There are two main types of rats, black rats and brown rats. Both appear on every continent, excepting Antarctica. They are omnivorous, that is, will eat anything, though they prefer grains, and have been observed to self-cannibalize in times of severe food shortage. Rats produce 3 to 6 litters per year on average, and live for up to 3 years under ideal conditions. They are almost exclusively nocturnal, and will usually drive away any mice in the area.

Black rats, also known as roof rats, house rats, ship rats, or Asian black rats, may be any shade between black and light brown, with a lighter color on the underside. They are generally between 15 and 20 centimeters long when fully grown, and their tails can reach up to 20 centimeters long. Brown rats are either brown or dark gray, with lighter colored undersides. They are generally between 20 and 25 centimeters long when fully grown, and their tails can reach up to 25 centimeters long.

Black and brown rats are almost never found together. Black rats are smaller and more agile than brown rats, and prefer to live in elevated locations. In human habitations, they are usually found in attics (hence their nickname "roof rats"). Brown rats prefer subterranean nests, and are often found in crawlspaces, basements, beneath porches, or generally any ground or below ground level sheltered location near sources of food and water. Brown rats are excellent swimmers, and are often found near wharfs or piers (hence their nickname, "wharf rats").

Rats are notoriously disease-ridden animals. They are largely credited with being the source of the Black Plague that ravaged Europe and Asia from 1347 to 1351, wiping out over one-third of the civilized world's population. They carry bubonic plague (the "black death"), viral hemorrhagic fevers (which include dengue fever and ebola virus, among others), hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, cryptosporidiosis, Q fever (the most infectious disease in the world), leptospirosis ("Weil's disease"), and rabies. These diseases can be transferred from rat to human through being bitten, ingesting rat droppings or urine, or consuming infected rat meat.

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