Editing Black rat (section)

==Behaviour and ecology==
It is thought that male and female rats have similarly sized [[Home range|home ranges]] during the winter, but male rats increase the size of their home range during the breeding season. Along with differing between rats of different sex, home range also differs depending on the type of forest in which the black rat inhabits. For example, home ranges in the [[Nothofagus|southern beech forests]] of the [[South Island]], New Zealand appear to be much larger than the non-beech forests of the [[North Island]]. Due to the limited number of rats that are studied in home range studies, the estimated sizes of rat home ranges in different rat demographic groups are inconclusive.

===Diet and foraging===
[[File:Rattus rattus 01.JPG|thumb|Black rat eating grain]]
Black rats are considered [[omnivore]]s and eat a wide range of foods, including seeds, fruit, stems, leaves, fungi, and a variety of invertebrates and vertebrates. They are [[generalist and specialist species|generalists]], and thus not very specific in their food preferences, which is indicated by their tendency to feed on any meal provided for cows, swine, chickens, cats and dogs.<ref name=roof/> They are similar to the tree squirrel in their preference of fruits and nuts. They eat about {{cvt|15|g}} per day and drink about {{cvt|15|ml}} per day.<ref name=black/> Their diet is high in water content.<ref name=roof/> They are a threat to many natural habitats because they feed on birds and insects. They are also a threat to many farmers, since they feed on a variety of agricultural-based crops, such as cereals, sugar cane, coconuts, cocoa, oranges, and coffee beans.<ref name=rattus>{{cite web |title=''Rattus rattus'' – Roof rat |url=https://www.pestsolutions.co.uk/pest-library/rodent-pest-species/black-rats-rattus-rattus |work=Pest Solutions |date=22 November 2022 |access-date=15 February 2024}}</ref>

The black rat displays flexibility in its foraging behaviour. It is a predatory species and adapts to different micro-habitats. It often meets and forages together in close proximity within and between sexes.<ref name=Dowding/> It tends to forage after sunset. If the food cannot be eaten quickly, it searches for a place to carry and hoard to eat at a later time.<ref name=roof/> Although it eats a broad range of foods, it is a highly selective feeder; only a restricted selection of the foods is dominating.<ref name=Clark>{{cite journal |author=Clark, D. A. |title=Foraging behavior of vertebrate omnivore (''Rattus rattus''): Meal structure, sampling, and diet breadth |journal=Ecology |volume=63 |issue=3 |year=1982 |doi=10.2307/1936797 |pages= 763–772 |jstor=1936797|bibcode=1982Ecol...63..763C }}</ref> When offered a wide diversity of foods, it eats only a small sample of each. This allows it to monitor the quality of foods that are present year round, such as leaves, as well as seasonal foods, such as herbs and insects. This method of operating on a set of foraging standards ultimately determines the final composition of its meals. Also, by sampling the available food in an area, it maintains a dynamic food supply, balance its nutrient intake, and avoids intoxication by secondary compounds.<ref name=Clark/>

===Nesting behaviour===
Through the usage of tracking devices such as radio transmitters, rats have been found to occupy dens located in trees, as well as on the ground. In Puketi Forest in the [[Northland Region]] of New Zealand, rats have been found to form dens together. Rats appear to den and forage in separate areas in their home range depending on the availability of food resources.<ref name=Dowding>{{cite journal |author1=Dowding, J.E. |author2=Murphy, E.C. |name-list-style=amp |title=Ecology of Ship Rats (''Rattus rattus'') in a Kauri (''Agathis australis'') Forest in Northland, New Zealand |journal=New Zealand Journal of Ecology |volume=18 |issue=1 |year=1994 |pages=19–28 |url=https://newzealandecology.org/nzje/1947.pdf}}</ref> Research shows that, in New South Wales, the black rat prefers to inhabit lower leaf litter of forest habitat. There is also an apparent correlation between the canopy height and logs and the presence of black rats. This correlation may be a result of the distribution of the abundance of prey as well as available refuges for rats to avoid predators. As found in [[North Head, New South Wales]], there is positive correlation between rat abundance, leaf litter cover, canopy height, and litter depth. All other habitat variables showed little to no correlation.<ref name= Cox>{{cite journal |author1=Cox, M.P.G. |author2=Dickman, C.R. |author3=Cox, W.G. |name-list-style=amp |title=Use of habitat by the black rat (''Rattus rattus'') at North Head, New South Wales: an observational and experimental study |journal=Austral Ecology |volume=25 |issue=4 |year=2000 |doi=10.1046/j.1442-9993.2000.01050.x |pages=375–385|bibcode=2000AusEc..25..375C }}</ref> While this species' relative, the brown (Norway) rat, prefers to nest near the ground of a building the black rat will prefer the upper floors and roof. Because of this habit they have been given the common name roof rat.

===Diseases===
Black rats (or their [[ectoparasite]]s<ref>{{cite journal|author=Hafidzi, M.N. |author2=Zakry, F.A.A. |author3=Saadiah, A. |name-list-style=amp |year=2007 |title=Ectoparasites of ''Rattus'' sp. from Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia |journal= Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science |volume=30|issue=1 |pages=11–16}}</ref>) can carry a number of pathogens,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Meerburg, B.G. |author2=Singleton, G.R. |author3=Kijlstra A. |title=Rodent-borne diseases and their risks for public health|journal=Crit Rev Microbiology |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=221–270 |year=2009 |doi=10.1080/10408410902989837|pmid=19548807|s2cid=205694138}}</ref> of which [[bubonic plague]] (via the [[Oriental rat flea]]), [[typhus]], [[Weil's disease]], [[toxoplasmosis]] and [[trichinosis]] are the best known. It has been hypothesized that the displacement of black rats by [[brown rat]]s led to the decline of the [[Black Death]].<ref>Last, John M. [http://www.enotes.com/public-health-encyclopedia/black-death "Black Death"], ''Encyclopedia of Public Health'', [[eNotes]] website. Retrieved 31 December 2010.</ref><ref>Barnes, Ethne (2007). ''Diseases and Human Evolution'', [[University of New Mexico Press]], {{ISBN|978-0-8263-3066-6}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wnlB7EMtqFYC&pg=PA247 p. 247].</ref> This theory has, however, been deprecated, as the dates of these displacements do not match the increases and decreases in plague outbreaks.<ref>Bollet, Alfred J. (2004). ''Plagues & Poxes: The Impact of Human History on Epidemic Disease'', [[Demos Medical Publishing]], 2004, {{ISBN|978-1-888799-79-8}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=bHIj5PJdZbkC&pg=PA23 p. 23]</ref><ref>Carrick, Tracy Hamler; Carrick, Nancy and Finsen, Lawrence (1997). ''The Persuasive Pen: An Integrated Approach to Reasoning and Writing'', [[Jones and Bartlett Learning]], 1997, {{ISBN|978-0-7637-0234-2}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6miPAUtQUO4C&pg=PA162 p. 162].</ref><ref>Hays, J. N. (2005). ''Epidemics and Pandemics: Their Impacts on Human History'', [[ABC-CLIO]], {{ISBN|978-1-85109-658-9}}, [https://archive.org/details/epidemicspandemi0000hays/page/64 p. 64].</ref>

Rats serve as outstanding vectors for transmittance of diseases because they can carry bacteria and viruses in their systems. A number of bacterial diseases are common to rats, and these include ''[[Streptococcus pneumoniae]]'', ''[[Corynebacterium kutsheri]],'' ''[[Bacillus piliformis]]'', ''[[Pasteurella pneumotropica]]'', and ''[[Streptobacillus moniliformis]]'', to name a few. All of these bacteria are disease causing agents in humans. In some cases, these diseases are incurable.<ref name=bacterial>{{cite web |author=Boschert, K. |date=1991 |url=http://netvet.wustl.edu/species/rats/ratbact.txt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961018162831/http://netvet.wustl.edu/species/rats/ratbact.txt|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 October 1996|title=Rat Bacterial Diseases|work=Net Vet and the Electronic Zoo|access-date=22 April 2011}}</ref>

===Predators===
The black rat is prey to cats and owls in domestic settings. In less urban settings, rats are preyed on by weasels, foxes and coyotes. These predators have little effect on the control of the black rat population because black rats are agile and fast climbers. In addition to agility, the black rat also uses its keen sense of hearing to detect danger and quickly evade mammalian and avian predators.<ref name=roof/>