Brown Rats

Latin Name: Rattus norvegicus

Months of Activity: January - December

The brown rat, or Norway rat, is one of the best known and most common rats. It is primarily nocturnal, although some individuals can be spotted during the day in highly populated areas.

Their diet is extremely broad, and they will almost anything that is edible, with a food preference for grain. They eat more meat than the black rat, and if they get the opportunity, they will eat carrion and will prey on other animals.

Although brown rats do not carry bubonic plague they do harbour an impressive array of other diseases, such as Weils Disease, Salmonella, Rat Bite Fever (murhine typhus), Trichinosis and Hantavirus.

Appearance

One of the largest rodents, the brown rat is a brown or grey rodent with a body up to 25cm long, and a similar tail length; the male weighs on average 350g and the female 250g.

Lifecycle

The brown rat can breed throughout the year if conditions are suitable, with a female producing up to five litters a year. The gestation period is only 21 days and litters can number up to fourteen, although seven is common.

The maximum life span is up to three years, although most barely manage one. A yearly mortality rate of 95% is estimated, with predators and interspecies conflicts as major causes.

Pest Control

Preventing an infestation brown rats can be achieved by rodent-proofing your home. However, if you already have an infestation, control and treatment methods would include rodenticide grains, wax blocks, pasta baits, gels, contact dusts, liquid bait, a variety of humane traps and live catch traps.

Latest News about Brown Rats

Crack Down on Nantwich Rat Problem
A Nantwich company is waging war on the town's growing rat problem by taking on extra staff to boost its pest control team. Environmental specialists Suddenstrike has been inundated with pleas for help from householders plagued by super-rats - some ... [more]

Bootle is Rodent Capital of Sefton
A special investigation has revealed that Bootle is the worst hit area in Sefton for rodent complaints. Council pest control services were sought 3,851 times over a two year period, accounting for almost half of the borough's requests. Worst hit was... [more]

The Norway Rat
The Norway rat is common in most parts of the UK. Rats attack the food of man in the farm fields, orchards, and livestock facilities, during its processing, storage and transport, and while it is in our supermarkets, restaurants and homes. What rats... [more]

Bait Station Placement
Where a bait station, or more likely a group of stations, is located has a lot to do with a successful rodent control effort. As a pest management professional, you need to know where the rats or mice are nesting, travelling and feeding. Bait statio... [more]

Pied Piper of Loughborough
A Charnwood rat-catcher is set to deliver key lectures to Scottish and Irish pest busters on how the council in Loughborough is flushing out rodents. John Davison, Charnwood Borough Council's senior pest control officer, will tell members of the Nat... [more]

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