While reporting about D.C.’s rat problem , we learned a lot from some of the best rat experts in the city and the world. Let’s see how well you know your rat facts.
Question 1 of 10 How high can rats jump? Rats can jump as high as 36 inches. This comes in handy when they’re climbing a tree, trash chute, windowsill or dumpster.
Question 2 of 10 How far from their burrow will rats travel for food?
The neighborhood they live in
From their burrows, rats typically will travel as far as about 150 feet, nearly half the length of a football field, in search of food and water.
Question 3 of 10 True or false: Rats can get as big as a house cat. The biggest rat that Bobby Corrigan, a world-renowned rat expert, said he’s ever heard of was a 1.87-pound rat in Missouri. He jokes that he carries a $500 check to give anyone who finds a two-pound rat. Most house cats weight between seven and 11 pounds.
Question 4 of 10 On average, how many pups, or baby rats, are in a mama rat’s litter? A female rat gives birth to eight baby rats, or pups, at a time on average. The gestation period is 21 days. After they give birth, they can immediately get pregnant again. Rats can have sex dozens of times in a day. Rat copulation, Corrigan said, only lasts seconds and most of their attempts don’t result in pregnancy. A male rat tries to mate with as many female rats as possible.
Question 5 of 10 Roughly how many pounds of food does it take to feed a family of 10 rats in one week? A rat family of 10 needs only about one pound of nutritionally balanced food a week to live.
Question 6 of 10 The rats in D.C. are called brown, or Norway, rats. But that’s a misnomer. Where are they from originally? Even though brown rats are also called Norway rats, the geographical name’s not accurate. They’re not from Norway. They’re from Mongolia and got to North America in the mid- to late-1700s. British naturalist John Berkenhout dubbed them Norway rats because of incorrect rumors that they had come over on lumber ships from Norway, Corrigan said. The name stuck.
Question 7 of 10 Why do rats gnaw things?
They have to keep their teeth filed down so they keep growing and don’t break off.
They’re bored and waiting for their next meal.
They use their teeth as tools.
It helps calm their anxiety. It’s hard being so low on the food chain!
Rats use their teeth — their most valuable tool — to get into spaces such as tree hollows, trash cans or walls, and to clip roots and stems to reach food, water and nesting materials.
Question 8 of 10 Rats can fit in remarkably tight spaces. What’s the smallest hole a typical rat can squeeze through?
About the size of a marble
About the size of quarter
About the size of a ping-pong ball
About the size of tennis ball.
Its rib cage has a “collapsibility function,” and once it gets its head in, a rat uses its vibrissae — long whiskers on the nose and face — to feel and make sure it’s safe. Then it squeezes the rest of its body through the hole.
Question 9 of 10 True or false: Rats go out at night because of their strong eyesight. Rats are very nearsighted. They can see clearly for about 7 to 10 feet in front of them before it gets blurry, experts said. They typically move in shadows, along the edges of buildings and sidewalk gutters because it keeps them out of sight and safer.
Question 10 of 10 How many rats are in D.C.?
There’s no way to accurately count them.
In the words of Corrigan, the rodentologist: “You can’t count rats. They don’t fill out census forms.”
Not happy with your score? Brush up on your knowledge by playing our rat game !
Editing by Alisa Tang and Ryan Bacic, design by Tara McCarty, illustrations by Shelly Tan, design editing by Matt Callahan, copy editing by Ryan Weber.
