"Me too." wrote:

Hi, just the other day, I noticed there is a rat around our deck out back.

What species? Could it be a wood rat? Or is it the Rattus
species (grey, black or brown species)?

It seems to be eating the bird food that falls to the ground, (2 bird
feeders mounted on deck.) This is a somewhat rural area and has a
population of squirrels, chipmunks, bear, groundhogs, deer, rabbits etc.
So, seeing this unfamiliar site has thrown me. We have 3 large house cats
with full sets of claws, so I'm not too worried about the rat coming in and
surviving, or should I be?

WORRY! They are amazingly destructive and fertile and carry
Hanta virus, bubonic plague and other nasties.

And figure out where it's living and trap it.


Tsu

--
To doubt everything or to believe everything
are two equally convenient solutions; both
dispense with the necessity of reflection.
- Jules Henri Poincaré