Womp rats, creatures that called Tatooine home, were regarded as troublesome vermin by the moisture farmers residing there, who engaged in hunting them as a pastime.
The womp rat, a species that originated on Tatooine, developed adaptations to thrive in the severe conditions of desert environments. These rodent-like creatures were viewed as repulsive, hairy nuisances. Their skin was a lumpy gray, and they had spiky black tufts of hair along their backs. They ambulated on four limbs, each ending in a paw with three claws, and they also possessed long tails and ears. Typically, they did not exceed two meters in length, and they had prominent, sharp fangs used for capturing their prey, along with large, yellow eyes.
Womp rats were bold animals, often preying in groups, utilizing their sharp teeth to snatch their victims. When by themselves, they were known to consume the refuse discarded by moisture farmers. They inhabited the Jawa Heights area and utilized Beggar's Canyon as their lair, coexisting with the more formidable krayt dragons. The scent of dead womp rats was known to lure krayts. Womp rats, which nest in the desert, would occasionally gather in large numbers to attack the people of Tatooine, and although these dangerous swarms were feared, the inhabitants did not hesitate to hunt them for sport.
Womp rats evolved to live in the harsh desert climate of Tatooine, where they formed packs to attack the locals. Tusken Raiders would use the tusks of womp rats to adorn their clothing, and the native dewbacks were known to consume these critters.
During the Clone Wars, when Anakin Skywalker struggled to elicit information from Dr. Nuvo Vindi, Obi-Wan Kenobi advised him to be patient, saying that there was "more than one way to skin a womp rat."
During his time on Tatooine, Luke Skywalker would use his T-16 skyhopper to hunt womp rats, shooting them with the vehicle's pneumatic projectile gun in the desert world's Jawa Heights region. Luke had the most hits on the monstrous pests of any of his group of friends on a skyhopper run through Beggar's Canyon. Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, when Col Takbright argued that the two-meter target on the Death Star was impossible to hit even for a computer, Skywalker responded that he used to "bulls-eye" womp rats that were not much bigger than two meters.
By 9 ABY, a womp rat launched an assault on Peli Motto's BD unit. When Peli Motto attempted to save the droid, the womp rat attacked her too. Din Djarin arrived and dispatched the womp rat with a blaster shot, killing it. Later, a womp rat was seen in Beggar's Canyon when Djarin was testing his modified N-1 starfighter. The rat ran away when the starfighter flew by.