Do rats bite sleeping humans?

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So, you are sleeping one night and feel something biting at your skin. You are not really sure what it is but when you open your eyes and turn on the light suddenly you are faced with a small little rodent who has been gnawing away at your skin. You noticed instantaneously that this is a rat and do all you can to not only move yourself away from this horrible rodent, but also look for a means to scare it off if not outright kill it. This is a nightmare you surely don’t want to wake up to.



This is a story that has been told over and over again by people who are testifying to the fact that they were attacked by a rat or a group of rats while they were sleeping. There have been several stories written about people, especially small children, that were bitten by rats in the face or arms while they were sleeping at night.

These stories are well documented, but there are those who question the validity of it outright. Many researchers have postulated the rats simply will not bite a person while they are sleeping. This is a myth to them, and they propose that the stories that have been told are ones that are purely fictional with no real factual basis to them at all. The question then becomes, do rats bite humans in their sleep?

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If you were to believe these researchers then the answer would be no. What most people mistake for bites are the fact that rats will crawl all over you while you’re sleeping. These researchers explain that a rat will not biting you, but it’s sharp little claws and feelers that are on its feet will become irritating to you and give you the feeling that you have been bitten by a rat. This, they explain, means that a rat simply doesn’t bite you, so they encourage you to sleep well and not to fear this possibility.

However, the anecdotal evidence denies this is reality. Several stories have come out, even some within the last few years, about rats that had been on people while they were sleeping. In fact, in March 2013 there was a girl who was bitten so severely by rats that she almost died. This seems to contradict the testimony of these researchers.

So what is the truth? Do rats bite you while you’re sleeping? The answer is that they possibly can. While the rats are looking for food to sustain their own livelihood, this does not mean that they would exempt you personally from being a snack. This is especially true for those who are working in the kind of industries where different kinds of tastes may get on to their skin. A person who is a chef or a garbage collector may likely have different kinds of odors that would attract a rat to him or her.

So, the answer to the question is that you may not be able to sleep as well as you thought. If given the opportunity rats will bite you while you sleep. For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How much does rat removal cost? - get the lowdown on prices.
How to get rid of rats - my main rat removal info guide.
Example rat trapping photographs - get do-it-yourself ideas.
Rat job blog - learn from great examples of rat jobs I've done.