no wonder there are so many rats

...a pair of brown rats can produce as many as 2,000 descendants in a
year if left to breed unchecked. (A rat matures sexually at age three
to four months.) An average rat's life span is two to three years.

those are busy rats! also, rats eat their own feces, purely for the nutritional value. either i didn't know that, or i had blocked it out.