Name:Rattus nitidus
Alias:Rattus nitidus,Gray-breasted rat, water rat
Outline:Rodents
Family:Rodentia Muridae Rattus
length:140-180mm
IUCN:LC
Big-footed rats belong to the Murinae subfamily. The species status is stable, but there are many synonyms, and there are great differences of opinion on the merging of these synonyms. This species mainly inhabits farmland and shrubs, and is generally not in houses. It is similar to the brown rat of the same genus, but its ears are much larger than the brown rat, and its tail is also longer than the brown rat. It is harmful to farmland.
Big-footed rats are mainly active at night, most active at dawn and dusk, and mostly lie in caves during the day. There are certain activity routes when they go out to look for food. Where there are weeds on the route, they will bite off the weeds and split them into trails. Big-footed rats have obvious seasonal migration and food-seeking migration characteristics, and this migration habit is of great significance in population reproduction.
The caves of big-footed rats are mostly in thorn bushes and rock crevices. Each cave has 4-5 entrances. The entrance is generally opened in the sunny place. The diameter of the entrance is about 6 cm. The tunnel is extremely long. The entrance is on the ridge of the field, and the back entrance is in the bushes close to the ditch. The entrance gradually starts to go down after about 40 cm into the tunnel. Another fork leads to the skylight cave. The nest is about 98 cm deep from the ground and 253 cm horizontally from the entrance. The nest is made of straw, leaves, and weeds. The diameter of the nest is 13×15 cm. At a horizontal distance of about 45 cm from the exit, the tunnel begins to fork and leads to two exits. The exit is extremely hidden and is in the bushes close to the ditch.
Big-footed rats mainly feed on seeds, and like to eat corn and rice. They also eat berries, grass seeds, grass roots, tender shoots, and other small rodents, snails, fish, crabs, etc.
Big-footed rats have strong reproductive capacity and can reproduce throughout the year except December and January. May is the peak period of reproduction throughout the year, but generally they reproduce in spring and autumn, with 3-11 litters and an average of 4-6.
In China, the number of big-footed rats varies greatly depending on the region, habitat and year, which is probably caused by rainfall and temperature.
Listed in the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species ver 3.1 - Least Concern (LC).