Facts about Rats - Rentokil UK

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• published: 03 Apr 2012
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The Brown Rat has only been present in the UK since early in the 18th Century. Since then it has replaced the Black Rat as the most common species of rat in the country. Brown rats are relatively large in comparison to other UK species of rodents with fully grown adults weighing about 300g. While they are called 'Brown Rats' they actually can vary in colour from light brown to almost black. They have a blunt rounded snout, large feet and small ears in comparison to their body size and a thick hairless tail which is shorter than the length of the head and body combined. Brown rats are nocturnal animals, which means they are active during the night. Consequently they do not have very well developed vision and rely on their sense of touch to find their way around their environment, using the sensitive hairs which cover their body. The rats also have a well developed memory enabling them to remember the obstacles within their environment and move around them. Unlike 'House Mice' they are naturally very wary animals and will treat any new object they find with suspicion, taking days or weeks to become comfortable with it. This behaviour is often termed 'new object reaction' or 'neophobia'. They demonstrate a predictable feeding behaviour, returning to the same site each night to feed from a food source that they are familiar with. Brown rats will also carry food away and hoard it. Their food preferences may vary depending on their habitat and rats infesting refuse tips and sewers will feed on a mixture of foods of both animal and vegetable origin. They consume about 10% of their own body weight in food every night. Brown rats always need to have access to free standing water and will need to drink around 60ml during their periods of activity. While they are active brown rats will urinate constantly and produce around 40 droppings every 24 hours. These are usually produced in a latrine area and can build up to significant numbers if the population goes unchecked. Like all rodents brown rats have incisor teeth that grow continuously throughout their lives. To compensate for this they spend a significant part of their waking time gnawing, not just on food but also on inedible materials such as wooden supports, electrical cables and pipes. Damage to property with the inevitable consequences for businesses and livelihoods are a very real risk when infestations are present. Brown rats are classed as 'commensal' rodents, meaning they live in close proximity to people and can be found both indoors and outdoors in urban areas, on farms, around refuse tips and in sewers. It is not surprising therefore that they are able to spread disease. Most of the harmful micro-organisms carried by rodents will be a reflection of the environment in which they live, and rats have been proven to carry bacteria such as Salmonella, Listeria and other micro-organisms responsible for diseases such as Cryptosporidium. They carry a bacteria in their urine responsible for causing Weil's disease in humans. About 30% of the rats in the UK are thought to carry this bacteria which can be fatal in some circumstances. Many of the brown rat infestations found in urban areas are associated with drains. From here they are able to gain access to buildings where they can then reproduce and cause damage, as well as contaminate food and other materials with droppings and urine. For more information, visit www.rentokil.com