The biggest rat in the world
Such a rodent is the woolly Bosavi, which was found by scientists in New Guinea. Its dimensions can reach 1 m and weight up to 1.5 kilograms. They are otherwise called giant marsupial rats.
The woolly Bosavi is similar in size to a small dog. They are not shy and friendly towards humans. This is due to the fact that they were found far from civilization, and the animals had no contact with people. You can even pick them up and stroke them without fear; the rodent will not bite.
Where did they come from
12 thousand years ago, gray rats lived only in East Asia. The Ice Age left them a small space, where Eastern China is now located.
With warming, the pasyuk rat slowly occupied Altai, Primorye, Transbaikalia and southern China. But large-scale migrations occurred with the development of navigation. It was on ships that the tailed animals moved to Europe, Australia, Africa, America, populating all populated areas and suitable natural spaces. Now they are not found only in Antarctica and the Arctic. Since they arrived in new places on ships, even a certain John Berkenhout, an English naturalist, dubbed them Norwegian rats, thinking that schooners and boats came to England from there, and not knowing that at that time there were not a single rat in Norway. Despite the error, the species name Rattus norvegicus still exists today.
Large pet rats
You can often find some types of rats as pets. With different colors, sizes, habits. Keeping rodents does not require large expenses; they are unpretentious. Both special food from a pet store and human food are suitable as food. Unfortunately, they are not long-lived; they live 2-4 years. Therefore, it is not recommended for overly impressionable people to have such a pet. What are the largest domestic rats?
Breed "standard"
They are the largest and most common among domestic rodents. The pet can grow up to 30 cm in length and reach a weight of 300-500 grams. They are friendly towards humans and do not bite.
They quickly get used to it and can sit on their hands or shoulder for hours. Their cage needs to be cleaned at least once a week. There must be fresh water in the drinking bowl, and there must be grain in the feeder. Cases of their friendship with other pets are not uncommon. They live from 2 to 4 years.
Large brown rats
They are also among the large domestic rodents. They grow up to 20 cm in length and weigh 100-150 grams. They are also omnivorous and unpretentious. They love to be taken out for walks. There is a slight inconvenience in this, because not all people have a positive attitude towards rats, even domestic ones. Another disadvantage is that this species lives only 2 years, sometimes up to three years.
Rats "Dumbo"
They differ from other species in the structure and location of their ears. The Dumbo breed's ears are round and wide, protruding, and positioned lower than those of other species. They reach 18-20 cm in length and can weigh from 250 to 500 grams. The body shape of the animals is similar to a pear. Females of this species are slightly smaller. Rodents are very affectionate and can remember their name. They eat grains, greens, vegetables. The Dumbo breed is also fed boiled and raw chicken, fish, and cottage cheese. Rodents live 2-3 years, but with proper care they can live from 4 to 5 years.
Gnaws everything in sight
And the trouble is not only in our heroine’s good appetite. The rat needs to grind its teeth all the time - after all, its incisors are constantly growing at a speed of up to 2-3 mm per week. And God forbid if they get their teeth into something super important!
Once in Japan, a rat stopped 16 trains on the Tokyo-Osaka line. The investigation into the case showed that the scoundrel chewed through the alarm cable and turned off the traffic lights.
In the house of an altapress.ru friend, a rat named Krysya chewed the phone buttons, the Mac keyboard and got to the computer mouse. The battle between the rat and the mouse ended with the acquisition of new and expensive peripheral devices, and the hooligan was briefly placed in an isolation ward - a cage.
Isolating it is the only way out, because it is hardly possible to hide anything from this creature. She easily jumps to a height of up to a meter, makes her way between vertical surfaces to the target, and moves through pipes. And at the same time, he easily remembers the most winding path, feeling comfortable in city communications.
Rat.
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Wild big rats that live in Russia
In Russia, rats can be found almost everywhere. They live in natural conditions and often settle near human habitation. Among them are such species as: black and pasyuk (gray).
Pasyuk often lives in sewers, basements, warehouses, and sheds with animals. They grow up to 25 cm, the tail is about the same length. The weight of this species reaches 400 grams. Rarely, but there are individuals weighing 500 grams.
There are known cases when a gray rat attacked a person. True, she does this mainly for self-defense. They are omnivores and accumulate in large numbers in landfills and garbage dumps. They are carriers of various diseases. Capable of chewing through metal and concrete. They multiply very quickly. At the age of three months they are able to bear offspring. The number of pups in a litter reaches 20.
Chernaya settles mainly in the southern regions of Russia. Prefers dry rooms and attics. But in nature it settles near rivers and lakes. And their favorite habitat is sea ships.
The black rat is smaller in size than the Pasyuk. It is up to 22 cm long, with a tail of 28 cm. And the weight of this species is from 130 to 300 g. The coat color is black, hence the name of the species. It eats grains, fruits, vegetables, worms, insects, bird eggs. There can be up to 15 pups in the litter. The lifespan of these rodents in nature is on average 1 year.
Nutrition
The pasyuk rat is an omnivorous animal. In nature, her menu includes grains, vegetables, fruits and, of course, proteins: eggs, chicks, fish, seafood (stolen or thrown onto the ground), insects, small rodents, sometimes even feces. Having settled near humans, the rats somewhat changed their gourmet tastes. Now their menu includes any leftover food, unattended food (especially grain in granaries), as well as electrical wiring, books, and other things people need. An interesting fact: in order to get a tasty morsel, a rat is able to squeeze into a hole where its relatively small head could fit. Pasyuki have chosen warehouses, basements, subways for themselves, and in their homes they freely travel through the sewer network and garbage chutes.
Mutant rats
You can often hear incredible stories about gigantic rodents inhabiting subways and abandoned military facilities. But all this is just a wild fantasy of people who are bored of living without myths. And the yellow press thus attracts readers, increasing the sales of their newspapers and magazines.
Someone, having read it, retells it and exaggerates it to make it look more impressive. In fact, the largest rat in Russia is the Pasyuk. In subway tunnels, at military installations, they are all the same as in everyday life, in full view of people. There may be larger specimens, but this is not the result of mutation, but simply from the “good” life of rodents.
Selection
The greater fertility of rats helps to breed numerous breeds of them. They differ mainly in the color of their eyes and fur. There are even sphinx rats (hairless), downy rats (with delicate fluff instead of fur) and double rex rats (these areas on the body that are covered with fur change throughout their lives). A hybrid of a pasyuk and a decorative rat, which has lost some of its former talents, can also be obtained. This is what they do in the “Home Pasyuk” project. Children from such a union are born not only of a wide variety of colors, but also stronger and more intelligent. True, sometimes these offspring turn out to be somewhat aggressive. In general, messing with rats is very interesting. They are affectionate, clean animals, eat little, are trained and take up very little space in the apartment.
Animals that look like rats
Almost any rodent can be called a rat. This is facilitated by the rat-like structure of these animals. However, they belong to different species and not to the same species.
Such animals include:
- Capybara. It is the largest rodent in the world. Its appearance simultaneously resembles a rat, a dog and a boar. It reaches a length of 1.35 m, a height of 60 cm, and the weight of adult animals is from 65 to 90 kg.
- Beaver. Lives near bodies of water. It feeds on tree bark and young shoots. It grows up to 1.3 m in length and weighs up to 32 kg.
- Nutria. Lives near bodies of water and is an excellent swimmer. Feeds on plant foods. It grows up to 60 cm in length and weighs up to 12 kg.
- Marmot-boobak. These animals live in deep burrows located in the steppe. They weigh up to 10 kg and reach a length of up to 70 cm. The diet of marmots includes plant foods, as well as insects. Rodents live up to 10 years.
- Mongoose. This animal is also somewhat similar to a rat. Only he has a fluffy tail. It grows, depending on the species, from 18 to 75 cm, weight from 280 g to 5 kg. It lives for about 8 years, but at home or in a zoo it lives twice as long. It feeds mainly on protein foods.
Reproduction
The pasyuk rat is simply fantastically prolific! The photo above shows a 3-day-old brood. These tailed animals become sexually mature at 3 months of age! Females can have up to 20 cubs in a litter. Often 3-4 mothers create a common nest to take care of the babies. Scientists have noticed that in such cubes the bodies of newborns are sometimes intertwined, and it seems that the grown-up rat pups have two or three heads. Perhaps this became the prototype of the rat king from The Nutcracker.
In nature, animals build nests in hollows or dig shallow holes. In cities they are located in any suitable place. A female who has delivered her pregnancy can conceive again within 18 hours, and her pregnancy lasts only 24 days. Can you imagine how rapidly the rat population is increasing!
Newborn baby rats are real crumbs weighing up to 5 grams. A hungry father can feast on them, and sometimes even a mother, if she thinks the children are too weak. But generally, the females are quite caring, licking their tailed children, feeding them very nutritious milk, and putting things in order in the nest.
Children remain blind for up to 17 days, but already at the age of 1 month, and sometimes at just 21 days of age, they begin to live independently. Now there are about 15-18 billion rats on Earth, almost twice as many as us humans. And this despite the fact that the growth of their population is restrained by diseases, predators, people and a too short life span, not exceeding three years even in the most ideal conditions.
Giant Afghani and Pakistani rats
This is another story from the section of myths and legends. It dates back to the 80s, associated with owners of dachshund dogs. As if the behavior of these pets was similar to the habits of rats.
The animals could spontaneously attack the owner and bite him. And when examined by veterinarians, it seemed to turn out that this was not a dachshund at all, but a giant rat from Afghanistan or Pakistan, sold to the owner in order to deceive him.
In fact, the rats in these countries are the same as in Russia. But a rodent has not yet been found in nature that is so similar to a dog.
Lifestyle Features
Pasyuki are fans of shadow hunting. Their activity occurs in the evening and night hours (19.00-8.00), but the peak is 20.00-22.00. True, if the need arises, they can be active during the daytime.
They live in families (colonies) and are very aggressive when strangers appear on their territory. Members of their herd are recognized by smell. The natural homes of rats are holes, other people's nests, previously destroyed, hollows, stumps, and snags. “City” residents - pasyuki live in basements, garages, garbage heaps, sewer mines, etc.
The diet consists of food waste from garbage dumps, fish, meat, agricultural crops, etc. Rats have exceptional survival, adaptive qualities, a sharp mind, caution and resourcefulness. In addition, the gray scammer swims well, dives, jumps almost a meter in height and is capable of reaching speeds of up to 12 km/h.
Prehistoric rats
Scientists have found that ancient rodents lived in South, Central and southern North America. From excavations of skeletons, it was found that prehistoric rats were much larger than their modern relatives. Externally similar to beaver, capybara, pacarana. Ancient rats (telikomys, phoberomys) grew up to 2 m, and their weight reached 680 kg. Mostly ancient individuals ate plant foods, but there were species with other preferences.
Rats are very interesting, and having studied their habits, a person will not be so wary of them. Rodents are used in laboratories, and in some countries they are eaten. But there are also countries where rats are revered and protected as sacred animals. There is even a temple in India where rats are fed, watered and protected from trouble. Now you know which rats are truly the largest in the world.
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Characterized by intelligence
Yet the secret to the success of this species lies largely in its intelligence. It’s not for nothing that the Polish zoologist Miroslav Gushch called him an intellectual of the animal world.
Here's the plot: a rat trap with poisoned bait. Do you think this is the end of the rodent? No matter how it is. Rats are suspicious of new foods. And if their poor comrades fall for the poison, the rest will quickly realize what’s going on and won’t touch the bait.
Some scientists are even sure: rats deliberately send their friends, who are on the lower steps of the hierarchy, to taste the bait. And if they went to their forefathers, the old experienced animals will stain the poisonous food with droppings.
Moreover, observers note that they are even able to shake the dangerous bait out of the rat trap and bury it in the ground - so that careless youth are not in danger.
Rat.
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