4th April: World Rat Day

It's World Rat Day, so here are 10 things you may not know about the creatures:

1. When most people think about rats, what comes to mind are the two common species, the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus (Norway rat). There are actually 64 different species, including the Gambian Pouched Rat, which can grow up to 15lbs in weight. They have proved useful to humans. Not only can they be eaten as bushmeat, but they can be trained to detect landmines, while still being too small to set them off. They can also help diagnose TB by sniffing it out.
2. Male rats are called bucks, unmated females are called does, pregnant or parent females are called dams, and infants are called kittens or pups. A group of rats is referred to as a mischief. The fear of rats is muriphobia - rats are lumped together with Mice for the purpose of naming phobias.
3. Rats are said to have originated in Asia, but have spread throughout the world due to their adaptability. The only continent where there are no rats is Antarctica, because it is too cold, and there aren't many people. Another place to emigrate to if you don't like rats is Alberta, Canada - thanks to it being a long way from the sea, pretty cold, and a mass eradication programme, there are no rats in the human towns and cities. This amounts to an area bigger than most European countries with no Brown or Black rats.
4. Some people love rats and keep them as pets. Even Queen Victoria had pet rats, thanks to her rat catcher, Jack Black, who, whenever he found a different coloured rat, would catch it and domesticate it. His pet rats were very popular. Victoria kept them, and so did Beatrix Potter.
5. Rats are pretty badass. A rat can fall 50 feet or five stories without injuring itself. It can swim for half a mile across open Water, and survive being flushed down the Toilet. It might even swim back up again. It can go longer without water than a Camel. It can survive large doses of radiation and build up immunities to some poisons. It is capable of chewing through cement, brick, wood and Lead pipes (in fact, they have to gnaw on things, because their front teeth grow 4½ to 5½ inches each year, and need to be worn down).
6. Rats are sociable, intelligent and clean, which is why they make popular pets. They spend several hours per day grooming and eat their own poo - for nutritional reasons - so no need for a litter tray.
7. They don't squeak often, usually only when in distress. Most of their vocalisations are too high pitched for humans to hear. When rats are happy or playing, they let out a cheerful sound, a bit like Laughter.
8. Rats are worshipped in some parts of India. There is a Hindu goddess, Karni Mata, who is said to have reincarnated as a rat. Her temple in Deshnoke, India,is therefore a safe haven for rats, and over 20,000 of them live there. People travel for miles to pay respect to the rats (and presumably feed them).
9. Rats don't sweat. They regulate their temperature by constricting or expanding the blood vessels in their tails.
10. The rat is the first animal in the Chinese Zodiac. People born in the year of the rat are said to be creative, quick-witted, resourceful, intelligent, honest and generous. As a rat myself, I'd say that was true!