To celebrate 2020 being the Chinese year of the rat, we will be posting one blog per month dedicated to rats! Here is May’s blog post, ’15 Fun Rat Facts.’
- Rats can have as many as 20 babies at a time.
- The Norway Rat did not originate in Norway.
- Rats destroy about 20% of agricultural products worldwide each year.
- Rats have an incredibly strong sense of smell.
- Antarctica is the only continent uninhabited by rats.
- Rats have such good sense of smell; they have been used to detect landmines and diagnose diseases such as tuberculosis.
- When Pixar created the 2007 film Ratatouille, the animators kept rats in their offices to bring their likeness to life with greater accuracy.
- Some female rats can go into heat as quickly as 10-24 hours after giving birth.
- Rats’ tails help them balance and communicate with each other, and also help regulate body temperature.
- Rats don’t sweat, but they regulate their temperature by constricting or expanding blood vessels in their tails.
- A rat can fall as far as 50 feet without being injured.
- The tooth enamel of rats is said to be stronger than steel.
- Rats are color blind and have very poor eyesight.
- Alberta is the largest inhabited area known to be completely free of rats.
- The rat is the first of the 12 years of the Chinese Zodiac.