Things you need to know about BROWN RATS!
83,164
Published 2021-08-18
If you would like to see some more British wildlife, visit Naturally Curious UK and say hello to Graham who provided some of the footage for this video: youtube.com/user/TheMisterG777
Here is the script I wrote and used for this video:
Brown rats are one of the most successful mammals on the planet and have lived alongside humans for thousands of years but it may be surprising to hear that didn’t arrive in the UK until the 1700s when its suspected they stowed away on ships from Russia. They gradually colonised the countryside, towns and cities displacing the already present black rat as they went.
As their name suggests, brown rats have an overall greyish brown appearance with a long hairless and scaly looking tail. They have large bare ears, black beady eyes and a pointed nose. They usually weight between 2 and 300 grams and measure around 20cm from their nose to the base of their tail, however, sometimes they can grow very large with some reaching more than 600 grams and having bodies of upto 30cm long.
Brown rats can live in any habitat where they can find something to eat, and as their diet is extensive that means they can be found pretty much everywhere. They will eat everything from human scarps and waste, other animal food, eggs, birds, amphibians, grain and vegetables. Some rats have even become immune to the poisons that people try to put out for them and can eat it without any lasting negative affects.
Male brown rats are called bucks whilst females are called does. They often live in large colonies with a defined hierarchical structure with some bucks and does being more dominant than others. These colonies mainly live in underground burrows which they dig themselves but where they live in towns and cities the colonies can also be found in abandoned buildings, cellars, sewers and attics.
Alongside their extensive diets there is a second reason that brown rats have been so successful at colonising the planet, their reproduction. Each doe can start breeding from just 3 months of age and can produce 5 litters in a year with as many as 12 pups being born at a time. This breeding can take place at any time throughout the year but reaches a peak in the late spring and summer. Each doe may mate with several bucks multiple times but given the dominant bucks are more likely to be the fittest, they are also the most likely to be the fathers of any pups that are born. The does are only pregnant for 21 days before they give birth to their hairless and blind young in a well hidden nest. She takes care of these young without any help and will move them from one nest to another if she thinks they are in any danger. The pups grow really fast and by just three weeks of age they are weaned from their mothers milk and from four weeks onwards they can be fully independent.
Brown rats are not a species without controversy, millions of pounds is spent every year in the UK in an attempt to control this species and they are disliked by a lot of people. However they are also loved by lots of people. This is partly due to their intelligence and tenacity. Being social they can communicate with each other through a series of squeaks, grunts and hisses and their domesticated cousins make excellent pets. They can be trained to follow commands and in the wild are capable of problem solving beyond the capacity of most other animals.
Aside from the direct conflict brown rats have with people, they also face other dangers living amongst us. They often fall victim to predation by cats and die from collisions with cars. They also have natural predators such as birds of prey, foxes and otters. The average life expectancy for a rat in the wild is less than one year but in exceptional instances they can survive as much as three years and one domesticated animals made it to a whopping 7 years and 4 months of age. Population estimates for brown rats in the UK vary massively but there is thought to be around 80 million of them living here and some studies show that their numbers are rising.
Some of the footage and images used in this video were obtained using creative commons licences, the originals and their licences can be found at:
• Young Brown Rat feeding on Blackberries
• Brown rats eat food for stray cats
• Brown rats at RSPB Rainham Marshes - ...
• Video
• RATA PARDA (Rattus norvegicus) en la ...
• RATS EVERYWHERE
www.flickr.com/photos/funadium/1128099243
www.piqsels.com/en/search?q=rat&page=18
Thumbnail: www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5484525
#britishwildlife
#nature
#wildlife
All Comments (21)
-
The most amazing sight was watching a swarm of thousands crossing a field heading for their winter quarters an old disused quarry filled with tons and tons of rubbish it was just at dusk and it was quite an eerie experience but one I will never forget
-
Here in Burry Port, West Wales, when I was a boy of about seven or eight and the old wooden lock gates that kept seawater in the west dock were still standing, brown rats quite literally the size of small terriers nested there. They were so large, that when swimming, they left a noticeable wake behind them when the water wasn't windblown. I've never seen rats of that size since, despite having seen many rats during the last 56 years. Sadly, a former neighbour of mine died of Weil's disease, caught in the small river near to my home today, where he was employed by the local council to keep it free of driftwood etc. In my mother's house, rats had actually chewed through from an outer wall into an area where dog and cat food was stored. These animals are very tenacious and admirable in many ways but are cursed by their propensity for damage and terrible health consequences.
-
Beautiful! I love how athletic and smart they are.
-
Lovely work. Absolutely nothing wrong with rats. I watch them in my garden happily eating side by side with pigeons and black birds. One of most impressive sights was one night when I saw one climbing up, then slithering down a slim tree right outside my window. He stopped and we were looking at each other for some time. I was really impressed with how healthy they are. Sleek, clean and in excellent health. It was keeping pet Chipmunks that opened me up to the beauty of rats as a fellow rodent. Incidentally, chipmunks have got to amongst the longest living small rodents about. My current ones are now 9 years old, my oldest have lived for eleven and half years. Like rats, they are extremely resilient and strong. Recovering from broken legs , large falls and all manner of injuries as they run freely around my house.
-
Excellent factual video about these remarkable animals. Glad my footage was useful, and many thanks for the credit and promo. Cheers buddy! 👍🙂👍
-
I've got a few brown rats that live below my lounge window. I put food on the window for them everyday and now they come for their food when I tap on the window.
-
Love them or hate them , they are actually the waste disposal experts of the animal Kingdom.
-
I was host to one for some weeks. It was caught by my cat and escaped into the bathroom where I let it stay so I could watch it’s behaviour. I fed it several things, and off course I cleaned it’s litter. My Washingmachine was in there too and the day I found three pieces of Bread in the soapcompartement, I decided it was time for my guest to move one. It took two days before it found the way into the garden. It was quite interesting, and I can say they are quite friendly but avoiding people by nature when alone. And they are squatters to, even a washingmachine is habitable to them...
-
When I was in the army, there were rats as big as flaming cats in the Quartermaster's store
-
Love this channel, very informative
-
The brown rat has saved the lives of more humans than any other animal in human history - by displacing the plague-carrying black rat.
-
I see my fair share of these fellas being a binman 😅 I don't mind them, but they can make me jump when a dozen jump out the same bin. This happens more during the winter I guess they see wheelie bins as 5 star hotels.
-
Poisoning rats is the worst thing people can do since they form an important part of the diets of many birds and small predatory mammals. Rats become immune to the poison, but the animals who keep them naturally in check don't adapt so well, and this means they die from ingesting poisoned rats. Poisoning is not an effective method of controlling rat populations, and it's far better to maintain woodlands, keep food litter off the streets, and encourage local environments that are welcoming to owls and other small raptors.
-
Another informative and interesting video,thanks.
-
Thank you Liam, For another well researched video Much obliged and best of luck too you
-
Awesome footage and interesting video as always :-)
-
they are so cute!! amazing video :)
-
Excellent informative video Liam,,
-
Absolutely fascinating!
-
Really nice video. Thank you.
