Due to the fact that they love feasting on crops, these rats have also become an enemy to many farmers. Black rats are very flexible when it comes to searching for their food. They often search for food in proximity to their opposite sex, and they also have a tendency to start searching after the sun has set. If it finds food that can’t be consumed immediately it will search for a place to hoard the food and consume it at a later time.

Black rats tend to live in urban areas, they like to live in roofs, wall cavities, trees, or make burrows around farms. These guys also love being near humans. In places where both Norway rats and Black rats reside, the Norway rats tend to be more aggressive and force the Black rats to live in the upper portions of buildings or move to trees. If there are no Norway rats present, they will burrow beneath buildings. Black rats are also known for their somewhat destructive behaviour, they are known to destroy tree bark and contaminate food sources. They also build nests for their young out of sticks and leaves. Due to their gift at being agile climbers, they tend to make their nests on the upper floors of buildings. One interesting fact is that Black rats can also live inside ships.