Roof rat droppings are very similar to the house mouse but much thicker.
Roof rat vs mouse.
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.
Are the norway rat and the roof rat.
Norway rat poop droppings norway rat poop droppings are even thicker that the roof rats and typically much shorter than field mice and roof rats.
Compared to mice rats are much larger have coarser fur and have proportionately larger heads and feet.
Typically the length will still be the same but the thickness will be much greater than the typical field mouse.
Mice on the other hand simply build their nests.
How to tell the difference between rat vs mouse by their droppings.
You also may notice only when you discover they ve destroyed a part or parts of your property.
The most common rat species in the u s.
A norway rat has capsule shaped feces while a roof rat has spindle shaped droppings and a house mouse has rod shaped excrement.
Droppings are typically found around where these creatures eat.
As you can see the biggest difference is size.
However rats and mice have different nesting preferences.
Rats live in similar colony structures.
Since most mice and rats tend to be nocturnal you may only notice them when you find food missing or with bites taken out of fruit or cereal.
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.
Rats grow to a body of 8 inches and a tail of 9 inches and a weight of almost a pound.