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The Rat Community Network: Interesting Tidbits
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The Laboratory Rat: A Natural History
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Did you know? ratlife.org
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Mothering makes rats smarter?
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Did you know? Read here
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Bubonic Plague
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Did you know? The pet rat, Rattus norvegicus, did not spread the plague. It was the Rattus rattus, or roof rat, that spread the plague (though recent studies suggest that the rattus' role was a small one). In fact, the great-great-...-great-great-grandparents of our pet rats actually had a large role in ending the plague in that they are one of the many natural predators of the rattus.
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Blind as a rat!
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Did you know? If we could see what they see, we would be wearing some very thick eyeglasses! Our rats' eyes are sensitive to a different spectrum than our own and consequently their color vision is poor. Their night vision, however, is very good and it's not a carrot thing! Rats can see off into the UV spectrum of light which means they can see the subtle glows of things we don't even know exist!
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Creepy-what?
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Did you know? There's an actual word that describes a rat's activity schedule. Crepuscular: of, resembling, or relating to twilight; of an animal appearing or active in twilight.
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Where'd that come from?
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Did you know? Rats use their whiskers to let them know what's nearby (and to determine how far down down really is) but when navigating oft-travelled paths, they don't seem to pay much attention at all as they've memorized how they feel as they move from the one place to the next. If something they've once navigated around moves, they'll still run around the object. And if something new places itself in the rat's path, he'll right right into it, cartoon-style!
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You speak Latin?
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Did you know? Just knowing that your rat is a Rattus norvegicus means you know a little Latin. Rattus means rat. Norvegicus means Norwegian.
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Norway, China?
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Did you know? They're called Norway rats because we believed they were brought to America on boats travelling from Norway. But the Rattus norvegicus is actually from what is now northern China.
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Vital body parts.
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Did you know? Rats don't have thumbs, but they do have belly buttons! Now we know which one is more important!
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