according to Discover Magazine. Rats, generally, are baby-making machines. These nests are usually built in crevices, in rotting trees or in buildings. (Image credit: Getty) Rat breedingīefore their offspring are born, rats build nests from any material that can be foraged from the area, including branches, grass, trash and paper. Other rats, such as the Sulawesi white-tailed rat and Hoffman’s rat, prefer vegetarian fare such as seed and fruits, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.īrown rats can have up to 22 young at once. Rats have also been known to eat grain or kill insects, water creatures such as snails, fish and mussels, small birds, mammals and reptiles for food. They will scavenge through trash or eat any food that is left unprotected.
House and brown rats usually use humans for their primary food source. Rats are omnivores, but many prefer meat when they can get it. Other rats may have several dominant males or females in a pack. Brown rats are usually led by the largest male in the pack. New packs are formed when a male and female go off on their own and nest in an area that doesn't already contain a pack. Rats usually stick together in groups called packs. Most rats are nocturnal, though the brown rat is often awake day or night. Close up of a wild brown rat in autumn foraging and eating seeds in natural woodland habitat.
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