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Rats are a part of the rodent family, a diverse group of mammals characterized by their constantly growing incisors. The rodent family includes many species, from mice and rats to beavers and squirrels. Rats (along with other members of the rodent family) can cause significant damage to property due to their need to continuously wear down their teeth to keep them from becoming too long and causing dental problems. They have strong teeth that can gnaw or chew through heavy-duty materials, including wood, brick, cables and even some metals.
They are versatile creatures with various physical abilities that help them survive in their natural environments. They are skilled runners and jumpers, enabling them to navigate and leap through their surroundings with impressive agility. And rats are excellent swimmers, able to paddle and tread water for extended periods and hold their breath for up to three minutes. This allows them to move through aquatic environments and access resources that might otherwise be inaccessible. Beyond these basic physical abilities, rats are also quite intelligent and adaptable creatures, able to solve complex problems and adjust their behavior to suit their changing circumstances. These factors contribute to the rat’s remarkable success as a species, allowing them to thrive in various habitats worldwide.
Despite being this interesting, the rat problem infers on their incredible fecundity. Rats begin breeding as soon as five weeks of age and continue until about age two. Females are fertile approximately every three weeks, and during this time they have been known to mate up to 500 times in six hours. The resulting pregnancy usually lasts about three weeks, and the litter size typically ranges from 6 to 20 babies. All of this while being well-known carriers of diseases. They have been implicated in the spread of some 40 diseases, including the bubonic plague, typhus, and leptospirosis. For years it was believed that rats with plague-infested fleas caused the Black Death (1347–51), which killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe. However, scientists now think that another rodent was to blame for the Black Death: gerbils. After examining the weather during that time period, the researchers determined that the wet conditions would have caused gerbils to flourish, not rats. It may be too soon to say but poor little rats being blamed for everything oh no!
Another peculiar curiosity is legends about rats, one which included the Chinese Zodiac recounting the animals that represented each year relating to a race between them that happened in this legend, the rat is among them, specially since it took the first position. If you were born in 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, or 2008. Those are the years of the rat according to the Chinese zodiac. People born under the rat are traditionally thought to be cunning, witty, and prosperous.
These little beings also have a mysterious gothic nature, as we say group of rats is called a ‘mischief’! Rats are also mainly nocturnal and live underground. Although they vastly outnumber humans, we rarely see them. They are experts at staying out of sight! Their long tails are used for balance and to keep themselves cool – they can direct some of their body heat out through them! And to safeguard their honor, they are known to be dirty little beings but that is a lie. Rats wash by constantly licking their fur like cats, sometimes even “combing” their fur into place with their teeth. So what do you think? Are you cleaner than a rat? Are you cuter than a rat? Who knows? Thats was my monday curiosity on this cute creature I’ve raised before. Byeeee.
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