How to identify if you have rats or mice in your home?

Rats and mice are both types of rodents and something that you don’t want to invade your home. However, if you all of a sudden find a rodent in your home, how do you know if it’s a rat or mouse? There are different ways that could determine if mice or rats have made their way into your home. This will help you determine the best pest control methods to use.

Among the most common mistakes that are made when trying to determine what kind of rodent is in a house that’s been mistaken as a young rat for an adult mouse. But, if you have a good idea of what rodents are, you could easily distinguish the two apart and use the best rodent control Myrtle Beach SC measures. The feet and head of a young rat would be large than their bodies and their face would be blunt and stubby with wide noses. They would have a general clumsy appearance, just like most young mammals, even humans. This is compared to an adult mouse whose body would be more slim, proportioned, and their head would have a much more angled appearance to it.

How are Mice Different From Rats?

Adult mice will measure about 7.5 inches long, which includes the tail, while adult rats could grow as much as 18 inches long, including the tail.
Mice have hairy and thin tails, while rats have scaly, hairless, and thicker tails.
The mouse’s nose is triangular in shape while the nose of a rate is more rounded and blunt.
Both rats and mice could be gray or brown in color, but rats may also be black in color.
Mice droppings are about ¼ inch in length with pointed ends.
Rat droppings are ¾ inches long and with blunt ends.

Why Pest Control Is Important

Rodents are considered as commensal animals, which means they have partially depended on humans for their source of food. That’s why they’re generally found living around houses in both rural and urban areas. If the weather begins to cool, they will begin looking for indoor shelter to overwinter in. As a homeowner, you must prevent this as much as you can with help of an exterminator because of the dangers that they could introduce into your home.

Both mice and rats could damage your home’s structure by chewing through drywall, insulation, pipes, and wires. They could also damage your personal items, such as storage boxes, carpets, clothing, and furniture. They could contaminate your food as well as your food prep areas, and introduce diseases such as lymphocytic disease, leptospirosis, hantavirus, and salmonellosis.

They could also make nesting areas behind the walls in your basement, attic, and even behind your appliances. Rodents generally reproduce fast, two rodents could become at least 20 in a short amount of time. Female mice get pregnant for 21 days and have litters that would average about six pups and it would only take those pups around six weeks until they reach their breeding age. And every female could have as much as eight litters per year. So you see, if a small rodent issue isn’t contained right away, you will eventually have a rat infestation. Call a commercial pest control expert if you’re having rat problems in the office and a residential pest control professional if you have a rodent infestation at home.