INTRODUCED RAT 



Geographical Distribution. — Found nearly everywhere 

 men have settled. 



Food. — Practically omnivorous: grain, green vegetation, 

 meat, eggs, etc. 



Enemies. — Snakes, Owls, Hawks, Weasels, Cats, Foxes, 

 and most of the small carnivores ; domestic Cats and Dogs. 



Species and Subspecies of the Genus Rattus. 



Subgenus Rattus 



Norway Rat. — Rattus norvegicus (Erxleben). 

 As described above. 



Subgenus Epimys 



Black Rat. — Rattus rattus rattus (Linuceus). Plate XXXIII. 



Smaller and more slender than norvegicus. Upperparts 

 slate-colored to black, darker and more glossy along dorsal 

 region; underparts somewhat lighter than above, slaty 

 gray to almost black; tail long, slender, and with finer 

 annulations than in norvegicus. Total length, 16.5 inches; 

 tail vertebrce, 9 inches; hind foot, 1.5 inches; Found today 

 in only a few localities, commonest in southern states, but 

 formerly introduced over a wide territory. The Norway 

 Rat has driven out the Black Rat in most places where the 

 two species come into close contact. Occasionally the 

 Black Rat is taken in New York City. 

 Roof Rat; Alexandrine Rat. — Rattus rattus alexandrinus 

 (Geoffroy). Plate XXXIII. 

 About the size of typical rattus but much lighter in color. 

 Upperparts reddish brown; underparts white, strongly 

 suffused with yellowish; tail very long and finely annulated, 

 colored above like back, lighter below. Total length, 17 

 inches; tail vertebras, 9.5 inches; hind foot, 1.6 inches. 

 Rare today in most of the states, but like the Black Rat 

 it has been introduced over a wider range from which it 

 has been driven by the Norway Rat. , The Roof Rat 

 intergrades with the Black Rat and sometimes specimens 

 display characters of both forms, upperparts intermediate 

 between black and reddish brown, and underparts yellowish. 

 ******* 



The House Rat is the most thoroughly disliked of rodents 

 and has earned a reputation which all too often is transferred 

 to our much more attractive and less destructive native Rats. 

 The introduced Rat frequently lives under filthy conditions, 

 carries disease (the bubonic plague is borne by the rat-flea) 

 and is such a destructive creature that the hand of man has 

 been set against it from time immemorial. 



451 



