What they look like:
A robust, medium-sized rodent with a long snout, small eyes, moderately-sized ears, and a scaly, nearly naked tail (shorter than total body length). The short, coarse fur is grayish-brown above, with scattered black hairs, and pale gray to yellowish on the belly.
Behaviour:
Brown rats are oomnivorous, they eat a wide variety of foods including vegetables, grains, fruits, eggs, milk, fish, and animals (live or dead). Also, eats human garbage and other rats.
How they got here:
The brown rat originated in Asia. It arrived in North America via Europe in the 18th century. Rats have followed humans to every continent except Antarctica.
Predominant location/habitat:
Rats are located all around Antigua and Barbuda.
Effects on Biodiversity:
It has caused or contributed to the extinction or range reduction of native mammals, birds, reptiles and invertebrates through predation and competition. It restricts the regeneration of many plant species by eating seeds and seedlings, eats food crops and spoils human food stores by urinating and defecating in them.
Effects on people and the economy:
They can do significant damage to human artefacts, not only in food destroyed or polluted, but in the destruction of electric and telephone cables, water pipes, furniture and so on. The brown rat is fierce and aggressive, and humans and other predators have not had significant effect in reducing the size of their population.
How to combat these invasive species:
The first step in controlling these animals around human habitation is good sanitation and proper disposal of garbage, together with the rat-proofing of food storage areas.
Trapping is often used on a local scale for control around farms, crops and small wildlife areas; however, it generally fails to remove all individuals, as trap-shy animals can survive and repopulate.