Dire Rat
Dire Rat or Giant Rat is a well know and most widespread of all the dire beasts, and far more vicious and dangerous than most are ready to give it credit for.
Basic Information
Biological Traits
Adult dire rat can be about the size of a large dog, making one a terrifying thing to just bump into. Males tend to be larger than females, with females having slightly longer life expectancy. Well-fed dire rats in a healthy environment can live up to 10 years, but most of them will perish much, much earlier.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Diet of a dire rat is one of the omnivores - and while the rats themselves prefer bugs and worms, they are known to eat meat from much larger sources as well. That said, these giant rodents prefer easy meals and rather feast on carrion than hunting living prey.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Due to their cunning and excellent survival skills, one can find dire rats pretty much from everywhere in Melyria. While not as many in number as their smaller cousins, dire rats live anywhere where there is any land from the cruel expanse of the Iykerz Kugelen to bustling streets of the Moon Terrace, to the depths of Underdark.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Like their smaller cousins, dire rats are like to carry diseases due to the type of environments they are found. Flees and other parasites tend to prefer nesting on the fur of the rats, making them potential disease carriers.
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