In urban situations, the primary enemy of a rat is a human. Although some cultures revere rats, these rodents are known for their destructive behaviour and their ability to transmit deadly diseases to the human race. As such, controlling rat populations is imperative to the community. Extermination plans may include the use of baits, traps and professionally administered techniques.
Domestic felines also prove a menace to rats. More commonly they are mouse predators, however, domestic cats are likely to pursue and attack rodents when they are discovered within the home. However, outdoors they face a much wider variety of predators. In this kind of environment there are many predators. One of the main predators of rats are large predatory birds such as hawks, falcons and owls, their fantastic eyesight, sharp talons, and thirst for food make them one of the biggest fears for all rodents. Owls are a nocturnal bird with incredibly good eyesight – as rats are also nocturnal, they are one of rats biggest predators. In other situations various snake species do feed on rats.
