Wild rats. Interesting facts about gray rats (pasyuki)

Rats are one of the most common animal species in the world. These rodents are feared; people believe that they are dangerous to them. In fact, everything is not quite like that. We offer amazing and real facts about rats that will change your opinion about them forever.

For some reason, many people think that all rats do is run around and chew everything, and the only purpose of their existence is to harm humans. But that's not true. In fact, these rodents appeared long before humans. That is, it is more likely that we interfere with them, and not vice versa. These are smart, socialized animals that never live alone. Trying to avoid meeting a person who is dangerous to them, rats go out to hunt only at night.

Rats come out at night to avoid humans

Surprisingly, they are smarter than normal domestic cat. The ability to communicate with each other using ultrasound allows them to flock together and establish high-quality social structure, like ants. Many scientists believe that the speech of rats is articulate (naturally, only for representatives of this species). That is, rodents can share their impressions of the past day, joke, be indignant, etc. But this, of course, is at the theoretical level. The rats themselves will never tell us anything.

Thanks to their intelligence, rats are easy to train, just like dogs. They quickly find a way out of even the most complex labyrinths, because they have natural ingenuity. This fact, as well as the presence of a good memory, makes this type one of the dominant ones on the planet. Therefore, it is not surprising that these rodents have been living for more than one million years, successfully avoiding extinction from all sorts of natural disasters and the impact of people.

Rats swim well, can dive, and move quickly. This makes them excellent hunters and also helps them avoid danger. By the way, if it is present, some individuals can notify their fellows using ultrasound. In one day, an adult rat can cover about 50 kilometers. Probably, it is precisely because of its active lifestyle that the animal’s heart beats at an incredible frequency - about 300-500 beats per minute. Average duration The life of a rodent is about two years.

The rat is one of the cleanest animals in the world.

Remember how much time, for example, a cat devotes to personal hygiene. So, compared to this rodent, she is dirty. Small animals wash themselves for several hours a day. Moreover, they can do this in a pond, since they are not at all afraid of water. This plays a role - rats get sick very rarely, especially with various food diseases, like the same cat or dog. In addition, the health of the rodent is initially very strong. Scientists even discovered a gene in him that prevents infection with sexually transmitted diseases.

Mouse and rat - what's the difference?

Many people believe that a rat and a mouse are the same thing. But that's not true. Yes, these are relatives, which is not surprising for rodents. However, there is a big difference between them:

The most important thing is that the mouse and rat are enemies. They do not maintain any friendly ties, despite belonging to the same family. Moreover, under certain conditions, a large one is not averse to eating mouse meat.

Rat and man

It is believed that this type of rodent is dangerous to humans. Many people are very afraid even of the appearance of the animal. In addition, there is an opinion that animals are carriers of many diseases. Is this all really true? Everything in order:

• these animals, as mentioned above, are extremely clean. They carry no more pathogens than humans themselves. Therefore, if you are bitten by a rat, there is no need to panic - in the vast majority of cases, apart from unpleasant sensations, this will not lead to anything more. As for the medieval epidemics, where rodents had a “paw”, the people themselves are to blame, and their impressiveness for modern people unsanitary conditions;
• The animals have a peaceful character, unlike the same mice. Therefore, they do not like to bite, especially people. It takes a lot of effort for a rodent to bite you. Every animal has an instinct of self-preservation, and therefore it is not recommended to torture a rat by dragging it by the tail or paws;
• , especially if it is wet, can hardly be considered a standard of beauty. But you shouldn’t be afraid, especially since no one will attack you, because the aggressiveness of these rodents is a myth. Just buy yourself a pet rat and appreciate all the benefits of owning such a sweet and friendly creature.

Rats are clean
Rats are peace loving
Domestic rats are beautiful

Now let's talk about those facts that you probably didn't know:

1. Rats are very common animals. There are approximately twice as many of them as there are people.
2. If the skeleton of a rodent is enlarged to the size of a human and straightened, it turns out that the joints and bones are completely identical.
3. Contrary to popular belief, these animals see very poorly. For them the world is a set of shapeless black and white spots.
4. But the sense of smell is very well developed. A rat can even smell minimal amount poison in the bait. This is why it is so difficult to poison them at home.
5. Rodents' teeth grow throughout their lives. They constantly chew on things in order to wear them down. At the same time, the teeth are very powerful and strong. If desired, with their help the animal gnaws holes in concrete and even iron.
6. When they sleep, they dream - just like people.
7. Surprisingly, some individuals are afraid of tickling. Moreover, they can be tickled to death.
8. If vision is zero, then the sixth sense is at a very high level. Animals can surprisingly sense danger and, accordingly, immediately leave the place. This is why rats are the first to flee a sinking ship.
9. The rodent's nervous system is subject to stress. You can scare him so much that he dies.
10. As mentioned above, rats do not live alone. When in the wild, they form huge colonies. Some of them can contain up to two thousand individuals.
11. Conditions environment for them it is a secondary matter. The amazing ability to survive allows rodents to settle even at Antarctic research stations.
12. These animals love water, but if necessary they can go without it for a very long time. even longer than camels.
13. Rat meat is quite tasty and nutritious. That is why in some countries it is eaten.
14. As for the nutrition of the animals themselves, they eat exactly as much as their body needs. Overeating and dying is not about them.
15. Females are fertile individuals. Over the course of a year, they are capable of giving birth to up to hundreds of young.
16. Rats not only swim and run, but also jump. Some species are capable of jumping two meters in height.
17. The size of the prey does not matter if a large flock is hunting. There are known cases of rodents attacking large animals, such as dogs.
18. The anatomical similarity with humans determines the fact that rats are used to research and search for methods of treating many diseases.
19. This animal senses X-rays - the only biological organism capable of this.
20. Very thin and strong hairs growing on the tail are used in ophthalmology - for eye surgery.
21. This type of rodent is the only one, besides humans, that can laugh.
22. There is a theory that it was rats that caused the extinction of dinosaurs. They simply ate all their eggs.
23. Until the seventeenth century, the blood of large mice was used for medicinal purposes.
24. Rats have their own "apartments". Each family in the colony is allocated a living space with a radius of up to 140 meters.

Sleeping rats dream, just like people
A rat's teeth grow throughout its life. If necessary, animals chew through concrete and iron

What about mutations?

Many Hollywood and other films show mutated rats that reach huge size, become very aggressive and attack people. Under the influence of such cinema, there is a stereotype that these animals are dangerous to humans.

True, very large individuals - approximately the size of a medium-sized dog - still exist. But these are isolated cases, and such monumental rodents do not eat people. For example, scientists discovered in New Guinea, namely in the crater of the Bosavi volcano, huge mice that reach a length of 80 centimeters and weigh about two kilograms.

As for Russia, Pasyuk is considered the biggest rat. It can weigh about half a kilogram and grow up to 25-30 centimeters. This species mainly lives in sewers, garbage dumps, and near basements. It is also safe for humans.

Rats are smart, social, friendly animals that have a lot of amazing abilities. Therefore, there is no need to be afraid of them - on the contrary, you can place this funny rodent in your home and enjoy an exciting time with it.

Body length up to 275 mm, tail - up to 195 mm. The tail is shorter than the body, which is especially characteristic of forms living in wildlife. On average, the tail makes up about 80% of the body length.

The muzzle is wide and blunt. The auricle will not reach the eye if it is bent in its direction. Tail with sparse hair. The foot is long (up to 45 mm).

The color varies from light, reddish-brown to dark, dirty-ochre-brown. In the bulk of the hair, longer and stiffer guard hairs with a metallic sheen stand out. On the ventral side the hair has a dark base.

The skull is angular in shape, the ridges are well developed. The masseter plate of the maxillary bone is large, with a strongly projecting upper angle and an anterior edge inclined anteriorly. Maximum width of the skull in the zygomatic arches falls in their middle or posterior third. The narrowest part of the brain capsule is in the middle of the frontal bones. Skull length 39.0 - 45.2 mm.

The parietal bones of adult individuals are non-convex and are located almost in the same plane as the frontal and interparietal. On the sides they are limited by almost straight or slightly curved ridges, which run parallel or also diverge slightly towards the posterior end. Karyotype 2 n= 42.

Biology

Lifestyle. The gray rat is found within populated areas and beyond. Especially common on livestock farms. It makes nests and burrows depending on the type and nature of the building.

In outbuildings, it makes burrows underground. In residential multi-storey buildings, it uses empty spaces in walls and interfloor ceilings. Pasyuk settlements are found in the thermal insulation lining of refrigerators. IN natural conditions digs small simple holes or takes over holes from water rats. The length of passages in the wild does not exceed 2.5 - 3 m, and the hole has 1 - 2 nesting chambers.

Young rats live in a nest for up to 30–38 days, where they feed on their mother’s milk. When they reach the specified age, the pups leave the nest and explore the surrounding area.

The species is in its prime and is capable of forming two populations: “wild” and “domestic.” Has high research activity and the ability to quickly learn, change the timing of the onset of major periodic phenomena, very With a perfect mechanism for population regulation.

Reproduction. Sexual maturity of females and males occurs in the third month of life. Pregnancy lasts 21 - 22 days. During the year, one female can give birth to from one to six litters of one to fifteen cubs. Reproduction occurs throughout the year. It reproduces intensively in the warm season. A day after giving birth, the female is again ready for fertilization.

The main (dominant) male of the group takes care of reproduction. Other males fertilize females secondarily. The intensity of reproduction depends on the quality and quantity of food. With its deficiency, resorption (resorption of embryos) is observed. The species is able to develop and reproduce fruitfully at a temperature of -10 °C.

Nutrition. The gray rat is an omnivore, eating plant and animal foods. IN populated areas it feeds on various foods and food waste. However, at sites where only plant food, rats obtain protein food by eating insects, small animals, and in some cases their own young or weakened brothers.

Morphologically related species

In terms of morphology (appearance) it is close to the described pest ( Rattusrattus). The main difference: the ear is more round, the muzzle is narrower, the tail is more densely covered with hair, the foot is shorter, the color is slightly lighter and yellower, the ventral side is whitish.

In addition, the gray rat is characterized by the presence of five subspecies, of which two are found in Russia:

Geographical distribution

Gray rat- cosmopolitan. The homeland of the species has not been precisely established. It is believed to be southern China. Currently, the species is distributed throughout the globe, excluding polar countries and desert areas.

Maliciousness

Gray rat- one of the most abundant synanthropic rodents. It occupies one of the leading places in terms of economic damage.

Individuals damage and render unusable a variety of food products in warehouses, elevators, granaries, mills, bakeries and residential buildings. They chew through cables and components of automatic alarms, television, and communications. Gnawing industrial goods. The intrusive value is also great: their presence, and often aggressiveness towards humans and pets, brings a lot of anxiety.

The medical significance of the species is great, since pasyuki are carriers of various infections dangerous to humans and animals. These include: rabies, hemorrhagic fever, plague, pseudotuberculosis, salmonellosis, helminthiasis and many others.

Many blood-sucking arthropods feed on rats: ticks, fleas, lice. They can spread from rats to humans and animals. This makes them participants in the spread of infectious diseases.

Gray rats can attack people, especially children and sleeping people. This not only causes significant injuries, but also spreads dangerous infections.

Pesticides

Chemical pesticides

Mixing with a bait product (wheat, cut potatoes, carrots, sugar beets or apples), introducing bait into holes, other shelters, tubes, bait boxes, boxes with special applicators:

Layout of finished baits on food enterprises and in everyday life:

Control measures: deratization measures

Sanitary and epidemiological well-being is due to the successful implementation of the entire complex of deratization measures, including organizational, preventive, exterminatory and sanitary educational measures to combat rodents.

Organizational events include a set of the following measures:

• administrative;
• financial and economic;
• scientific and methodological;
• material.

Preventive actions are called upon to eliminate favorable conditions vital activity of rodents and exterminate them using the following measures:

• engineering and technical, including the use of various devices that automatically prevent rodents from accessing premises and communications;
• sanitary and hygienic, including maintaining cleanliness in the premises, basements, and areas of the facilities;
• agro- and forestry engineering, including measures for the cultivation of forests in recreational areas to the state of forest parks and maintaining these areas in a state free from weeds, fallen leaves, dead and drying trees; This same group of activities includes deep plowing of the soil in the fields;
• preventive deratization, including measures to prevent the restoration of the number of rodents using chemical and mechanical means.

The task of carrying out this group of activities lies with legal entities and individual entrepreneurs operating specific facilities and the surrounding territory.

Extermination activities are carried out in populated areas, on agricultural lands, as well as various foci of infectious diseases in order to completely clean objects of rodents and are reduced to the following methods of deratization:

• physical, involving the use of mechanical devices to kill rodents, ultrasonic emitters, glue traps, electrical barriers;
• chemical, during which rodenticides are used, rodenticides with synergists in various forms and repellents;

These events are held legal entities and individual entrepreneurs with special training.

Features of the fight against gray rats

Gray rat has high sensitivity to anticoagulants of the 1st and 2nd generations and easily distinguishes the presence of rodenticides in baits. The higher the concentration of this type of substance in bait, the worse they are eaten.

Maximum effect To combat this type of rodents, it is observed when using grain with the addition of flour and sunflower oil.

Zoo center

Gray rat, or pasyuk - Rattus norvegicus
Type - chordates
Class - mammals
Squad - rodents
Family - mice (Muridae)
Subfamily - mouse (Murinae)

One of the most major representatives mouse: adult body length - 17-28 centimeters (without tail), weight - 250-450 grams (some individuals reach a weight of more than a kilogram). The color of young rats is pure gray; with age, there may be areas of red and brown tones on the fur. Black and other colors are occasionally found. The original habitat is East Asia, but in recent centuries the gray rat has spread almost throughout the world. Capable of eating almost any food and food raw materials, but prefers meat food. It consumes 20-25 grams of food per day and can live no more than 3-4 days without food. Needs water. In nature, it reproduces in the warm season (managing to produce 2-3 broods over the summer), in buildings and dungeons - all year round. In one litter there are from 1 to 20 (on average 9) cubs; with the age of the female, the number of pups increases. Gestation lasts about three weeks and the cubs are born naked and blind. Sexual maturity is reached at the age of two months, but the absolute majority (more than 90%) of females begin breeding no earlier than one year, and males even later. The total life expectancy is about three years. Natural populations rats, as a rule, have a fairly stable number, while synanthropic (urban) rats are subject to sharp fluctuations. They carry leptospirosis, tularemia, pseudotuberculosis, and sodoku fever. During outbreaks of plague, urban rats become a temporary reservoir of the pathogen, but natural foci of plague based on gray rat populations are relatively rare and, as a rule, unstable. The gray rat (the albino form most often used in laboratories) is distinguished by its intelligence and exceptional behavioral plasticity, which has made it a favorite research subject. In recent decades, tame gray rats have become increasingly fashionable as pets.

It is difficult to say when people became acquainted with rats. It seems that they have always been next to a person. The black rat lived in the cities and provinces of Europe, Central Asia, for example, - Turkestan. And regardless of the names, rats ate and spoiled human supplies (mostly of plant origin), supported the life of an army of fleas, and served as hunting objects for cats and dogs. Nobody, of course, was happy about them, but still people treated their presence as a common evil.

And suddenly, in the first half of the 18th century in Europe, in one city after another, other rats began to appear - noticeably larger, reddish-gray in color, daring, cunning, sneaky. They displaced or even simply killed black aborigines and rapidly multiplied, capturing territory after territory. They did not give up grains and vegetables, but they were much more willing to devour meat, sausage, lard, steal eggs, kill chickens, newborn piglets and lambs. On occasion, they did not disdain human flesh: they could attack small children left unattended or eat the face of a dead person (especially during epidemics or other disasters, when corpses often lay on the streets). And when they found themselves in a dead end, they desperately rushed at the pursuer, putting not only cats, but also people to flight: it was then that many peoples arose the expression “fights like a cornered rat.”

No one knew where the terrible aliens came from, but it was noted that in every country their spread begins from port cities. And when in 1769 the English naturalist John Berkenhout finally described the new kind rodents according to all rules biological systematics(just standardized by Carl Linnaeus), he, like many, concluded that the Pasyuks entered the country with Norwegian ships. Based on this, the animal received the name Rattus norvegicus - “Norwegian rat”.

Now, of course, it is clear that Berkenhout was wrong: the first evidence of the gray rat in England dates back to 1728, when they did not yet exist in Norway. Most likely, the pasyuk came to the British Isles from Denmark. However, there is also no reason to call it a “Danish rat” - its homeland, according to modern scientists, is located in a completely different part of the world: in Eastern China. And the time of occurrence of this species is attributed to ice age. No, don’t think that Pasyuk was born in the ice. Quite the opposite - glaciation did not reach Eastern China. And here, between the sea, southern mountains, western deserts and the stopped glacier (more precisely, the cold steppes lying in front of it), there remained a small island of a warm and humid climate, where a large “invincible” rodent, capable of eating anything, was formed and lives to this day. but prefers meat food.

In nature, the pasyuk, or gray rat, lives near water, preferring gentle banks with soft soil, where you can dig a long (up to 5 meters) hole. When this shelter is flooded during a flood, the rats move into hollows, and if there are none, they build temporary nests in nearby trees. They are not afraid of water at all, swim and dive beautifully (the animals have small swimming membranes on their hind legs), and get food in the water - mollusks, swimming beetles, frogs, and, on occasion, fish. In general, the rat attacks any prey, from insects to pigeons and water voles, which are not inferior in size to the pigeon (it is not for nothing that the vole is better known as the “water rat”). But the latter is much inferior to him in intelligence and dexterity.

Pasyuki usually live in large groups, sometimes in colonies, zealously defending their ancestral territory from strangers. At the same time, family members distinguish their many brothers not “by portrait”. And the point here is not a bad memory - when solving a problem of passing a maze, a Pasyuk can keep a more complex route in his head than a person. The rat identifies “friends” and “strangers” by smell: all members of the colony are blood relatives who constantly maintain physical contact with each other, their smell has a common component. Everything else doesn’t matter: if you keep a pasyuk on bedding left over from someone else’s group, and then release it to its relatives, they will tear it into pieces, sensing a foreign smell. Needless to say, the same fate awaits the real stranger.

Violent clashes within the group are also not uncommon, although there are almost no deaths. By the way, their fights are stimulated by nature itself: male pasyuks have an interesting physiological mechanism - after each successful fight, the winning rat grows a little and gains weight (pasyuks, in principle, are capable of growing throughout their lives). And since the outcome of the fight depends primarily on the ratio of the fighters’ sizes, the most successful fighters grow until those who want to measure their strength are transferred. Such champions become dominant and the fathers of most rat pups in the group.

In general, many animals will envy the stamina and viability of pasyuks. Throughout its long history rats indeed turned out to be one of the most tenacious.

Their spread around the world began with the melting of the glacier, when the boundaries of the rat “sanctuary” in Eastern China began to move apart and new territories opened up for rodents. For a long time, due to their attachment to water, they moved very slowly: over 13 thousand years of expansion on foot, the animals only reached Altai, Transbaikalia and Primorye. In these places (as well as on Sakhalin, the Southern Kuril Islands and Japan) a special subspecies Rattus norvegicus caraco, the original indigenous form of the gray rat, still lives.

But everything changed when ships built by people sailed along the rivers and seas. They carried grain, oil, tanned hides, food supplies for the crew... and rats. By that time, the pasyuki had already perfectly adapted to life in human houses and barns, and from there they easily stepped aboard the ship. Around the turn of our era, the gray rat appeared in India, and during the Middle Ages it colonized the ports of the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and East Africa. And after Vasco da Gama found a sea route to India, the conquest of Europe was only a matter of time for rats. For the time being, their forward detachments concentrated only in port cities, so that at the beginning of the 18th century they went on a decisive offensive. And at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, the pasyuk became the dominant species in all European countries.

In the 1770s, gray rats entered America, then Australia, New Zealand, West Africa... The conquest of the planet continued in the 20th century: in the 1940s, Pasyuks penetrated into the cities of Central Asia and Southern Siberia(Barnaul was populated by animals in five years; they multiplied at about the same speed in Tashkent). In the 1950s they first appeared in the Canadian province of Alberta, and in the 1980s they broke into Tajikistan and the Fergana Valley. At the moment, there are still quite large areas on Earth where pasyuki have not reached, but, probably, only Antarctica, uninhabited areas of the Arctic, and also some islands will soon remain free from them.

However, this conquest is rather conditional: in most places, rats do not spread throughout the entire territory, but stay close to humans. And only in places with warm climate(for example, in Transcaucasia), rodents sometimes return to nature, creating colony towns along the banks of reservoirs. In our area, such colonies exist as holiday villages - they are inhabited only in the warm part of the year; for the winter, rats go to human habitation. They are afraid not of the cold, but of the inability to feed themselves: where there is enough food, the pasyuk calmly endures the most severe frosts. At meat processing plants, rats were repeatedly found in freezers: they lived inside frozen carcasses, ate only meat, and females built nests from fluffy veins and gave birth to cubs in them - at a temperature of -18 degrees!

It is clear that an animal capable of surviving in such conditions can easily colonize any urban habitat. True, pasyuks are uncomfortable at heights: after 8 - 9 floors they are usually not found. (That’s why in some of the cities they captured, populations of black rats remained on the upper floors.) But basements and any communications - from subway lines to electrical cables - are simply their native element. Thanks to their thirst for water, they have also chosen the sewers, where no urban rodents live anymore. All kinds of campaigns to exterminate pasyuks allow best case scenario temporarily reduce their numbers or briefly conquer a specific territory from them.

In 1981, the English paleontologist and popularizer Dougal Dixon published the book “After Man,” according to the plot of which people exterminated all large animals and then disappeared themselves. The surviving representatives of the fauna began to fill the vacated niches, rapidly evolving and giving rise to bizarre forms. In particular, the most universal, widespread and successful predator of Dixon's world was a wolf-like creature - a direct descendant of the gray rat. Looking at her today, it is not difficult to believe.

The largest rat of the fauna of Russia: body length 17-40 cm (without tail), weight 140-463 g. A rat weighing more than 1 kg is a rare exception. The tail is always shorter than the body, up to 19.5 cm long. The muzzle is relatively blunt and wide; the auricle is small. The color of the fur is not gray, but rather gray-brown. Among the bulk of hair, longer and shiny guard hairs stand out. The fur on the belly consists of white hair with dark bases. The border between the color of the sides and abdomen is usually well defined. Young rats are almost gray; With age, the color becomes more reddish. Occasionally there are individuals of black color (for example, in Moscow there is 1 black pasyuk per 1000-2000 individuals). Domesticated rats are usually white or pied (black and white), and several color variations have been bred. The pasyuk's skull differs from the skulls of other rats in having almost straight parietal ridges. There are 42 chromosomes in a karyotype.

Spreading

Currently, gray rats are found on all continents of the world. Only the polar and subpolar regions, Antarctica, are completely free from them; V tropical zone distributed mosaically. The resettlement of rats continues to this day; so, until the 1950s. they were not found in Alberta (Canada).

History of settlement

The gray rat's homeland is believed to be in East Asia. During the Pleistocene, cooling and advancing glaciers isolated the rat population in eastern what is now China. From the east and south, their habitat was limited to the seas, from the southeast - to mountainous tropical forests Indochina, to the west by the desert plateaus of Central Asia, and to the north by the vast glaciers of Siberia. Because of these natural barriers, the spread of gray rats began only in the Holocene with the onset of warming. Their natural settlement along river valleys proceeded very slowly, and for 13,000 years rats did not penetrate north of Altai, Transbaikalia and southern Primorye.

Gray rats managed to conquer the world thanks to passive settlement, mainly on sea vessels. Thus, on the Hindustan Peninsula they appeared no earlier than the 1st century. BC . From there in the 7th century. were brought by Arab sailors to the ports of the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and East Africa. But only at the turn of the 16th century, when maritime trade between Europe and India began, did the rapid migration of rats to the more favorable climatic and economic conditions of Europe begin. By this time, gray rats were already found in every European country; appeared in the New World in the 1770s. From Europe they were also introduced to the coast of Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Currently, Pasyuk are the dominant representative of the rat genus in Europe and North America.

Settlement in Russia and the former USSR

Subspecies

Within a view Rattus norvegicus There are 2 main lines:

• East Asian ( Rattus norvegicus caraco),
• Indian ( Rattus norvegicus norvegicus).

Representatives of the first are the aborigines of Eastern China, naturally populated the surrounding areas. They are smaller in size, relatively short tail(70% of body length), brownish color and its pronounced seasonal change. They live in East Asia: Transbaikalia, Far East, o. Sakhalin, northeastern Mongolia, Central and Eastern China, Korean Peninsula, Hokkaido and Honshu islands (Japan). All other territories are populated primarily by representatives of the second line, which was formed from coastal populations R.n. caraco about 2,000 years ago.

Lifestyle

The gray rat is originally a semi-aquatic species, naturally living along the banks of various reservoirs. Due to the tendency to synanthropy, omnivorousness, high research activity, quick learner and high fertility, it has adapted to life in anthropogenic landscapes and directly in human buildings. Currently, based on the nature of their connection with humans, there are 3 ecological zones where rats live:

• the northern zone, where rats live in human buildings all year round;
• the middle (transitional) zone, where in the summer they populate natural biotopes, including littoral ones, and return to buildings in the winter. Only a fraction of the rats sometimes remain to spend the winter in natural conditions; Only settlements on large urban landfills are year-round. In the European part of the range southern border This zone runs approximately along the Kharkov-Saratov-Nizhny Novgorod line, beyond the Urals - along 50° N. sh.;
• the southern zone, where a significant part of the population lives outside buildings all year round. On the territory of Russia, these are the lower reaches of the Volga and Don, as well as the original habitat in the south of the Far East and on the island. Sakhalin, where rats constantly live away from housing, being a natural component of near-water ecosystems.

Gray rats prefer to inhabit the gently sloping banks of reservoirs, with good protective conditions - dense vegetation, voids in the soil, etc. Under natural conditions, they dig fairly simple holes 2-5 m long and up to 50-80 cm deep. Inside the holes, nesting chambers with a diameter of about 30 cm. Any available materials are used as building materials for the nest: grass, leaves, feathers and wool, rags and paper. In the lower reaches of rivers during flood periods they live in hollows or build simple nests from branches in trees. In anthropogenic landscapes they inhabit the banks of artificial reservoirs, vegetable gardens, orchards and parks, wastelands, recreational areas (for example, beaches), landfills, sewers, and the edges of “filtration fields.” A prerequisite is the proximity of water. In cities, they sometimes rise up to 8-9 floors in buildings, but they prefer to settle in basements and on the lower floors of residential and warehouse buildings, where food supplies are available and household waste provides them with food supply. They penetrate into mine shafts, into tunnels and subway shafts, and into vehicles. In the mountains (Greater Caucasus) they are found up to 2400 m above sea level in dwellings and up to 1400 m above sea level in vegetable gardens.

Settlement routes

Gray rats settled partly on their own, along waterways, but more often with human assistance. They move mainly by various river and sea transport; other modes of transport (railway, road transport, airplanes) - much less often. The exception is subways, where rats willingly settle and live in huge numbers. When they first enter the city, they settle at high speed. So, at the beginning of the century. the population of rats in Barnaul was precisely traced: in the year of their appearance they were found only in the buildings of the pier, in the 2nd year they occupied blocks near the pier, in the 3rd year they reached the city center, in the 4th year they occupied the entire city, and in the 5th -th year they began to populate suburban villages. The population of gray rats in Tashkent proceeded at approximately the same speed. Rats enter buildings through open entrance doors(especially in the dark) and through the ventilation openings of the basement and first floors.

Lifestyle

Activity is predominantly crepuscular and nocturnal. When settling near a person, the pasyuk easily adapts to his activity, changing its daily rhythm. Leads both solitary and group, and in nature, a colonial lifestyle. Within the group there are complex hierarchical relationships with male dominance. The strongest and largest male heads the hierarchy. The group owns a territory of up to 2,000 m2, which it marks with scent marks and protects from the invasion of strangers. When there is enough food, city rats often do not move further than 20 m from their nest. The routes along which rats move are usually constant and run along walls, baseboards, and pipes. They easily remember the path even through complex systems sewers.

Gray rats lack spatial conservatism, and they willingly settle in new territories. These are active animals with extraordinary physical characteristics. If necessary, the rat can reach speeds of up to 10 km/h, overcoming barriers up to 80 cm high while moving (they can jump up to 1 meter from a standstill). Every day a rat runs from 8 to 17 km. They swim well (can stay in water for up to 72 hours) and dive, staying in the water for a long time and even catching prey there. Rats have poor vision. The viewing angle is only 16° and provides a small coverage of space; this deficiency is compensated by frequent rotation of the head. Rats perceive the bluish-green part of the light spectrum and generally see everything in gray color. Red color means complete darkness for them. The sense of smell is well developed, but at short distances. They hear sounds with a frequency of up to 40 kHz (humans - up to 20 kHz), react sensitively to rustling noises, but do not distinguish pure tones. They can settle and successfully reproduce both in refrigerators with constant low temperatures and in boiler rooms with high temperature. They can easily withstand very high levels of radiation, up to 300 roentgens/hour, and are able to sense x-rays through their sense of smell, catching the smell of ozone.

Nutrition

The gray rat differs from most rodents in its increased animal-eating - it certainly needs animal proteins in its diet. In nature, among animal foods, fish and amphibians, as well as mollusks, come first; in the Far East, pasyuks actively hunt small rodents and insectivores, and destroy ground nests of birds. Rats living along the shores of ice-free seas feed on marine waste all year round. Plant foods include seeds, grains, and succulent parts of plants. Near a person, pasyuks feed on everything available food products, as well as waste, livestock and poultry feed; Fecal feeding is not uncommon. Stocks are made quite rarely.

Each rat consumes 25-20 g of food per day, eating 7-10 kg of food per year. Gray rats suffer from starvation hard and die without food after 3-4 days. They die even faster without water. Each rat drinks 30-35 ml of water per day; Eating wet food reduces the need for water to 5-10 ml per day. Experimentally, it was found that rats can exist normally when consuming food containing more than 65% moisture. If the moisture content of the feed is 45%, the rats die after 26 days, and at 14% - after 4-5.

Reproduction and lifespan

The reproductive potential of the gray rat is extremely high. In nature, rats breed mainly in the warm season; In heated rooms, reproduction can continue all year round. In the first case, there are usually 2–3 broods, in the second - up to 8 per year; the number of cubs ranges from 1 to 20, with an average of 8–10. Within 18 hours after giving birth, females again enter estrus and mate again. There are 2 peaks: spring and autumn. The abundance of animal food increases the intensity of reproduction; it also increases after incomplete deratization, compensating for population losses.

Domesticated rat

Naked lab rats

Domesticated gray rats are bred in large number as laboratory and domestic animals. Laboratory rats are used for various scientific experiments in biology, medicine, psychology and as model animals, since they reproduce quickly in captivity and quickly reach sexual maturity. Selective breeding has made it possible to produce several breeds (lines) of laboratory rats. Typically this is

Pasyuk is a gray barn rat, an ordinary rat - an animal of the order of rodents from the genus of mammals. In nature counts the biggest rat , living in Russia.

Pasyuk's body is elongated, 20-27 cm in length and weighing 150-400 grams. The tail is medium, about 19-20 cm. The paws are pink, skeletal, with claws.

The muzzle of the gray rat is wide, the mustache is light. The ears are pinkish and pointed. Fur color is grayish and closer to agouti. The belly is whitish.

The border between the color of the belly and the barrels is clearly visible. Young individuals are gray in color; with age, a reddish tint appears in it. In nature sometimes there are black ones ordinary rats.

The hairs are of different lengths, quite hard, guard hairs stand out - longer and shiny.

Origin of the pasyuk species

Scientists suggest that the homeland of the barn rat is eastern territories of China. To Europe they got through sea ​​communication between countries on merchant ships.

The species acquired the scientific name Rattus norvegicus (Norwegian rat) in 1769 due to the mistake of the English biologist John Berkenhout, who rashly assumed that the rodents came to Denmark from Norway on industrial ships, although at that time they did not yet exist in this country.

Distribution and reproduction

Gray rats are found in the most different corners globe. They managed to achieve wide distribution thanks to passive movement on merchant ships.

It is known that at the beginning of the 18th century rodents began to be found in every European country, including Russia.

They can live wherever there is access to water, food, as well as favorable conditions. climatic conditions for survival. Barn rats are characterized by high fertility.

Puberty occurs by three months. Up to eight litters can be born per year 7-10 individuals each.

Can you imagine how many individuals appear per year on the entire planet? Pasyuk is one of the most prolific rodents on the planet.

Lifestyle

Common rats lead a crepuscular lifestyle. Active from 7 pm to 8 am, the maximum peak occurs at 20-22 hours.

They can crawl out of their shelters during the daytime if necessary. Live in groups or colonies, aggressively protecting their territory from strangers.

Recognizes pack members by smell. In nature for them serve as shelters: holes, stumps, snags, ruined nests. In the city, they often live in garbage dumps, landfills, basements, and sewers.

Eating plant foods , fish and meat, grain, any food waste.

Many animals will envy the stamina and vitality of pasyuks. They have high adaptive capabilities, mental flexibility, excellent diving and swimming, jumping up to 80 cm, and when moving around the territory they reach speeds of 10-12 km/h.

Harm to human farmer

In a household, an ordinary rat causes quite a bit of damage.

• They eat and steal harvests of grain, beans, and beans from barns. They damage storage containers (bags, boxes, boxes). They chew vegetables and fruits.
• In a suburban area, rodents prefer to feast on vegetables, berries, fruits, roots of plants and garden flowers.
• Pasyuki gnaw through the walls of buildings and barns, damaging furniture and wires. Chewing not only affects appearance residential building, but can also cause short circuits and fires.
• Rats pose a danger not only to human health. Cases of rodent attacks on pets are not uncommon.

  Ways to control rodents

Let's look at the most effective ways to protect your home and property.

Toxic substances

There are many types of poisons in specialized stores.

All poisons can be divided into strong and weak effects.

• The first category includes zinc phosphide. The poison acts quickly. Once in the stomach, it begins to react with hydrochloric acid and forms hydrogen phosphide, which stops breathing.
  A 3% concentration of poison is suitable for the death of an animal. It is good because it will not cause poisoning in other animals if they eat a poisoned rat.
• Substances long acting more suitable for fighting small rodents. It may take quite some time until the poison accumulates in the body and destroys the animal. In addition, the gray rat’s body is more resistant to poison and can get used to it, so from time to time the type of substance will have to be changed.

What types of poison can be used?

• Treats soaked in poison (grain, cheese, bread, pieces of meat). The method is effective and most common.
• Liquid baits are chemicals dissolved in water and milk.
• Powdered chemicals - for pollinating burrow exits and other areas where barn rats might be seen.
• Gaseous chemicals - used, for example, to irrigate burrows. This method should be used with caution, especially in residential areas.

Mechanical traps

Advice! Do not fully charge the mousetrap at first. Let the rodents eat the left baits several times. Rats will get used to taking the left treat and will not suspect that a click will soon occur and the trap will work.

Mousetrap placement k is the simplest method, but not reliable. The barn rat is larger in size, so a standard simple mousetrap will not work for it.

In addition, after catching 1-2 rodents, they do not want to go into the mousetrap even with the most sophisticated bait.

Ultrasonic repellers

Enough effective method . Modern devices are effective. Ultrasonic waves negatively affect the psyche of rodents and force them to leave populated areas.

Attention! For good result The device must work continuously. In addition, when purchasing, it is important to compare the size of the area where the device will be used and the duration of the emitted wave. A universal, standard repeller is suitable for a barn, barn, or home. If you are going to install it on a large area, take care of purchasing several devices.

Path closure

Another one not bad way struggle. You can get rid of gray rats in your house or barn by blocking the paths.

Try to figure out the passages, loopholes, paths along which the pasyuk makes its way into the house, and sprinkle around them calcium chloride. Rodents cannot tolerate this powder.

Rat loopholes and passages can be covered with cement and crushed glass. It will be extremely difficult for them to gnaw through such a wall.

All methods are good in the fight against the hated gray rodents.

In order for the work to be done effectively, it is better not to settle on any particular method, but try to change them or use them in combination.

Then your home and area will not be afraid of even such unpleasant pests as gray rats.

Video

In this video you can see pet rat Pasyuk: