Rats are both revered and loathed around the world. They’re seen by some as disease-ridden scourge and by others as intelligent creatures capable of affection. However, no matter your opinion, there’s plenty to be fascinated by with these rodents.
What are some interesting facts about rats? We’ve compiled a list of five rat facts you may not have known. Not only are these facts fun for your next cocktail party, but they shed light onto the behaviors of rats and explain why you may feel so strongly when you encounter one.
5 Interesting Facts About Rats
1. Rat’s Teeth Never Stop Growing
Rats are like the beaver of the urban world. Their amped up choppers require them to continually gnaw on whatever is handy, including your walls. If a rat stops wearing its teeth down, they will grow into a long spiral that makes it impossible to eat.
There are many types of rats but all of them have four open-rooted (constantly growing) incisors in the front of their mouths, used exclusively for gnawing. A benefit of this dental deviation is that it makes rat’s incisors cavity proof because any cavity that forms will soon wear away.
2. Rats Experience Peer Pressure
Rats are social animals. They tend to travel in groups and they help each other with everything from grooming to locating food. But, like humans, rats can succumb to peer pressure and copy the behavior of those around them.
Because of this pressure to follow the group, if one rat gets into your home or business, more are sure to follow and the potential for dreaded rat infestation increases.
3. Rats Have Amazing Memories
We’ve all seen the science experiment where a rat tries to navigate a maze. Truth is that rats are sharp animals and capable of memorizing their routes. A recent study also shows that rats have episodic memory and can remember some 30 events in order.
This means, rats will remember where they found their last meal, if it was in your or near your home, and how to get there.
4. Rats Can Smell Land Mines and Disease
Rats have an incredibly acute sense of smell. Not only are their noses covered with 2,000 tiny olfactory sensors, but they also have a secondary organ called the vomeronasal organ that senses and smells pheromones.
Rats have proven especially valuable in countries like Cambodia where they are more efficient at sniffing out landmines than dogs. In Tanzania rats have 70% accuracy in sniffing out tuberculosis.
All this means a rat passing by your home at dinner time is bound to notice what’s on the menu and might be back for leftovers.
5. A Group of Rats is Called a Mischief
A fitting final fact.
Keep all rat mischief out of your home or business. We know all the facts when it comes to eliminating rats and keeping them out. Contact Plunkett’s Pest Control today for real solutions to all your pest concerns!
