Long-haired Rat

The long-haired rat can be distinguished by its very long, coarse guard hairs that form an outer layer to protect the softer underfur. The species is generally a light grey colour with the black guard hairs giving and overall greyish speckled appearance. This distinguishes them from the tan or brown colouration of many other rat species. A male long-haired rat can grow to an average size of 187 mm with a tail length of approximately 150 mm while a female can grow to an average of 167 mm with an approximate tail length of 141 mm. The average weight for males is 156 g and for females is 112 g.

Long-haired rats typically occur in temperate, sub-tropical, desert and hummock grasslands regions. However, during a plague eruption, they can be found in virtually every habitat including farm outbuildings and homesteads as well as invading cultivated pastures such as sorghum and oats. However, when population numbers are low, they are restricted to a much smaller range closer to sources of food and water. Long-haired rats rely on dense vegetation or burrows for shelter. Their burrows can range in complexity from a simple shallow passage to a structure with 20 meters of complex tunnels which lead to multiple chambers.

Long-haired rats are nocturnal and their activities seem to be influenced by the amount of moonlight. They are a very terrestrial species with the majority of an individual's activity being spent in and around their burrow and up to 80% of time being spent below ground. They move across open areas but constantly remain closer to vegetation cover to protect themselves against predation.