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

Super Rats
The scale of the problem of rat infestations in towns and cities across the UK is continuing to grow, and one of the prime reasons for this increase is down to the way that Britons are disposing of their rubbish, which is the prime food source for th... [more]

Booming Vermin Populations
In many areas around the country, the council has cut back its pest control services to divert resources to "priority" causes, most notably recycling. Rubbish is collected every week but unfortunately in areas such as London, overflowing bins are a c... [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]

The Rat Race
Pest rodents are the fourth-ranked top pest by volume of work, so why are rats and mice still such a focus of effort? Enough bait and traps have been sold in the past decade alone to kill millions of these pests, and no secrets exist in the life cyc... [more]

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]

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