This isn’t a North Carolina native. It’s introduced, arriving on ships that called at the state’s historic coastal ports, and its records still trace that dockside pattern along the Outer Banks and the sounds near Cape Hatteras rather than spreading evenly across the state.
Unlike burrowing rats, it climbs, moving through rafters, dune vegetation, and coastal scrub rather than digging into the ground. That habit lets it exploit old buildings and maritime forest near the coast, which is why records here cluster around Cape Hatteras and the swampy, low country of Alligator River and the Great Dismal Swamp.
Reports come in scattered through the year with no strong seasonal pattern, consistent with a species that’s active year-round wherever it finds shelter and food. North Carolina lists it as exotic rather than native, and the record count reflects a coastal foothold rather than a rat established across the whole state.
Full species profile
