House Rats adapt to a wide range of habitats. In urban areas they are found around storehouses, residential buildings, and other human settlements. They are also found in agricultural areas, such as in crop fields. In urban areas, they are commonly found in wall cavities and false ceilings as well as they prefer to live in dry upper levels of buildings or roofs. In the wild, they live in cliffs, rocks, the ground, and trees. This species is primarily commensal with the human beings but also found in a diverse natural and semi-natural habitat. It is a serious pest to the crops of all kinds, stored grains, food items and responsible for carrying and spreading diseases like the plague. It walks, runs, swims and climbs trees at ease. It builds a nest of dry materials that could be parts of linen, books and other household materials in a disused corner of a house, store house and in burrows. It is a prolific breeder.