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Rat vs Mouse

Gary Anderson • October 26, 2021

What is the Difference Between Rat and a Mouse? 

If you see a small furry creature that has short legs and a long hairless tail in your home or business, it’s usually a rat or mouse. They may look the same when they blur across your floor, but there are a lot of rat and mouse differences if you know what to look for. In addition to appearance, they also live, eat, and behave differently as well. 
Feature Roof Rat Norway Rat House Mouse
Length ~8 inches ~9.5 inches 2 - 4 inches
Tail length 6 - 8 inches ~6.5 inches 2 - 4 inches
Litter Count 5 - 10 7 - 8 4 - 16
Litter Annual 3 - 6 3 - 6 7 - 8
Ears Small and flat against head Small and flat against head Large and protrudes upwards
Body Large Large Small
Color Black Brown Grey / Brown
Head Proportionate to body Proportionate to body Large compared to body
Tail Thick hairless & scaly Thick hairless & scaly Long thin with hair
Food Requirements 15 - 30 g daily 15 - 30 g daily 3 g daily
Water Requirements 15 - 60 ml daily 15 - 60 ml daily 3 ml daily
Daily Poop Count 40 daily 40 daily 60 - 80 daily
Poop Size 1/2 inch 1/2 inch 1/4 inch

What Do Rats Look Like?

Depending on the species of rat, rats can grow between 7 - 9 inches long. Roof rats and Norway rats share a lot of similarities as well but are also slightly different in appearance and behavior. That being said, rats generally share these features:

  • Snout: Blunt, flatter nose; Roof rat has a slightly more pointed nose
  • Ears: Smaller ears respective to the size of the rat’s head that lay flat against the head
  • Tails: Thick, hairless, and scaly tail
  • Hair: Can be white, grey, brown, or black with a shaggy coat
  • Body: Proportionate body in comparison to head and tail

What Do Mice Look Like? 

Mice are typically much smaller than their rat cousins. They are generally between 2-4 inches long, but sometimes adolescent rats may be mistaken for adult mice due to size similarities. The other primary differences in appearance include:

  • Snout: Triangular snout that comes to a pointed nose
  • Ears: Floppy ears that stick up; Large respective to the size of mouse’s head
  • Tails: Thin tail with hair; Longer than the body of the mouse
  • Hair: Short hair with lighter underbelly; Outercoat can be brown, grey, or white
  • Body: Large body compared to the size of the feet and head

Eating Habits

Both rodent species are largely scavengers and opportunists. They will find food and generally eat whatever it is to avoid starving. Each species has their preferences but when populations get out of hand there is no food source that they won’t consume.


Rats:

  • Norway rats will eat 15-30 g of a balanced diet consisting of grains, nuts, fruits, and proteins. Rats will forage for food in trash, but they will also chew through just about anything including metal, drywall, and plastic to get to their next food source.
  • Roof rats will also eat anything they can get ahold of, but they have a preference for fresh fruit. Their name was earned after they were commonly found in attics after reaching access points from fruit tree branches. Roof rats will also consume between 15-30 g of food a day.

Mice:

  • Mice are omnivorous and will heat just about anything including grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, & vegetables. They will devastate a garden and are also commonly found raiding trash for food scraps. Each mouse only needs 3 g of food a day to survive but this adds up to devastating numbers quickly when large infestations take hold.

Behavior

Rats:

  • Rats are known for being extremely cautious. Rats are very intelligent and are highly suspect of new elements in their surroundings. It is highly recommended that traps are left out unset for a few days before setting them to let rats get acclimated to the new element in their space. Norway rats can climb but they generally stay grounded. They are also excellent swimmers and are often found in sewers. Roof rats, on the other hand prefer to climb and are known to spend their time exploring trees in search of fresh fruit. 

Mice:

  • Mice are notorious for being bold and curious. They are excellent jumpers, climbers, and swimmers and will venture out and explore new elements of their surroundings. This makes standard house traps an excellent way to get rid of mice. They can climb vertically and are agile enough to run along cables at fast speeds. Mice are nocturnal and avoid well-lit areas.

Habitats

Rodents have had to adapt to living in close quarters with humans. They are found just about everywhere you see people.


  • Norway rats prefer to close to the ground in burrows. This is why they will also be found taking shelter in basements, crawlspaces, and the sewer. Their burrows can get extensive as their families grow and they can cause extensive damages to plumbing, piping, and sewage lines.
  • Roof rats are strong climbers which gives them the ability to find elevated nesting areas. They are commonly found in attics, barns, and trees. They will often find their way into homes and businesses via rooftop access due to low hanging branches.
  • Mice typically live on the ground in quiet undisturbed locations like in wall cavities, kitchen cabinets, and utility closets.

Droppings

Rodent droppings can look similar with the primary differentiator between mouse vs rat poop being the size of the feces. Rat’s droppings are generally about a ½ inch long, roughly the length of a grain of rice but much thicker. Rats will poop about 40 times in a day while mice poop as many as 80 times in a day. Mouse droppings are usually no longer than ¼ inch long which resembles a long seed or grain.

Breeding

Mice: are generally able to reach sexual maturity earlier and produce more litters faster than rats. They typically have up to 8 litters a year with litter sizes reaching 16. The time it takes for mice to reach maturity is between 8-12 weeks which means that mice populations can reach terrifying levels of exponential growth in a short period.


Norway rats: generally reach maturity between 10-12 weeks and produce between 3-6 litters a year with only 7-8 rats per litter.


Roof rats: mature in about 8 weeks and produce between 3-6 litters a year with up to 10 rats per litter. 

Damages

Both rodent species can cause a significant amount of damage that will require expensive repairs. They are both known to gnaw through cables, wiring, other various building materials. Chewing through wires and cables can be very dangerous because it can cause short circuits and electrical fires. Rats have much stronger teeth than mice which allows them to gnaw through much stronger materials like glass, metal, plastics, wood, and concrete. They can cause serious damages to plumbing and are much more likely to gain access to food sources that are stored properly. Mice on the other hand will shred through your upholstery and insulation while making nests in your walls. Both are vectors for some serious infectious pathogens which is extremely dangerous if there is food contamination.

Why Does It Matter?

Determining if you are dealing with a mice vs rats has serious implications on the strategy that will be used to target and trap them. Knowing what, where, how, and when to treat for a specific rodent is critical in ensuring that the problem can be effectively treated in a time frame that doesn’t allow them to breed and rapidly grow in population. Not sure what you are dealing with? Call EcoGuard Pest Management to get a licensed pest control technician out for an inspection. 

How EcoGuard Can Help with Rodent Problems

At EcoGuard Pest Management, we know how difficult rodents can be to get rid of. Our integrated pest management approach offers several rat control and mice control treatment strategies to help combat whatever rodent we find. Our service include:

  • Rodent inspection
  • Rat & mice trapping and treatment services
  • Exclusion
  • On-going monitoring

This treatment plan comes with a pest free guarantee, if the pest return so do we at no additional cost. Call today!

Rat vs Mouse FAQs

  • Are rats worse than mice?

    Rats are a little more aggressive than mice but outside of that, they are both carriers of infectious pathogens and both are notorious for causing an unmeasurable amount of property damage. Mice breed faster and can quickly become a problem.

  • Are rats and mice related?

    While both rats and mice are considered under the same family of rodents, the deviation that caused the species to separate happened so long ago that they are separate species, each with their own set of subspecies. 

  • Are rats harder to get rid of than mice?

    Rats may be harder to trap and get rid of because they are more cautious, but they are also easier to prevent. Exclusion strategies will block access points for rodents which are much easier when trying to prevent rats. This is because they travel along the ground and are large enough where they can’t fit through extremely small holes. 

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