House rat

rattus rattus

The domestic rat has a head-torso length of 16 to 24 cm, a tail length of 18 to 25 cm, the tail has 200 to 260 rings, the weight is approx. 200 to 400 g. The snout of the domestic rat is pointed, eyes and ears are relatively larger than those of the Norway rat. The less specialized, very adaptable free-living animals are generally regarded as food pests. In addition to other small rodents, free-living domestic rats are also reservoir hosts for various types of borrelia (bacteria), which can then be transmitted to animals and humans by vectors such as ticks already found in front gardens. In contrast to Norway rats, they are much less common.