Welcome to the fascinating world of rats! Did you know that rats can laugh, dream, and even play hide-and-seek? Or that they have incredible memory and problem-solving skills? These small-rodents often get a bad reputation, but there’s so much more to them than meets the eye. In this article, we’ll explore 20 surprising and interesting facts about rats that will make you see them in a whole new light.
1-5 Fun Facts About Rats
1. Rats are a common choice for laboratory experiments due to their high level of intelligence and excellent memory. They are capable of mapping out a room and remembering all the routes to navigate it for an extended period.
2. Rats are social creatures that prefer to live in groups and are very attached to their family members.
3. Despite their reputation as dirty animals, rats are actually very clean and have a strong aversion to getting dirty. They groom themselves regularly, often more frequently than cats do.
4. There are more than 60 species of rats in the world, making them a diverse and interesting bunch.
5. Rats are prolific breeders, with females typically giving birth to six litters of 5-10 pups per year. They reach sexual maturity in just 4-5 weeks, meaning their population can quickly grow from two rats to over 1,250 in just one year. It’s no surprise that they’re always populating the lab cages.
6-10 Cool Facts About Rats
6. In a Canadian science experiment conducted in the 1970s, caged rats were given free access to drugs alongside colony rats. The caged rats developed drug habits, while the rats living in a normal “society” refused them.
7. Rats have a strong sense of community and will remember if they receive help from another rat. They will help others in the future, and the more assistance they receive, the more they will help other rats. They also share their food and will give the largest share to the hungriest rats. In fact, when given a choice between receiving their treat or ensuring their companions also receive a treat, rats will choose the option that benefits their friends.
8. Rats have a sense of humor. They laugh when they’re tickled, which is both adorable and hilarious.
9. A group of rats is called mischief, which is a fun and fitting term for these curious and often mischievous animals.
10. Speaking of mischief, rats can be pretty empathetic creatures. In one study, rats were trained to press a lever for food, but they stopped once they saw that it also caused another rat to receive an electric shock. Looks like they’ve got a heart of gold under all that fur.
11-15 Creepy Facts About Rats
11. In their lifespan, two rats have the potential to produce over 6,000 offspring.
12. A rat’s teeth grow approximately 5-½ inches per year, and they control their length by grinding them down through constant gnawing on different materials such as wood, cement, and even animal bones.
13. When resources are scarce, rats may resort to cannibalism and prey on each other for survival. That’s definitely not something you want to see in your own backyard!
14. And as if that wasn’t enough to make you wary of these furry little creatures, they’re also carriers of disease. According to the CDC, mice, and rats can spread at least 35 diseases to humans. So if you see a rat scurrying around, it’s best to keep your distance.
15. Rats can fit through incredibly tiny spaces as small as 13 mm in diameter, which is about half an inch, allowing them to access almost any location they desire.
16-20 Interesting Facts About Rats
16. Rats ate a staggering 10% of Pablo Escobar’s money each year, amounting to $2.1 billion.
17. The introduction of mongooses to Hawaii to control the rat population has resulted in a new problem, as rats are nocturnal and mongooses are diurnal. Mow, Hawaii has a problem with both.
Read More: 10 Mind-Blowing Facts About Hawaii That Will Shock You
18. Now, rats may not be the most popular animals around, but they’ve got some impressive skills. Giant rats have been trained to sniff out landmines and other explosives. They go through nine months of intense training and work for peanuts (literally).
19. In medieval times, cats were considered the incarnation of Satan by Pope Gregory IX, leading to the mass killing of cats. It resulted in a swelling of the rat population, which contributed to the spread of the Black Death.
20. Cats were once vital in keeping rats away from the barley warehouse at the old Jameson Whiskey Distillery in Dublin. They were each allocated their milk allowance from petty cash.
That’s it for this post guys, I hope you had fun while reading 20 Amazing Rats facts.
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