They need water to survive unlike mice. Rats live about one year and live in colonies like humans so you never just have one rat. Rats live in burrows, normally at the edge of foundations of walls. As the family grows, more burrows are built resulting in a network of underground tunnels. If the population is too large some rats move out into attics and roof voids.
Rats are nocturnal, with their peak activity at dusk or before dawn.
When the population is large or they are disturbed or hungry, you can see activity during the day. Statistics One pair of mice can produce 200 offspring in four months. In six months, one pair of mice can eat about four pounds of food and produce some 18,000 faecal droppings. Mice are not blind but have poor vision and cannot see clearly beyond six inches. The adult house mouse is small and slender and about 1 - 2 inches long, excluding tail.