Behavior
It is nocturnal and omnivorous, with a preference for grains and fruit. Compared to the brown rat, it is a poor swimmer, but more agile and a better climber, tending even to flee upwards. In a suitable environment it will breed throughout the year, with a female producing three to six litters of up to ten young. Females may regulate their production of offspring during times when food is scarce, producing as few as only one litter a year. R. rattus lives for about 2–3 years. Social groups of up to sixty can be formed.
Read more about this topic: Black Rat
Famous quotes containing the word behavior:
“The civilizing process has increased the distance between behavior and the impulse life of the animal body.”
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“To a first approximation, the intentional strategy consists of treating the object whose behavior you want to predict as a rational agent with beliefs and desires and other mental states exhibiting what Brentano and others call intentionality.”
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