The only thing I know about rats is that the distributor is on the wrong end.
... Only in that I have a persistent population of Norways in my back yard (we abut onto some undeveloped park/flood zone land) and they've given me endless sport over the years.
One was stupid enough to come up from under the house and into the living room, where a piece of wall trim had been removed during some remodeling.
It was a short-lived problem. We have Great Danes.