Over the years I've come across brown rats / Rattus norvegicus / common rat / street rat / sewer rat / wharf rat / Hanover rat / Norway rat / Norwegian rat.

I've seen large rats in New Zealand urban environments, on the ground, and assumed that's what I was seeing.

I never heard of ship rats / black rats / roof rats. But a friend mentioned they're real problem in California.

I learned it's the most common rat in New Zealand.

While I've heard Kiwis talk about rats, I never heard anyone talk about roof rats.

Here's an interesting video, and the somewhat extreme way of getting rid of them.