![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/416_2.png)
Rats take care of injured and sick rats in their group.
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/417_3.png)
Without companionship, rats tend to become lonely and depressed.
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/418_3.png)
The rat is the first of the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac.
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/461_3.png)
People who are born in the Chinese ‘Year of the Rat’ are creative, intelligent, honest, ambitious and generous – just like rats!
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/462_3.png)
In India, rats are worshipped at the temple of Karni Mata where they are fed grain and milk.
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/464_3.png)
An average rat’s life span is 2 – 3 years.
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/465_3.png)
Rats’ front teeth grow 11 – 14 centimetres each year. Rats wear them down by continuously gnawing on everything around them including cement, brick and wood.
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/466_3.png)
Ancient Romans considered the rat to be a sign of good luck.
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/467_3.png)
Rats have very poor eyesight and are colour blind.
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/468_3.png)
Rats have been proven to make a laughter-like noise (unable to be heard by the human ear alone) when tickled.
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/469_3.png)
It has been proven that rats do dream while sleeping.
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/470_3.png)
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the longest living domestic rat died at seven years and four months of age (which far exceeds the 2-3 year expected lifespan.)
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/471_3.png)
Rats have been used throughout history as pets, religious icons, mine detectors, and some have even been trained to drag wires through walls making some electricians’ jobs much faster.
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/473_3.png)
Rats have excellent memories. Once rats learn a direction-finding route, they never forget it.
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/474_3.png)
Rats can swim and many enjoy it.
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/475_3.png)
Male rats are known as ‘bucks’, females are ‘does’, and babies are ‘pups’ or ‘kittens’.
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/476_3.png)
Almost all domestic pet rats belong to a single species, the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus).
![Fun Facts](/UserFiles/spcakidseducation/Slider/281/477_3.png)
The Gambian Pouched Rat, in its native continent of Africa, can grow up to 7 kilograms!