Do Rats Hide From Humans?

One of the natural techniques that a smaller animal will use to try and reduce the risk of being eaten or killed by a potential threat or predator is to try and minimize the amount of contact they will have with those animals. Some creatures will feel the heavier vibrations on the ground and head for a safe place, while others will have ways of camouflaging themselves, but rats don’ t use these techniques. Indeed, many people will be worried that they see rats on a regular basis, but does this mean that rats have lost their fear of people, or are they simply very numerous, and people will only spot the boldest of the rats?

A Rat’s Preferred Habitat

One of the most interesting aspects of a rat’s biology is in the way that it can adapt to almost any habitat, and because of the large volume of food sources available, rats are better at surviving in urban areas than they are in rural areas. This means that with more rats generally to be found living in urban and suburban areas, that it would make sense that people would see rats from time to time, even if the rats are cautious by nature. Indeed, many people believe that this is more likely to be the case than the fact that rats are losing their natural fear of people.

Are Rats Cautious Around People?

Most people will be quite horrified when they see a rat, as there is a long history of rats being linked with disease, and simply the sight of these creatures is enough to send people reaching for the rat traps. However, most people won’t think to see what the rat was doing, and in most cases where people will see rats in a relatively confined space, it will simply be a blur with a tail dashing for the nearest escape hole. It simply makes biological sense for rats to be cautious around people, as they are perceived to be a threat simply because of how much larger they are than rats, although there are a small number of situations where rats can become bolder.

How A Rat Will React To Seeing A Person

Generally, the reaction of a rat to a person is to try and keep a good distance away from people, and as they are naturally more active during the hours after sundown and before sunrise, they will often look to flee into a darker area where they cannot be seen. In some cases, the rat will simply not know that a person is there, particularly if they are distracted by food or another factor that means they aren’t paying attention to their surroundings. In a small number of cases rats may lose their caution around people, but this is rare and most rats will look to find the nearest escape route when they encounter people in their habitat.

Will Rats Bite People?

While rats are cautious and will hide from people where possible, there are certainly situations where rats will indeed bite people if they feel sufficiently threatened or cornered by that particular person. There are also cases where vulnerable people or small children may be bitten as they sleep, usually if they have food residues on their skin which would be a very attractive feature for a rat. If anyone is bitten by a rat, it is important that they are treated by a medical professional such as a general practitioner, as there are a number of diseases that rats can transmit to people, and many of these can be contracted through a rat bite.


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