The brown rat is to be found in
most parts of the world but is believed to have originated
in eastern Asia, from whence it spread partially on foot, and
partially by ship. It came to Europe relatively late, probably
around the 18th century, but when it did it spread extremely
rapidly, and is still doing so today. Some estimates give 5
rats for every human being on the earth.....Scary..!!. and
that wherever you are, there is a rat within 15 metres. This
animal is a survivor but is mainly found in close contact with
man. Thus we find ratty in warehouses, buildings, farms and
more often than not, in roof spaces of houses. Some schools
of thought say that rats are not good climbers.. rubbish ..
quite frequently have I met these chappies in roof spaces,
ideal with lots of nice insulation to make nests with protection
from the winter cold. Then what do you know?, a quick journey
down the wall cavity following their noses, and hey presto!!,
they end up in your kitchen probably because hubby left a gap
round that outlet pipe when he plumbed in that new dishwasher...ooops!!.
In the wild brown rats tend to stay within a restricted area,
provided that it has sufficient food, so it's territory is
usually small. If food is hard to come by a rat will travel
some way from it's nest on the track of a tempting food supply.
When crops ripen in the fields, brown rats will make journeys
of 4-5 kilometres every night to find food.
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