Rats laugh when they’re tickled. Scientists have found that when rats are happy or excited, they emit very high-pitched squeaks (too high for us to hear), which is rat ’laughter’. Rats remember which humans have tickled and played with them in the past, and prefer to spend time with those people. Another way to tell if a rat is happy is that their ears turn pink!
A group of rats is called a mischief.
Rats are mainly nocturnal and live underground, but they’re also great at climbing and swimming. Pet rats need time outside of their cage to explore and enjoy themselves, but always keep a close eye on them to make sure they don’t hurt themselves.
Rats’ tails help them to balance, communicate and regulate their body temperature.
Rats have excellent memories. Once they learn a navigation route, they won’t forget it.
Rats destroy about 20% of agricultural products worldwide each year.
Rats’ jaws are built like an alligator and can exert as much as 7000 pounds per square inch.
The tooth enamel of rats is said to be stronger than steel.
Rats eat their own feces for the nutritional value.
The maturity of rats can be shown by their yellow teeth. Baby rats initially have white teeth.
Rats learn what food that they like from smelling the breath of other rats.
Rats enjoy being tickled. Will laugh (it’s high pitched but recordable) and you can get certified in rat tickling.
Rats cannot vomit or burp.
Rats have been taught to drive little cars.
They do weird things called ‘boggling’ or ‘bruxing’ that indicates that they’re happy. I can link to a video of boggling; bruxing is like softly grinding their teeth.
Rats are incredibly fastidious groomers and one of the first ways to know a rat is sick is if they are not cleaning themselves.
Rats are colorblind.
A group of rats is called a ‘mischief.’
Rats can chew through steel and concrete.
Rats only have four toes on their front feet, but they have a little nub they use like a thumb to help them hold things.
Rats don’t have tonsils or gallbladders.
Rats are able to recognize 3D objects, even if its size is changed or the object has been rotated.
Rats can discern between movies featuring rats and ones that don’t.
Rats are able to distinguish between different human faces.
Rats grieve; they’ve been known to grieve the death of a cagemate or friend.
Rats have been trained as medical alert animals, and are also used in land mine retrieval.
An adult rat can squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter.
A rat’s bite is capable of exerting up to 7000 pounds of force per square inch.
Rats can fall over 50 feet and suffer no injuries.
Rats can jump over 2 vertical feet from a standing position, and over 3 with a running start.
Rats can hold their breath for up to 3 minutes.
Rats can swim for 3 straight days with no breaks.
Sources
Danica (they/them)
https://onekindplanet.org/animal/rat/
https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/rodents/rats/factfile