Rat and mouse infestations are incredibly common around the world. Although these two critters are categorized under the same general category of rodent, they differ in an ample amount of ways. If you have begun to notice different droppings around your home and are unaware of what they could be from, you could have a rat or mouse infestation. In order to sufficiently eradicate them from your home, it is important to know whether you have rats or mice due to the fact that your methods for getting rid of them will differ greatly.
Why Analyze Droppings?
The main way to determine whether you have rats or mice is to look at their droppings. The majority of the time you will not see the mice or the rats, although you may hear them. There are other methods of determining whether you have a rat or mouse infestation such as looking for marks and holes leading to their nests. It is important to remember that if you have never had an infestation before, analyzing the droppings will help to make the identification process easier as they are significantly different.
Rat Droppings
There are two main species of rats that can infest a home and they are Norway rats and roof rats. Norway rats produce the same amount of droppings as roof rats, except their droppings are slightly smaller than their counterparts. Roof rat droppings will measure up to ½ inches long, whereas Norway rat droppings are a mere ¾ long. Another way to distinguish between these two types of rats is the shape of their droppings. Roof rats have droppings that are large and curved whereas Norway rats’ droppings are also large but rectangular in shape.
Mouse Droppings
Unlike rats, there is only one species of mice that could possibly be infesting your home. It is important to remember that even a small amount of mouse droppings in your home could mean that there are dozens of mice living within your walls and under your floors. House mice are known to produce at least 50-75 pellets daily that are ¼ inch long. In comparison to rat droppings, they are small with either one end pointed or both ends pointed. With that being said, the easiest way to distinguish between rat and mouse droppings is to analyze the size of the droppings and their shape.
