However just as a weed is a plant in the wrong place a pest is a pet you didn t ask for.
Roof rat vs house mouse.
Roof rat large eyes large ears slender longer hairless tail house mouse small all the way around with a tail as coated with fur as the rest of its body habits of each rodent rats and mice can squeeze through holes just large enough to pass their heads through as small as for mice and inch for rats.
The roof rat is the smaller of the two and it is often mistaken for a mouse due to their large ears and pointed noses.
The snout of the rat is more blunt than that of the.
How to identify a rodent a mouse in the house a rat in the roof.
Small head small feet pointed snout large ears with some hair.
Thick or stocky body.
Home blog a mouse in the house a rat in the roof.
Mice and rats can make excellent pets.
As you can see the biggest difference is size.
While there are several species of rats and mice i will examine the two most common ones the roof or black rat and the house mouse both seen in the above photograph.
2 3 months gestation process.
Steady eater but afraid of new.
Average 4 7 per year feeding habits.
Droppings are typically found around where these creatures eat.
These rodents are grayish brown in color with a light yellow underside.
These mice have a light brown body with some gray shading and a dark tail.
So if rats and mice have found food around your home you might find their droppings in the kitchen as well as the attic or other places they hide.
23 days litter size.
Roof rats have pointed noses and large ears and are often mistaken for house mice.
Rats grow to a body of 8 inches and a tail of 9 inches and a weight of almost a pound.
Rats are medium sized to large rodents.
A roof rat will be colored brown or black and if you have ever had the opportunity to view one up close or even hold it you would see and feel that the fur is very soft and smooth.
Blunt nose short ears sexual maturity.
Also known as brown rat sewer rat water rat gray rat house rat and wharf rat color.
A norway rat has capsule shaped feces while a roof rat has spindle shaped droppings and a house mouse has rod shaped excrement.
6 12 per litter no.
The head and feet of adult house mice are proportionally smaller than their bodies while young rats have larger heads and feet in comparison to their bodies.
When domesticated they are clean intelligent and docile.
Rats live in similar colony structures.
30 to 45 cm 12 18 body.
1 2 to 1 lb 10 17 oz length including tail.
Their coats are white gray brown or black in color and are often soiled enough to leave grease marks on touched surfaces.
However rats may grow to be as long as 40 cm or more and weigh considerably more than mice.
Roof rats this species is agile and slender though roof rats are about the same length as norway rats.
