Rats: miscellaneous facts

The collective noun for rats is a “mischief”.

The rat is the first animal in the Chinese zodiac.

The author Beatrix Potter had a pet rat called Sammy to whom her story “The Tale of Samuel Whiskers” (1908) was dedicated.

UB40’s track “Rat in mi kitchen”, 1986, features a guest appearance by trumpeter Herb Alpert.

Rats and mice are fastidiously clean, and will groom themselves several times a day, so the phrase “dirty rat” is something of an oxymoron.

In 2013 Russian scientists erected a statue to honour the contribution of laboratory rats and mice to science

Rats’ eyes can move in opposite directions to one another if required

Rats have tiny sweat glands on their feet but these are too small to regulate their body temperature effectively. They use their tails for this

Rats' sense of smell is so good that Giant African Pouched Rats are used to sniff out land mines and tuberculosis

They have a greater olfactory ability than any other mammal – apart from elephants

They have a sense of fun and enjoy being tickled

They can be taught to drive small model cars

They may not be responsible for the Black Death

They feel empathy for their fellows, and will forgo food to help out other rats