Plague Rat

The plague rat has been the bane of many a people, not to mention entire villages and cities. They look shabby and sickly, but this is not an indicator of failing health. Rather, it is a warning. The rat's best defense against predators is that consuming the rodent is decidedly unhealthy. Plague rats can live in symbiosis with any number of diseases, for which they act as asymptomatic carriers, spreading it to any predator who dares consume them. Thus, only creatures with their own resistances to disease dare make a regular meal of them.
Of course, this is not the only manner in which the rat can spread its diseases and it is in this capacity they have proven troublesome. Their bite and scratches can spread it, as can their feces and urine. Thus, quite an umber of pandemics can be traced directly back to these beings. While not suicidal, they are also not afraid to have a go at larger creature who bother them, viciously jumping at and biting the offender, which only becomes more distressing when they do so as a swarm. When thus gathered, they can easily skeletonize mid-sized predators who think of making a snack of them.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The plague rat is a small rodent, quadrupedal with short, patchy grey fur. They have a long, hairless tail. Claws on their feet give them a good grip and allow them to climb a variety of surfaces. Their unique immune system incorporates bacteria rather than destroy them, turning plague rats into asymptomatic carriers of whatever disease they catch.

Genetics and Reproduction

Plague rats breed whenever food is plentiful. They mate as a group, males attempting to impregnate as many females in estrus as possible. Females show a preference for males they haven't mated with before. The pregnant females giving birth after twenty to thirty cycles, though if food suddenly become scarce, they can delay giving birth for up to fifteen cycles on average. Plague rats give live birth to litters of eight to twelve young.

Growth Rate & Stages

Young plague rats are completely dependent on their family, not only for food but aso because they can't regulate their own temperature. Over the course of thirty to fourty days, the young rats grow up.

Ecology and Habitats

Plague rats can adapt to a wide variety of areas, having been found in plains, forests, swamps, cities and others. Only extremes of heat and cold seem to be too much for them, though even then they sometime settle in cities in such climates, coexisting with the people there.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Plague rats are omnivores and thus capable of eating a wide variety of foods, from grain to meat to fruit.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Plague rats live in packs, dwelling in tightly packed dens. They are very social, nuzzling and rubbing themselves against each other as displays of affection. These bonds to do not extend to rats outside their family, of which they are often vary and confrontational.

Domestication

Due to their ability to adapt new diseases into their body, plague rats are rarely kept as pets, since even a thorough cleansing doesn't prevent them from picking new infections up. Still, there are those who either through courage, ignorance or their own protection against diseases keep them as pets. They also see use by some assassins, who infect the rats with deadly diseases before unleashing them near their intended victim.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Plague rats are adapted to a high number of spheres, much to some peoples' chagrin.

Average Intelligence

Plague rats are quite clever, demonstrating good memory and decent problem solving skills.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Plague rats have well-developed noses that allows them to find and track food over long distances.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

The plague rat can exist in symbiosis with most bacteria, adapting them into their own body. One particular strain is so common to the species that it has been named rat plague in honor(Or some would say dishonor) of the rats.

Scientific Name

Rat Male Habentes

Lifespan

4 -6 years

Average Height

0.06 - 0.09 meters

Average Weight

0.5 - 1 kilo

Average Length

0.1 - 0.3 meters