Introduction

In and around every town and farm in the country, rats and mice can be found. There is one rat for every person in the United States, according to estimates. Rodents have followed man to nearly every corner of the globe. They have no regard for social status; they are pests of all kinds.

Poop attracts rats because they're in search of food.

Rats are attracted to dog poop because it smells wonderful, according to legend. But there's a lot more to the story. Rats eat both meat and plants, making them meat eaters. They consume pretty much everything that smells nice, is simple to get to, and can be eaten effortlessly without spending too much effort. Dog excrement is ideal because it has all of the nutritious richness of grass or other plants, but it also contains meat scraps because dogs are carnivore creatures (they consume meat).

An expert told me that dog poop doesn't, on its own, attract rats.

I have been told by an expert that dog poop does not attract rats as its own food source. Rats are omnivores, and they eat both meat and plants. If you have a pet, the animal's waste is not likely to be enticing enough to lure rats into your home on its own.

Additionally, rats are opportunistic eaters: they'll take what they can get when it comes to feeding themselves. In other words, if there were a bunch of cat food available, which would be far more enticing than dog feces, they would get that instead.

But another expert told me that dog poop, like any other food source, can attract rats.

Rats are omnivores, meaning they will eat almost anything, according to him. Poop from dogs and cats is high in protein and fat. Rats have a lot of energy from such proteins and fats, which they need to reproduce and live during the winter months when food is limited. And, because this type of food is readily available right outside your front door, you can end up with more rats than you planned for.

The thing about rats — and about any other wild animals — is that we don't have enough data to say for sure what does or does not attract them.

So, in the spirit of science and education, let's take a look at some of the more common theories and see if they hold up under scrutiny.

Food Rats are omnivores who prefer meat (which is probably why they're drawn to us), but they'll eat anything, including fruits, vegetables, grains, and even trash if they have no other choice. When food is short, these scavengers will try everything they can to find something nutritious before moving on, and what if your dog's poop smells like something nice to eat? So, I guess it's time to start a new workout routine.

A biologist I spoke to said that the answer is multifaceted.

Rats eat both meat and plants since they are omnivores. They're also opportunistic, which means they'll eat whatever they can get their hands on. They're also quite intelligent and may find food in the most improbable places: for example, if you leave some bread on an outside table on a windy day, a rat may catch it and transport it away to hide behind a lawn chair or something like. Finally, rats are excellent hiders, so you'll never see one unless there are a large number of them in one location and/or their habitat has been disturbed, such as when someone cleans up after their dog.

So do dog poops attract rats?

Maybe sometimes. Probably not always. Rats are omnivores, which means they’ll eat just about anything. So it's not surprising that rat populations especially the ones in NYC have been known to thrive around dog poop. But that doesn't mean dog poop is the only thing rats eat.

They also enjoy eating cat poop, human food waste and even dead animals.

In short: if something smells like food to us, it probably smells like food to a rat as well.

It's hard to understand why something attracts one kind of animal but not another.

It's hard to understand why something attracts one kind of animal but not another. This is especially true when it comes to rats and dog poop. We know that rats like food sources, but not all of them. They can tell the difference between foods, and they even have preferences for certain types of food over others.