Key Features of Rats
The Brown Rat is now by far the most common species of Rat found in Britain. The Black Rat is also found in Britain but is now one extremely rare. Whilst Black Rats are mainly located around port towns, Brown Rats possess a far more opportunistic nature and are found in a diverse range of locations all over Britain.
Biology
Rats are distinguished from mice by their size as they are substantially bigger; A regularly sized Rat will have a body that measures approximately 12 cm (5 inches), although they can grow to a much bigger size.
Rats can be extremely destructive to crops and property, they are generally regarded as vermin. Rats pro-create at a very fast rate and if they populate a place which contains no natural predators, they can quickly overpopulate the vicinity and become very hard to contain.
Although estimates vary, Rats have a devastating effect on the world’s food levels. It is extremely likely that approximately one fifth of the world’s total food output is either eaten, spoiled or destroyed by rats.
Rats can carry a huge range of diseases which are dangerous to humans. These include Weil’s disease, typhus, salmonella and bubonic plague.
