Rats are cute, intelligent and can make great pets
I am part of the second group. I have had rats as pets for years and love to spoil the rats we have here at the World Bird Sanctuary. And why would we have rats at a bird sanctuary you ask? Well, one of the things we do here is education, and since rats have some of the worst reputations around we try to separate fact from fiction about these much maligned animals. Some of the bad reputation is deserved, but some is not. Rats are really fascinating animals. Here are some of the facts:* There are 51 different species in the genus Rattus
* Rats did not cause the Black Plague--they did, however, carry the fleas that carried the disease--when the fleas jumped from rats to people and then bit them, the disease was passed on.
* Rats are originally from Central and Southeast Asia--but they are so adaptable that they are now found everywhere in the world.
* A group of rats is called a mischief (how appropriate!)
* Rats cannot vomit--once they eat a poison, they can't get rid of it.
* Most pet rats are domesticated descendants of the Norway, or Brown, Rat. These rats were originally from China, spread throughout Europe and finally came to the US around 1755 aboard ships from Europe.
* Rats are excellent jumpers--they can jump 3 feet vertically and 4 feet horizontally!
* Rats are tough--they can take a 50 foot fall without being killed or even seriously injured!
* Norway rats can swin 1/2 mile and dive down through sewer pipes and water plumbing traps--even swimming against a strong current!
* It is estimated that there is approximately one rat for every person in the U.S.
* Rats do not like cheese--in fact, they are lactose intolerant!
* The hairless tail of a rat (which creeps out so many people) is important to the rat for temperature control, because they cannot sweat.
* A rat's teeth will grow continuously throughout its life, as with all rodents. They must always chew on things to keep them ground down. In fact, a rat can chew through a lead pipe!
* Beatrix Potter, the author of Peter Rabbit, was one of the first owners of a pet rat--an albino bred by none other than Queen Victoria's royal rat catcher, Jack Black.
* In northwestern India, the rats at the Karni Mata Temple are highly revered. The priests feed milk and grain to the rats, and pilgrims that visit the temple also eat this food. In fact, in India, eating food that has been touched by rats is considered a blessing from God.
* The ancient Romans did not generally differentiate between rats and mice, instead they called rats Mus Maximus (big mouse) and mice Mus Minimus (little mouse).
Saltine & Triscuit, our two resident education rats
All in all, rats are fun, intelligent, clean and clever animals. If raised correctly, they make great pets and are a blast to work with. If you visit us at the World Bird Sanctuary, please ask to visit with our resident rats, Saltine and Triscuit. They live in our Nature Center animal food preparation area (the only reason they aren't out in the main room is that we ran out of room)! They are really sweet animals.
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