Brown rat
The brown rat or common rat (Rattus norvegicus) is a large rodent introduced to Britain. No rats are native to Europe.[1] For most people in Britain it is probably the most important pest.[1] It carries serious diseases.[2]
Description
The brown rat weighs about ten times as much as a house mouse and is up to three times as long. It has a scaly, ringed tail and can swim. The head and body measure 21 to 29 cm, the tail 17 to 23 cm, and adults weigh 200 to 400 g.[2]
Behaviour
Brown rats eat almost anything but are wary of new foods. They are active mainly at night but are often seen by day. They usually forage within 500 m, though one was recorded travelling 3.3 km. They live in social groups called clans, in burrows. They breed all year round, with about five litters a year averaging nine young each.[3]
Arrival in Britain
Couzens and colleagues say the brown rat was first recorded in Britain in about 1720 and probably came from Central Asia.[2] Yalden and Barrett call the story that it arrived with Hanoverian baggage in 1714 a "political scapegoat" tale. They say it spread quickly and reached Scotland before 1754. In 1768 Robert Smith wrote that black rats lived in ceilings and wainscots and brown rats in sewers. In Britain the brown rat replaced the black rat, but this did not happen in southern Europe.[1] It also reached Ireland and displaced the black rat there.[4]
Numbers
The books give different estimates. Couzens and colleagues give a British population of about 10 million, of which 6 to 7 million live in buildings and on farms. They say the saying that you are "never more than six feet from a rat" is false, because fewer than 0.5% of homes have rats.[3][2] Yalden and Barrett give a figure of some 7 million. They note that the rat stays abundant despite a pest-control industry worth 50 million pounds.[1] Game Conservancy records show a long-term decline in rural brown rats.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Yalden, Derek; Barrett, Priscilla (2010). The History of British Mammals. T & AD Poyser. ch. 7. ISBN 9781408128718.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Couzens, Dominic; Swash, Andy; Still, Robert; Dunn, Jon (2021). Britain's Mammals: A Field Guide to the Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland (Updated ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 92. ISBN 9780691224862.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Couzens, Dominic; Swash, Andy; Still, Robert; Dunn, Jon (2021). Britain's Mammals: A Field Guide to the Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland (Updated ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 94. ISBN 9780691224862.
- ↑ Yalden, Derek; Barrett, Priscilla (2010). The History of British Mammals. T & AD Poyser. ch. 8. ISBN 9781408128718.
- ↑ Yalden, Derek; Barrett, Priscilla (2010). The History of British Mammals. T & AD Poyser. ch. 9. ISBN 9781408128718.