You wanna talk about rats? All i know is small, different from mice and the black plague. But Ill still listen.
fun fact! rats probably were not even responsible for the black plague! also, if they were, that was rattus rattus (the black rat) and not rattus norvegicus (the brown rat, the kind kept by rat fanciers). speaking of rat fanciers, rats have been kept as pets since around the 18th century, when people who bred them for blood sport (like dog/rat fighting) noticed that sometimes they were pretty colors (warning for animal cruelty/death in the linked post).
another fun rat fact: rats can’t vomit! (discussion of vomiting in article, obvi.) rats are very good at picking up on poisonous foods through smell and careful testing, but it’s unclear if they developed this ability to compensate for not being able to throw up or if this is why they don’t need to throw up. the linked article also discusses the physiological reasons rats can’t vomit, which is pretty interesting imo.
ratbehavior.org is a great place to learn more about rats, wild and fancy, if you want to know more! it has fascinating pages about wild rat behaviors, such as burrowing (very neat), as well as fancy rat behaviors. when I was Deep Into my rat special interest, I think I read just about every page. and, if you want to know more about how rats are different from mice, here’s a handy guide!
(sorry it took me so long to respond to this; I totally missed it in my inbox for a little while and then I wanted to sit down and dedicate some time to it.)
