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Black Rat
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- Length
- 15 inches.
- Description
- More slender, with more pointed head, larger ears, and tail always as long or longer than the head and body. Colour glossy bluish-black above, dark-gray beneath, a few white hairs interspersed. Ears lighter coloured, nearly naked, feet pale-brownish, tail sparsely haired, scales distinct.
- Range
- Cosmopolitan. Introduced into America from the Old World, but everywhere disappearing before the advance of the Norway rat, so that it is now rare, with the exception of a well-marked variety--the roof rat--which is well established in the Southern States.
- Range
- In America, South Atlantic States.
The black rat, a much less aggressive and less troublesome animal, was brought to America long before the Norway rat, but upon the introduction of the latter it rapidly disappeared, being apparently quite unable to cope with it, so that we now find the black rat only at rare intervals in remote quarters where its more powerful cousin has not yet established itself. The history of this animal in America is but a repetition of its experience elsewhere and in England to-day it is as scarce as in America.
A variety of the black rat, native of Egypt and adjacent countries, has been introduced into our Southern States where it finds the climate congenial and where it is known as the roof rat. Owing probably to a difference in habits, it does not come into such direct competition with the Norway rat and succeeds in holding its own.
Varieties of the Black Rat
1. Black Rat. Mus rattus Linnaeus. Description as above.
2. Roof Rat. Mus rattus alexandrinus (Geoffroy). Colours above brown and gray, below pure yellowish-white. Shape, ears and tail exactly as in the black rat.