Rat (species)



Rats are a species of rodent native to Earth, with the first "true" rats originating in Asia.

They are distinguished from mice in their larger size and are often kept as pets or used for scientific study. Rats originally ate plants, but they can eat many things such as meat (mostly carcasses or each other) and garbage. Rats usually have from 5 to 10 offspring in each pregnancy, which is one of the reasons their population grows so fast.

Appearances
Rats appear on most of the Campaign levels set on Earth, most notably Crow's Nest, as well as the Multiplayer map Rat's Nest in Halo 3, to tie in with the map, though all the rats found on Rat's Nest are already dead, likely due to the fact that they would appear on radar and confuse the players.

In Crow's Nest, it is possible to kill the rats, and when killed they will roll around in a prone form. When they are shot at or encountered they will squeal characteristically and will appear as small yellow dots on your motion tracker. Rats can be killed and emit the same blood as marines.

Rats have been noticed around the butchered area of the barracks on  Crow's Nest, most likely feeding on the dead Marines.