Barn Rat Research Paper

BASTROP — While the presence of rats and mice is nothing new in homes, sheds, barns and other structures, some areas of Texas are experiencing greatly increased rodent activity, leading residents to ask for advice on how to control the furry varmints.

The rattus rattus, more known as the black rats, are well known rodent species with long tails which are considered invasive to the United States. The black rats first originated from Tropical Asia, were then introduced to East Asia, then were spread to Europe, and finally were introduced to the United States as they were coming along with European travelers. A regular black rat adult is usually around 12.75 to 18.25cm (5.9-7.19 in) long, 15 to 22cm (5.8-9.7 in) tall, and weighs around 70 to 23 grams. The rat has a thin coat of black fur, and it somewhat smaller than the brown rat.

Rats can carry diseases in a number of different ways. They may be carrying the disease in their body, or, as seen in Amarillo, they can carry fleas that have been infected with disease. This means that once they get near your home, your family and your pets are at risk from illness.

Rats are dangerous because it carries fleas and ticks with them to your residence. The rats could come from sewers or trashcans and carry those particles and germs to your clean home. The ticks and fleas carry additional diseases to the diseases rats carry. Along with small rodents nestled in a rat's fur, rats destroy a home through scratching and gnarling walls, wires, plumbing, and insulation with their teeth and feet. Pet food and human food become unsanitary due to contamination.

Furthermore, rat infestations are also an outbreak of rats in a place in which people live that can be harmful to the people and the people's residence. A man named John Davison stated in the article, “Floods see Rat Population Explosion”, that, “Around 60% of rodents carry Weil’s disease… which causes flu like symptoms, or in more serious cases, heart and kidney failure.” In some cases, rat infestations can be when rats damage and penetrate the residents of a home. The article, “Top 10 Fascinating Facts About Rats”, says that it is virtually impossible to fully “rat-proof” one’s home because rats teeth are harder than both iron and steel making it possible for them to chew through wood and even cinderblock! As a result they can penetrate homes with ease although, once they are in, it is extremely difficult to get them out. In essence, rat infestations are when rats invade and penetrate an area or residence inhabited by humans and spread disease and damage the structure with their

“Norwegian rats were first discovered on a farm near Alsaska on the eastern border of Alberta during the summer of 1950.”2 The economic impact of rats is severe due to their ability to effectively stay concealed in rural parts of a city whilst majorly reducing crop production from mainly contamination. However, the first concern presented after the discovery was the potential risk of diseases that may be carried. Therefore, the decision to halt the migration of Norwegian rats from entering Alberta commenced in 1950 with Alberta’s Department of Agriculture now responsible for rat control. To help further initiate this program rats were officially declared pests in 1950 which required every person and municipality to destroy and prevent pests

Rats are the definition of all terror. There are two well known species of rat, the Norway and the Black rats. “Brown or Norway rats originated from China and plague places such as New York and London,” according to the article “Rats 10 interesting facts”. Rats can spread many diseases mainly into populous countries. Rats are the source of many diseases. Some examples are rat-bite fever, and can spread many diseases such as leptospirosis, Lymphocytic choriomeningitis, Salmonellosis,Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, Hantavirus, and the historical Black Plague, according to www.orkin.com.

Now, rats and squirrels look pretty similar, they have a fairly similar build and are roughly the same colour too. The main difference when comparing the two is the squirrel has a big, bushy tail; and the rat has a thin, bony one. Squirrels also have a large head and big, beady eyes whereas a rat’s head is pretty proportional to its body with eyes that are quite dull. Many of the physical traits found in squirrels are ones that humans find “cute” in general, an explanation as to why humans find babies of all kinds to be

Even though pet rats you buy from a pet store might look all cute and cuddly, wild rats that infest your home are another story. The often walk though sewers, over dead animals, and through feces and then crawl along your walls or even across your kitchen floor. Rats spread diseases and make a mess of your home so you want them gone fast. The question is how to go about it. Here's why hiring a rat control expert is a good idea.

Rodent populations proliferate in some parts of Texas, Paul Schattenberg, some homeowners were being invaded in their homes and in their fields eat out the burned out areas that were trying the recover from when wildfires happen. “And with the regrowth of vegetation, the rats and mice have had an ample food source and are reproducing quickly” Bauer said. People in Texas were informing people that the rats were chewing on their wires in and outside of their homes. But when the rats start chewing on the wires, it is a bad thing because it causes fires to happen and it could end up killing someone. They also destroy other items like their water hoses and make holes, their clothing, the floors, and the wooden doors. These things don’t just happen in Texas and could happen anywhere. It depends on where the rats want to go and what they are going to

Pest Control is always for most in our minds around the end of spring and the beginning of summer when we see the pests come out in mass. There are several types of methods for best control including electronic pest control. Rats are one type of pest that we strive to get rid, not only are they unhealthy creatures, but they nibble at everything and damaged food sources. So electronic pest control has become more popular in order to get these and other pests under control.

Rats are intelligent. Do you ever wonder how rats get access to your home even if you’ve virtually sealed everything? Yes, that’s right.

For instance, the text states in source #3, “Rats and mice eat and contaminate human, pet and livestock foods.” This shows how the rodents would adulterate food for not just people, but also animals. Another example in source #3 expresses how the creatures would also chew wires, pipes, hoses, and ruin several other things in individuals’ homes. Overall, the rat’s actions have ruined people’s properties and could result in humans and animals to be infected by the illnesses that the rodents

The importance rats play in the food chain is huge.They eat bugs and keep the bug and pest population under control(even though rats are considered pest to).They also eat any they can get their hands on which helps eliminate some trash from filling trash fills.

An ANIMATED RAT sits at the opening of a sewage drain. He is small and gray, if he wasn’t animation you probably wouldn’t notice him against the greyness of the overcast day. He nibbles on crumbs until: