Rats from Norway? Actually not. Amplified over the years resulting from a mistaken 18th century theory, this Central Asian rat goes by a slew of aliases, including common rat, brown rat, street rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, and wharf rat.
How can you tell if these Norwegian nincompoops have hijacked your home?
- Their mangy mugshot…
With a blunt nose, close-set bald ears, and a cylindrical brown body ending in a sparsely-furred flesh-tone tail, Norway rats are about 16 inches in height and range in weight from about ¾ to 1 lb – though portlier rodents can weigh-in at up to 2 lbs!
- Their ludicrous lifestyle…
Norway rats are excellent swimmers, but poor climbers, unlike their cousin the black rat. They are nocturnal and opportunistic omnivores, munching on anything they can get their disgusting little paws on, from plants to animals. Living in burrows, sewers, and cellars, their social hierarchy is bent on maintaining population when family members are lost.
- Their rapidly expanding family tree…
Because these rodents rapidly reproduce, fast, full eradication via effective rodent control is essential to elimination. A brown rat breeding bonanza can result in 12 litters of up to fourteen babies per year from a single rat! Multiply that times their 1-3 year lifespan and the number of rats in a colony, and that’s a lot of vermin!
Don’t let rats chew a hole in your wallet. Contact Allison Pest Control today.