The Norway rat, also known as the Tallahassee street rat, brown rat, wharf rat, and sewer rat, is one of the most commonly found rats on earth. Along with the black rat, these two make up the vast majority of all rats found on earth. This tells you how common they are. These are one of the largest rats on the planet, reaching as big as 10 inches in length. The tail can reach this large as well, giving a total length of as much as 20 inches. This can make for a very scary Florida rodent when you encounter a group of them. The Norway rat usually weighs around 12 ounces, with the female being slightly smaller in size.

It is believed that this rat started in China and found its way across the globe when trade began between Asian nations and Europe. As explorers moved across North and South America, Africa and Oceania, they brought the Florida rodents with them, so that now the sewer rats are found on every continent but Antarctica.

Brown Tallahassee rats live wherever humans are found. This is the case because they often feed off of the same things that we do, and will devour the leftovers and trash that are commonly gotten rid of every day. The fur of the Norway rat is either a very dark gray or brown. The belly area can be a lighter gray or lighter brown. These rats are quite large and have very acute hearing. Many devices to try to get rid of these Florida rats use ultrasonic pulses because of the sensitivity of their hearing. They also have a very acute sense of smell.

The Florida brown rat is a nocturnal hunter that can also swim quite well. This allows them to hunt both above ground and under the water. They are very strong and very adept, making it so that they can climb poles to get to bird feeders, or to burrow into the ground to dig for food. The Norway rat uses a set of ultrasonic vocalizations to communicate with one another. The cries when they are young elicit a maternal response in the female. When they reach 14 days old, they reduce these sounds around males as they need to protect themselves.

The gestation period for the Tallahassee rat is 21 days, and a mother rat can have as many as 14 in a litter. It is common to have seven. Sexual maturity for the rat is reached by five weeks, meaning they are ready to start having children themselves. It is not uncommon for a colony of rats to increase by 10 times within 15 weeks. These Florida rodents will eat anything. They are true omnivores, but most like eggs, pasta, and corn.

Visit our Tallahassee animal removal home page to learn more about us.