Sometimes it is difficult to determine what kind of rodents are in the house. And even when meeting face to face, or rather face to face, sometimes doubts creep in about what kind of animal it is - a large mouse or a small rat. In fact, the difference between them is significant. Let's look at what mice look like, how a mouse differs from a rat appearance and habits and how you can determine what genus a rodent belongs to without even seeing it.
House mouse - appearance and behavior
The house mouse is the most common rodent living in human housing. Over many years of coexistence, its diet has changed significantly; the animal switched from cereals and nuts to plant and animal products that people eat. IN summer time mice can live in fields, picking up grains, but by mid-autumn they will certainly move closer to humans and a warm home.
The intelligence of the house mouse is quite low, and they are also not very careful, so they easily fall into even the simplest mousetraps. The population of these rodents is maintained only due to their rapid reproduction - females give birth to offspring every month, up to 100 mice per year.
Their body length is 7-8 cm, in rare cases at good nutrition– up to 10 cm, weight – 25-40 grams. Thanks to such miniature dimensions, the mouse is able to squeeze through even a centimeter gap.
Interestingly, the colors of mice depend on geographical location accommodation. In the south and central Russia Rodents with light silvery skin are common; in Siberia their fur is more brown than gray. The line between colors is becoming increasingly blurred over time - animals travel on all types of transport, so sometimes you can see an animal of an unusual color.
Difference in structure
There are two types of rats found in homes – gray and black. The black one is covered with dark brown fur, so it cannot be confused with a mouse. More common gray rat, or pasyuk.
Pasyuk is a fairly large rodent, body length adult varies from 17 to 25 cm. In addition to size, there is whole line anatomical differences, you can distinguish a mouse from a rat by the following characteristics:
Differences between babies
During repairs or general cleaning, you may find a nest of rodents with droppings. What species the babies belong to can be determined quite easily. Newborn rat pups are bald and blind, their body length is about 3 cm.
Mice reach this size by the time they are completely covered with hair.
It is also not difficult to distinguish a baby rat from an adult mouse: the baby’s muzzle in profile is blunt, like that of a bulldog, and only becomes sharper closer to puberty. In addition, baby rats, like any babies, have a larger head compared to an adult.
Upon careful examination, it is not difficult to notice the difference between rodents, but to do this you will have to catch at least one individual. Let's figure out how to distinguish a rodent if it quickly disappeared from sight, without allowing itself to be seen, or without seeing the animal at all.
Traces of life activity
Often, even without seeing a rodent, you can determine its species by carefully examining the room in which the animal lived:
- Mice move in small mincing steps, leaving small tracks up to 1 cm long. The fingers in the footprint are located close to each other. Rat tracks are larger, the toes are widely spaced, the angle between the outer phalanges is about 180°. Rats move over long distances by jumping, so there can be a significant gap between tracks.
- The damage left by rodents also varies. Mice can chew through food in search of food. plastic bags, cardboard and foam boxes. The rat needs regular grinding of its rather large incisors, so it chews on tougher things and can cope with hard wood and even concrete.
- In rooms where rats visit, you can see traces of fur near the baseboards. This is due to the fact that pasyuks move pressed against the wall. Mice are more reckless and run straight to the goal.
- Rat excrement is 1 to 2 cm long, located in a heap. Mouse - small, up to 6 mm, scattered throughout the room.
Behavior and intelligence
Mice are very cowardly animals; at the slightest rustle they quickly disappear from sight. At the same time, they can calmly run out into the middle of the room if the person sits quietly and moves little.
Pasyuki will never enter a room without making sure that there is no person in it.
If this rodent is caught at the scene of a crime, it will freeze, assess the situation and run away only if it sees danger. Catching a rat with your hands or throwing a blanket over it is not the best good idea. They are aggressive and will fiercely defend themselves if they find themselves in a hopeless situation.
The mental abilities of large and small rodents also differ significantly. The Rat is much smarter and smarter. When kept as a pet, it becomes attached to its owner and is even able to respond to a nickname. Getting rid of these rodents is more difficult; they will never eat suspicious food or climb into a trap.
Mice live in houses much more often; thanks to their small size, it is easier for them to enter a room, hide and get the right amount of food. Rats prefer to settle in places where people visit less often: in basements, granaries, barns, chicken coops.
Mice and rats cannot coexist in the same area. When the pasyuks arrive, one part of the small rodents immediately changes their place of residence, and the other turns out to be food for their older brothers.
Rats and mice belong to the order Rodents. If you don’t know the difference between them, it’s easy to confuse the animals. This will lead to an erroneous choice of means of destruction. Adults are characterized by different sizes: a rat is larger than a mouse. At the initial stage of development, young animals are more difficult to distinguish. To understand who is found in the house, they first study the features of the rodent’s body structure.
Small animals of several species are found in residential buildings. A house mouse lives near a person, as well as a gray, black or red rat.
The difference between rodents becomes noticeable if we evaluate each body parameter separately:
- Dimensions. When thinking about what ordinary rats look like, the image of a large-bodied animal immediately comes to mind. The body length of this rodent reaches 30 cm. The mouse is smaller in size, the average individual is characterized by a length of up to 10 cm.
- Weight. Given the difference in size, it is logical to assume that the mass of animals also differs. For example, a mouse weighs between 30 and 50 g, while a fellow rat reaches 900 g.
- Tail. Differs in length and thickness. This part of the mouse's body is shorter. You should also pay attention to the thickness. The mouse has a thin tail, while large rodents have a thick tail, which is more noticeable at the base. In addition, it is not covered with fur. The mouse tail is also different: it is hairy, and the color matches the color of the body.
- The eyes of the mouse are larger.
- Rodent ears also vary in size, shape and location. For example, in a mouse they are round, wide, and directed to the sides. Rat ears are flattened and distinguished by a small base.
- The shape of the head is also different. The muzzle of a rat is elongated, while that of a mouse is triangular in shape.
Relative to the head, the rat's eyes are small. Mice have more expressive and slightly convex black eyes.
In addition, pay attention to the wool. In addition to color, there are other differences. The rat is characterized by hard hair, and the mouse has softer hair.
Rats, unlike mice, are able to jump high - up to 2 meters per extreme situation. They are highly intelligent
Differences between a mouse and a rat
The main feature of a newborn rat pup is its larger body size. This is noticeable upon birth. The mouse is always smaller. Basic characteristic differences between rodents are repeated, as in adults: the shape of the ears, the color of the emerging fur, etc. Sometimes a baby rat is confused with an adult mouse.
To avoid this mistake, you should find out how they differ:
- A rat at an early stage of development is characterized by a blunt snout, while a mouse has a pointed head shape.
- The baby rat's tail has not yet developed enough, which means it is shorter than that of an adult mouse.
- The ears of baby rats are still small and smaller in size than the hearing organs of adult mice.
- There are still skin folds on the soles of the baby rats, while they are absent in the mice. This feature allows you to determine the difference from rodent tracks.
A distinctive feature of the rat pups is their blunt-nosed, as if chopped off muzzle.
Baby rats and adult mice have similar paw sizes, but the placement of their toes is... additional characteristic, with which you can distinguish rodents.
What do the tracks look like?
What do rodent tracks look like?
The imprint of a rat's front paws on wet ground or snow is approximately 1.5 x 2 cm in size. You can see traces of 4 toes, which are widely spaced. Hind legs larger (up to 4 cm), however, during movement a small imprint remains - 2x2 cm, i.e. the trace is only partially displayed. If the animal moves slowly, a thin chain of prints will remain on the surface. During the jump, the rat leaves rare traces - at a distance of up to 1.5 m.
The paw prints of mice during a jump are characterized by a smaller step (up to 30 cm). The tracks form something like a trapezoid: when moving, the mouse places its hind legs wider, pushing off with its front, closely spaced paws. As a result, the tracks of the hind paws remain in front, and the tracks of the front paws remain behind. In addition, it is visible thin line behind - from the tail.
Difference in behavior
A rat may differ from other rodents in its behavioral characteristics. Considering constant growth incisors, these animals need to constantly gnaw on something. However, mice and rats have different preferences. So, if houses are constantly damaged hard objects, wires, which means the bug has started. Mice usually chew soft materials: cellophane, foam, paper.
The rat moves, pressing against the walls, which gradually leads to the appearance of visible abrasions. Mice do not have this feature. Eating habits in rodents they also differ. For example, mice prefer to spoil food of plant origin, and a rat is capable of destroying literally everything that gets in its way: things, pieces of furniture or food, garbage. Rodents are not all aggressive. Mice are cowardly and dangerous situations are hiding. However, if they find themselves in a hopeless situation, they will certainly attack. The rat always defends itself and is in no hurry to run away.
Intelligence
When thinking about how else a mouse differs from a rat, you need to take into account the ability to assess the situation. Different types of rodents are characterized by different intellectual abilities.
Rats are smarter, more developed. They choose a habitat after first assessing the object. Dangerous places, including traps, are avoided. Their colony is based on its own laws and has a hierarchy.
Litter
Solving the problem of how to distinguish house mouse from rats, you need to pay attention to their waste products, since often this is the only thing that reminds you of rodents. The differences between rat and mouse droppings are the shape, size and location. Rodents different types leave waste products that are different in color and size. Thus, black rat droppings are large formations up to 12 mm in length, dark in color.
The red counterparts leave behind droppings that resemble oat grains in shape and are brown in color. Mouse feces are small, outwardly similar to pointed granules no larger than 6 mm in size. In addition, mice defecate chaotically, and rats usually leave droppings in one place.
Interesting video: Smart Rats
Determining the type of rodent by the type of spoiled food
Preferred foods are affected first. For mice these are cereals. And they leave behind a large number of rubbish, husks, but the rat eats the whole grain. In addition, large rodents do not feed in one place for several days, so the damage they cause is always greater. If the mouse returns to the same place every time to eat (for example, a bag or bag of cereal), then traces of the rat’s teeth remain everywhere: on furniture, food: cereals, fruits, etc.
Gnawed bags of cereals, damaged wires and furniture, squeaking at night, various sounds and rustling - all these signs indicate that a small rodent has settled in your house. Most often these are either rats or mice, both of which are carriers of various infections. The fight against rodents in the house and in agricultural buildings should begin with determining their type, this will help to choose the most effective method struggle. To distinguish these two closely related animals from each other, it is necessary, first of all, to know the difference in their body structure.
Physical difference between mouse and rat
Each of us has an idea of what representatives of the rat family, which includes both types of house rodents, look like from pictures and photographs. But with such information it is not always possible to really imagine the main difference between a mouse and a rat. There are several reliable signs by which every person can determine which rodent is in front of him.
The adult rat differs from its younger relative in the structure of its fur. If you touch rodents, you will notice that the hair of a small mouse is soft and pleasant to the touch, while that of pasyuks is hard. Rats, thanks to their powerful paws and muscular body, can jump up to 80 cm in height, and in case of immediate danger, their jump can reach two meters. Mice cannot perform such acrobatic feats.
You can distinguish a large rodent from a small one even if you do not see it, but only assume the presence of a pest in the house. You can pay attention to the traces left; in a rat they are distinct and rare. Mice leave a chain of almost adjacent small tracks. You can also notice the difference between these two rodents by the fact that more damage has been done in the house. Rats prefer to chew on wooden furniture or floors; mice most often spoil packages; traces of their teeth can be seen on newspapers and books.
Intelligence difference
It is believed that in terms of their intellectual abilities, rats are an order of magnitude higher than their smaller counterparts. Some people attribute large rodents level of development of dogs and cats. Rats are much more careful and insightful than small mice. Before settling into a new place, the pasyuk explores the territory and determines the presence or absence of danger. Thanks to this quality, rats are difficult to quickly kill using poisons. Large rodent capable of research activities, can regulate its numbers. That is, as soon as its population decreases due to destruction, the number of broods and the number of cubs in them increases.
House mice and rats can also be distinguished by their behavior. The little pest is afraid of humans and therefore rarely catches his eye. In case of danger, he prefers to flee.
Rats are quite aggressive and brave; there are cases when they attacked people. Large rodents can form flocks and repel attacks.
Rats and other rodents almost never live simultaneously within the same house and adjacent buildings. The appearance of rats indicates that the mouse population will be partially destroyed by them, and partially will move to a rodent-free area on its own.
There are some differences in the diet of representatives of the mouse family. Rats are omnivores; they can eat both meat and plant foods. Places with household waste, garbage dumps are the main habitat of pasyuks. Mice prefer to eat plant food, so most often cereals and seeds get spoiled in the house. Often a small rodent feeds on paper and leather goods.
The difference between rats and mice is especially noticeable if these two animals are examined live at the same time. You can get an idea of wild rodents by looking at their habituated relatives - decorative mice and rats.
Rats and mice are rodents, but the animals are not related to each other. or pasyuki are natural enemies mice. As soon as the first one appears in the house, the second ones begin to feel fear and try to leave the house as quickly as possible. To choose the right pest control method, you need to know what a rat and a mouse look like and how they differ.
External differences
Mice and rats are easy to confuse. But, if you make a careful comparison of the animals, you will notice many differences in mice.
Height and weight
Mice and rats are easy to confuse. But if you carefully compare the animals, you will notice many differences.
The mouse is small in size. Her body without a tail is six centimeters. And the weight of norushka does not exceed 30 g.
Adult pasyuki can weigh a kilogram. Their height reaches 30 centimeters. smaller than its gray relative, but still larger than a mouse.
Paws
In mice, they are small and have tenacious claws, thanks to which the pest can easily run along vertical surfaces.
Interesting!
Mice can't jump. They mince and leave frequent tracks on the ground.
Rats have strong and muscular limbs. The hind legs are longer than the front ones, which allows the animals to move by jumping. The fingers have membranes called leathery folds.
Head
The photo of rats and mice shows that the animals differ most in the shape of their faces, ears and eyes. In mice, the skull has a triangular and slightly flattened shape. Rats have an oblong face. Gray view has a blunt nose.
Rats' ears are small and triangular. They are pressed to the head. Mice have large pink ears that are wide at the base.
The eyeballs of rats are small. Norushkas have large and expressive eyes.
Tail
The rat's tail is short and thick. It reaches half the length of the body. Although you can see it in black color, like in mice. But the latter have scales on the “fifth limb” that are arranged in a circle and thin sparse hairs.
Wool
The mouse feels silky and pleasant to the touch. And her relative has hard and coarse “hair”. The cover of an adult resembles a hard pile. The fur does not cover the rat's tail.
Differences in intelligence
Disputes often arise between lovers of decorative rodents about who is smarter - a mouse or a rat. But the difference between the animals in intelligence is obvious.
Norushki are capable of constantly falling into the same trap. The animals without hesitation swallow bait with poison and climb into mousetraps.
The rat is not so easy to deceive. She for a long time sniffs suspicious objects and behaves cautiously. The animal can identify and avoids them. The rodent is able to explore the surrounding space and analyze. If the area is safe and comfortable, the rat will lead the rest of the pack there.
Interesting!
The pest regulates the size of the flock. If there are many individuals in the clan, then the mother eats the born. In cases where there is a shortage of rats, the number of offspring increases.
People holding decorative rats, they claim that the pet responds to its name, distinguishes the one who feeds it, waters it and learns simple tricks. Mice are not capable of this.
Lifestyle
Mice and rats prefer to lead night image life. The owner of an apartment or house quickly discovers the animals after dark. They scratch loudly, make unpleasant sounds, and gnaw on surrounding objects.
Pasyuk is a natural mouse enemy. She destroys the norushkas and expels them from the inhabited territory. If a mouse smells the scent of a bee, it will prefer to move to a safer place.
Interesting!
There are people who deliberately keep pet rats. In this way they try to get rid of the mouse invasion.
If you don’t know how to distinguish rats from mice by external sign, take a closer look at what food predominates in their diet:
- Pasyuki love to live in landfills. They are omnivores and do not hesitate to feast on leftovers from the human table. In the absence of food, rats begin hunting for their fellows.
- The mouse loves to chew seeds and cereals. Its teeth are not capable of damaging concrete or brick, but they can wear down paper, soft wood, and leather goods.
The behavior of rats is aggressive. If there is danger, . The animals are capable of attacking in a pack. Mice are shy. They try not to be seen by people and flee.
What is the difference between a baby rat and a mouse?
Rodent breeders claim that it is not difficult to distinguish a mouse from a baby rat. Kids have different size and they look different. But for a person who does not see newborn animals every day, it can be difficult to figure out which species is in front of him.
Baby mice and baby rats have the following differences:
- Mice have a pointed muzzle. Baby rats have a blunt nose.
- The mice's ears are large and round. Rats have a triangular ear that is pressed to the skull.
- The tail of a newborn minnow is long, but in rat pups it is thick and short.
- Small mice do not have skin folds between their fingers.
A baby rat reaches the size of an adult mouse in a month. At this point, it becomes difficult for many to distinguish a mouse from a baby rat. If the animals cannot be seen closely, then you need to navigate along the ground they leave:
- The print of mouse limbs does not show webbing between the toes.
- Rat tracks are located at a distance from each other. Fingers stuck out. The paw print is wide.
If you compare what baby rats and mice look like in the photo, it’s not difficult to distinguish the babies.
If it is difficult to recognize the difference between a mouse and a rat, then you should look into a pet store. Decorative animals behave in the same way as their wild relatives. The appearance of the animals also does not differ much from those of “free” rodents.
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