Black Rat "Roof Rat", "Ship Rat"

Similar Species:
Norway Ray has tail proportionally shorter (less than half total length). Rice rats have tail darker above than below. Woodrats have white underparts.

Breeding:
Breeds year round; several litters per year, each of 2-8 young; gestation 21-26 days.

Habitat:
Mainly around seaports and buildings sometimes in natural habitats.

Range:
Southern and coastal U.S.; inland in West, as far north as w Nevada; east of Rockies to e Arkansas, w  Kentucky, n Alabama, n Georgia, and most of North Carolina and Virginia. Most abundant in South, along Atlantic Coast north to e Maine, and along Pacific Coast to extreme sw British Columbia.

The Black Rat occurs in a great many varieties an races, or subspecies, of which few are actually black, despite the common name. Believed to have come from Southeast Asia, this species spread though Europe centuries ago, long before the arrival of the Norway Rat. It appeared in Central and South America in the mid 16th century, evidently carried there aboard Spanish ships; it arrived in North America with the early colonist at Jamestown  1609, and gradually spread across the continent. Formerly much more common, it has often been displace by the slightly larger and more aggressive Norway Rat this may be because the Black Rat does better it in tropical claimants and the Norway Rat in temperate climates, rather than because of overt competitions.  As Black Rats are far more common than Norway Rats on ships, they continue to be reintroduced at seaports. Excellent climbers, in the South they live in the upper stories of buildings; they also make nests in tangled vines and in trees. Omnivorous but partial to grain, the Black Rat does enormous danger in docks and warehouses, contaminating with its dropping what it does not eat. Like other rats, it carries a number of diseases, including bubonic plagues, with is transmitted by its fleas, Snakes, owls, dogs, and cats are its chief predators.