How rats differ from mice: biological and behavioral differentiation of rodents

how rats differ from mice
How rats differ from mice

Good day. Oh, and we suffered in due time from the vigorous activity of rodents.

Constantly spoiled crops, damaged wires - they brought a bunch of trouble. This forced to take active measures to get rid of them.

But for an effective fight, it was necessary to precisely establish the source of the trouble. Then I just could follow in the footsteps to determine whether a mouse or a rat came to visit. Want to know how rats differ from mice? What is the best way to fight against them? Then in the article below I will give you verified information.

The difference between rats and mice

At first glance, for an inexperienced eye, rats and mice can look the same in many ways. Some even think that mice are just young rats, but this is not true. So what then is the difference between the two?

Many different animals are classified as “mice” or “rats,” so in order to clarify, this article will describe ordinary domestic mice and Norwegian and Black rats; animals that are more commonly recognized as rats and mice, and which in the wild are generally considered pests.

Important!
Kinds: Rats and mice are closely related. They are both rodents. But they belong to different species, (and there are also many different species and mice and rats), and differ from each other, and they cannot interbreed. The rat has 22 chromosomes, while the mouse has only 20.

Physical differences: The most obvious difference is that rats are much larger and heavier than mice. Mice usually grow to just a few inches in length (not counting the tail), while rats can reach more than a foot in length. In addition, the body of the mouse is much smaller than that of a rat, and much rounder.

They have short muzzles and large eyes compared to the size of the head. The ears in the mouse are also large compared to the size of the head and are much rounder and thinner than in rats. The rat has a more elongated and pointed muzzle; the ears have an oblong shape. The tail of the rat is also significantly thicker than a thin, mouse tail.

Mice have a much softer coat than rats. In particular, the fur of a male rat, when it reaches maturity, is somewhat coarse. Of course, most people will never intentionally touch wild rats or mice, but for those who kept domestic mice and rats, this is another obvious difference.

Less obvious is the fact that the rat has more nipples than the mouse: the rat has 12, and the mouse has 10. Because of this, it could be assumed that rats have more litters than mice, but this is not always true . Both animals can have in one litter both 15 or more cubs, and only one or two. The average litter size is about eight cubs.

Incompatibility: As noted above, rats and mice cannot interbreed. But, in addition to this, rats and mice are also natural enemies.Or, to clarify, rats are enemies of mice. It is well known that rats almost always kill and sometimes eat mice if they have the opportunity.

If rats enter an area infected with mice, the mice will either be driven out or killed within a short period of time. In fact, even the presence of rats in the same area where there are mice leads to great stress for mice.

It is believed that mice can catch the smell of rats and instinctively perceive it as something dangerous. For these reasons, mice should never live in the same cage with rats, or even in close proximity. If possible, keep mice and rats in separate rooms, or at least far apart.

Advice!
Little Wolves: Both mice and rats are omnivores, which means that they will eat almost everything. In addition, both mice and rats can act as predators, although this instinct is much stronger in rats. Wild rats are known to hunt in packs, like wolves, and attack and kill prey much larger in size than themselves.

On the other hand, mice rarely hunt anyone more than insects and other small creatures, and as a rule, and basically they do not hunt in packs like rats. Mice are more likely to be vegetarians, although most mice do not hesitate to collect meat if they come across it.

Intelligence: Rats, as a rule, are much smarter than mice, and the same applies to domestic rats and mice. This does not mean at all that mice cannot become good pets (I had a wonderful and unusually smart mouse), but when comparing a mouse and a rat, rats are usually better than mice.

Domestic rats, or “decorative” rats are very intelligent, interactive animals that quickly become attached to humans. They demonstrate love and are quite easily trained. They can recognize their names, and come when their name is, especially if they know that you have prepared something fun for them!

The intelligence of a rat was compared to that of a dog or cat, and as a person who has had many, many domestic rats over the past 25 years or so, I think I can say that rats are not particularly far behind dogs and cats. Rat Chen react well to people and love to play with them.

Sometimes they even come up with their own games, and also willingly show us how to play them. But even in the wild, rats are much smarter and more insightful in many of their daily activities than most mice. This is one of the reasons that wild rats are much more difficult to kill.

They are very careful, and most of them refuse to eat unfamiliar food or visit unfamiliar territory without first particularly thorough checking, which makes it much harder to poison or trap them.

Conclusion: As you can see, there are many differences between rats and mice. There are other differences, but those described here are most pronounced. No animal can be “better” than the other, but each of them is specially adapted to its living conditions and needs.

Who-who lives in our house?

How to distinguish a mouse from a rat? The obvious difference between the two representatives of the rodent order is the size. We will dwell on other features of the external structure and nature of behavior in more detail.

Attention!
It is clear that it is unrealistic to conduct a comparative assessment of absolutely all types of mice and rats living on the planet in one material, so we should dwell only on the frequently encountered individuals of our climatic zone.

In the settlements, a gray rat and a house mouse mainly live, sometimes voles run into the "guests", but they are not particularly different from the "house". There are also black synanthropic rats, but they can only be found on the shores of the Pacific Ocean and in Eastern Siberia. Their second name is ship, as the pests are regulars in seaports and water vessels.

Rules for assessing appearance

Sizing. The average length of an adult house or field mouse, it is they who most often settle in a person’s dwelling, is 5-6 cm. Weight not more than 30 g.

Gray and black rats are much longer - their size can reach 30 cm, and the maximum recorded weight is a kilogram! Among the rat species (and there are more than 60 of them), smaller animals (from 8 cm) are also found, but they are not found on the territory of our country.

Compare tails. The mouse tail is very thin, almost the same length as the body of the animal, in any case, should be at least three quarters of it. It is covered with scales (they are ring-shaped) and small, barely noticeable hairs.

In rats, the tail is much shorter than the body (about half of the entire body length), it is massive, hairless or bristly. Black individuals have a longer “fifth limb” (270 rings) than gray ones (210 rings).

Ears. The ears of mice are round, branchy, hairless, broad at the base, large.

Rat auricles are small, have a more triangular shape, at the base as if curled into a tube and pressed to the head. In black individuals, locators are translucent and have no hair, while in gray ones, on the contrary, hairy and non-translucent.

Important!
Paws. Rats have powerful and muscular paws, adapted to run on a horizontal surface, and also jump far enough. Between the phalanges there are rudimentary membranes - the so-called leathery folds. The mice have tarsier paws, which allows them to climb vertically.

Head and eyes. When comparing exactly the form, more attention is paid to the shape: in rats the muzzle is elongated and elongated anteriorly (although in dull animals it is blunt), while in mice it is triangular and slightly flattened. Regarding the head of the rat, the eyes are small as beads. While the mice have more expressive and slightly convex eyeballs in black.

Coloring and quality of wool. If we are talking about representatives of the wild fauna, without taking into account the decorative individuals, then the mice are often gray or even smoky with an ashy shade. While the rats are brown or dirty gray in color, the black rats are tan in brown, which runs counter to the name of the species.

In mice, the hair is soft, short and silky, while in pasukahs, the hairs are thick, coarse and long.

Behavior features

You can find out who settled in the house even if it is not possible to visually detect a rodent.

First of all, pay attention to the traces, if any. In rats, they are clear and rare, since they move skipping. While the mice “mince”, which means they leave more frequent footprints.

Assessing damage to property will also help determine the type:

  • rats prefer to sharpen hard wooden surfaces;
  • mice spoil softer objects more, often traces of their teeth can be seen on paper, polystyrene, cellophane, etc.

Another option how to solve an uninvited guest is to carefully examine the bottom of the walls. Rats, when moving, are pressed to the surface and leave quite noticeable scuffs, if the eared ears are wound, then there will be no characteristic marks.

Food preferences:

  • rodents feed mainly on plant foods, so they encroach on cereals, flour;
  • rats are omnivorous creatures and can significantly reduce any edible reserves found in the house.

Big gray animals, unlike their smaller counterparts, are aggressive creatures and, in the event of a real threat to their life, can attack a person.

Advice!
Even if they are not going to defend themselves, they are not in a hurry to run away, they just freeze in place, look around with caution and assess the situation.

Eared babies, on the other hand, are very cowardly in life, therefore, at the first suspicious rustling, they quickly retreat and try to never catch the eye.

Intelligence

The mental abilities of these two members of the murine family are also very different. According to scientists, rats are intellectually developed creatures.

  1. Firstly, they will not settle in potentially dangerous places for them.
  2. Secondly, they always explore the future home and evaluate the situation.
  3. Thirdly, they create entire communities with their own hierarchy and laws.

Norushki in this regard are more reckless, therefore, it is much easier to deal with them, since it can be easily deceived or outwitted.

How to distinguish a mouse from a rat

Again, pay attention to size: a rat, even a newborn, will be larger than any mouse. All other distinguishing features, as in adults, are: the shape of the ears, paws, fur, etc.

By the way, the characteristic distinguishing feature of baby rats is a blunt, as if chopped off muzzle.

Most often, difficulties arise when trying to distinguish an adult mouse from a small rat:

  • adult vole has a more pointed muzzle, while rat pups are characterized by some bluntness;
  • the tail of a mature mature lamb is equal to the length of the body with 180 scaly rings, in rat pups the fifth limb is short, but there are forty more rings;
  • the ears in the mice are also longer;
  • on the soles of the rat pups have skin folds, but the mice do not have them.

Although the size of the feet of the monthly rat rat is identical to that of adult mice, but the footprint left by them is significantly different:

  • in the first, the fingers are widely spread on the fingerprint and creases are visible between them;
  • the second has narrow marks with tight-fitting fingers.

As can be seen, despite the similarity of rodents in the mouse family, they nevertheless differ significantly from each other in morphological characters, behavior, and food preference.

What is the difference between rats and mice

Rats and mice belong to the same mouse family. Due to this, rodents are somewhat similar to each other, however, they belong to completely different orders, therefore they differ from each other quite significantly.

Attention!
We can say that rats are the obvious enemies of mice. If they fall into some kind of space in which the mice live, then the rats expel them or even eat them, if they have such an opportunity.

Studies have helped establish that smaller rats are scared by the rat smell - it is a danger signal for them.

Physical differences

Outwardly, the rats look noticeably larger. They can reach a length of 20-30 centimeters, the same length, or a little more, maybe their tail. If the smallest rat species weigh about 40 grams, then some species can reach 400 grams.

Mice are small rodents; the body length of most species ranges from 6 to 10 centimeters. The tail can be about 60 percent of the body length; it is much thinner than the tail of the rat. The weight of these representatives of the murine family reaches 20-30 grams.

Mice have rather large eyes and ears compared to the size of their heads. Rats have a pointed and elongated muzzle. If you touch these rodents with your hands, the difference between their fur will be noticeable. The fur in mice is much softer than in rats.

Since mice have 20 chromosomes, and rats have 22 chromosomes, these animals are not able to interbreed. Female rodents differ in the number of nipples: in a mouse there are 10 of them, in a rat - 2 more. Pregnancy in rats lasts an average of 21-23 days, in mice it lasts 19-21 days.

Is there a difference in intelligence?

Experts have found that rats are noticeably smarter and smarter than mice. In the literature, sometimes the intelligence of large rodents is compared with that of cats and dogs.

Rats living as pets (this also happens) are able to remember their nicknames. If you call by name such an individual, hiding in his house in a cage, then it will crawl out.

Important!
Rats are more careful and penetrating than their small distant relatives.It is for this reason that getting rid of them is more difficult than getting rid of mice. These animals, even being hungry, most often will not eat unfamiliar food.

Rats are difficult to catch in a rat trap because of their caution, poisoning savvy rodents is much more difficult than mice. However, if mice start up in the house, then the fight against them also turns into a serious problem.

How to fight?

The destruction of rodents that wound up in an apartment, in the country, in a country cottage, should be trusted to employees of specialized services.

Complex measures for the destruction of rodents are organized using various techniques, the application of which is determined depending on the characteristics of the object.

The difference between a mouse and a rat

In ancient Rome, mice and rats weren’t particularly ceremonial, therefore both genera of the same Mouse family passed under a common “label” - Mus. Only the smallest Mus were called Minimus, and the larger Mus was called Maximus. But there is still a difference, and not only in size.

Mouse

The house mouse or Mus musculus is today one of the most common and numerous species of mammals. You will not see the baby only in Antarctica, in the highlands and in the zone of arctic deserts.

It so happened that the life of most mice is connected with humans, so the animal can be found, if not in a residential building, then in farm buildings.

Most mice migrate: in spring - to fields and forest belts, in autumn - to granaries, to grocery stores and to homes.

House mouse
House mouse

These animals belong to the Mouse family, the order of Rodents. The mouse has a compact small body. Together with the tail - no more than 9 cm. Moreover, the tail occupies about 90% of the total length of the mammal, the whole is covered with horny scales and sparse hairs. A normal animal weighs 12 to 30 grams.

The color of the fur varies within the gray-brown-sand color scheme and determines the subspecies.

Advice!
Theoretically, mice belong to nocturnal animals, but while in human housing, they adapt to human biorhythms. A small animal about 20 times a day alternates periods of falling asleep and an active way of life. The maximum wakefulness period is 90 minutes.

The ideal family in the understanding of these animals is one dominant male and several females with mice. On average, the female gives birth 9 times a year, 8 blind and naked crumbs. After 3 weeks, they are ready for independent life, after 5 weeks they can multiply. A clear hierarchy is observed in the colony, and the grown male mice are expelled from the family. The life expectancy of rodents does not exceed 18 months.

Mice in nature are focused on eating cereal or bean seeds. They love greens and feel the need for 3 ml of water per day. Dwelling near a person, they begin to eat everything from cheese and lard to chocolate and candles. There are cases when mice have bitten the albatross chicks on the island of Gough.

The mouse is a favorite subject of laboratory research, and the Methuselah Foundation presents prizes to those scientists who have significantly extended the life of these animals.

Rat

The rat belongs to the genus of Rats, the Mouse family, the order of Rodents. Animals reach 30 cm in length, weigh from 40 to 500 (!) Grams, and the tail is equal to half the total body length of the animal.

The color of most mammals is black, gray or dark brown, but in equatorial latitudes there are species with yellowish and reddish hair.

The number of rat pups in the offspring depends on the species, in the most common gray rat, 2 to 22 cubs can be born.

Rat
Rat

Most rats are “attached” to human habitation and anthropogenic economic activity. Only in New Guinea and Australia do animals find food without reference to humans. In nature, animals move along the ground or trees, prefer burrows. They can live both solo and a large colony.

Attention!
Rats eat everything: from fruits to shellfish, from insects to bird eggs.Rats have abstract thinking, developed herd intelligence, high resistance to poisons and adaptability to various living conditions.

I use them as laboratory animals, and different peoples of the world have developed their own ambiguous attitude towards these rodents. In India there is a temple with rats. They are fed and worshiped. In the USA and Russia, animals are readily poisoned as carriers of infectious diseases.

Conclusions:

  1. Animals differ in size and different ratio of tail to body length.
  2. The fertility of mice is higher than rats.
  3. Rats have a higher level of adaptation to environmental conditions.
  4. The intellectual ability of rats is much higher than that of mice.

The similarities and differences between mice, rats and humans

People who are poorly versed in rodents will probably think that there is no special difference between mice and rats, all one thing: a rodent pest. Probably, some even think that mice are just young rats, but I dare to assure you that this is not so.

Just many species of different animals are classified as "mice" or "rats." So, for example, the Norwegian rat (aka Pasuk) and the Black Rat are often called both rats and mice.

Of course, rats and mice are closely related, and both of them belong to the order of rodents, but, nevertheless, they are different species. Typically, the rat is characterized as a medium-sized rodent with a long thin tail.

There are many types of rodents that are classified as rats. This and the Norwegian (pasyuk), Black rat, Kangaroo rat, marsupial African rat, cotton rat, wood and many others.

And, although these are rats, different species, and therefore mating between them is impossible. Sometimes there were cases of mating pasyuk with black rats, but as a rule, the offspring were born not viable.

Important!
Moreover, kangaroo, African marsupial, cotton and wood rats, in spite of the word “rat” in the name, strictly speaking have no relation to rats, because are not members of the mouse family.

The mice. The mouse is considered a small rodent. Mice have many species. The physiological differences between rats and mice are their development. So, for example, in a rat, pregnancy proceeds from 21-25 days, in mice 19-20 days. In a rat, lactation is 3 weeks, in a mouse-2.

Both species are born naked and blind. In rat pups, the eyes open completely by day 15, in mice from 3-6 days. There are genetic differences between rats and mice. In rats, 22 pairs of chromosomes, in mice, 20. Therefore, rats and mice cannot interbreed.

Rats and mice are also natural enemies. Or, to clarify, rats are enemies of mice. It is well known that rats almost always kill and sometimes eat mice if they have the opportunity.

If rats fall into the area inhabited by mice, the mice will either be driven out or killed within a short period of time. In fact, even the presence of rats in the same area where there are mice leads to great stress for mice.

It is believed that mice can catch the smell of rats and instinctively perceive it as something dangerous. For these reasons, mice should never live in the same cage with rats, or even in close proximity. If possible, keep mice and rats in separate rooms, or at least far apart.

Also, if we compare the intellectual abilities of rats and mice, then rats are much smarter than mice. From my own experience, I know that decorative rats are very attached to humans, need to communicate with them, and decorative mice are more alert to humans.

At the same time, taking into account the size of the mouse and, accordingly, the size of the brain, it can be said that mice are not inferior to rats in terms of relative intelligence. Perhaps even superior.

Advice!
In absolute terms, rats, of course, are much smarter and more penetrating in many of their daily activities than most mice. This is one of the reasons that wild rats are much more difficult to kill.

They are very careful, and most of them refuse to eat unfamiliar food or visit unfamiliar territory without first particularly thorough checking, which makes it much harder to poison or trap them.

And now I want to talk about some interesting facts. Scientists have found that the mouse genome is almost identical to the human genome. We differ by only 4-5%. Moreover, the man himself is very similar to ... a mouse. Not outwardly, of course, but in behavioral structures.

Today in the laboratory for the development of experimental animals (vivariums) of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the SB RAS there are 20 inbred lines (about what this “inbred line” is, below) of mice and 10 lines of rats.

On animals, the nature of oncological diseases, hypertension, diabetes, epilepsy is studied. Recently, for obvious reasons, scientists around the world have become interested in studying behavioral problems.

In Novosibirsk, the founder of these works fifty years ago was Academician Dmitry Belyaev - the first director of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics. Now our biologists are studying the nature of aggressiveness, cowardice, the ability to become a leader and the predisposition to be a failure. Similar lines are available only at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics SB RAS.

The scientific secretary of the institute, the head of the laboratory of endocrinological genetics, candidate of biological sciences Alexander Osachuk has been studying the nature of social domination for many years. The object of the study was rats. The fact is that the behavior of humans and these animals is very similar: both human and animals are characterized by an intraspecific social structure - a social hierarchy.

For the experiment, we put six male rats from different inbred lines in one cage, ”says Alexander Osachuk. - An inbred line is a group of animals obtained by closely related crosses. Rats and mice have one unique ability.

Attention!
If a person has closely related crosses - say, brother and sister - leads to genetic pathologies, and then to complete degeneration, then in mice inbreeding gives normal offspring with the peculiarity that all individuals that were born are genetic copies of each other. With a big stretch, they could be called clones.

In the process of observation, it turned out that representatives of some inbred lines often occupy a dominant position, representatives of other lines always become outsiders. Thus, in relation to rats, it can be concluded that there are biological factors that contribute to occupying a high or low hierarchical position.

In humans, of course, such experiments have not been conducted. Nevertheless, if we return to the assertion that humans and rats are very similar, it is quite permissible to extrapolate the genetic nature of determining the behavior of rodents to us.

Aggression and other behavioral abnormalities in rats are also caused by biochemical reactions. Scientists at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics came to this conclusion by observing one of the “knockout” inbred lines. “Applying the methods of molecular genetics, we“ turn off ”some gene, and it does not work,” explains Alexander Osachuk.

By turning off the gene responsible for the passage of biochemical processes in the nervous system, scientists found that the pathological aggression, which is characteristic of people sometimes more than the most predatory animals, is caused by biochemical pathologies.

Perhaps when not only fundamental, but also applied research will be carried out on this topic, maniacs can not be imprisoned for life, but treated.

Currently, scientists know four thousand diseases that are inherited, that is, genetically.This list is not yet complete. New studies reveal ever new genetic factors contributing to various pathologies.

There are fairly reasonable assumptions that genetics plays an important role in the development of diseases such as drug addiction and alcoholism.

Important!
Another confirmation that rats are like humans: when schizophrenia was started at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics, animals with signs of this disease were found in nature, just like epileptic rats and rats with hypertension.

So, all that is good in medicine is a merit, in many respects belonging to mice and rats. And they deserve a decent attitude to themselves!

What is the difference between mice and rats? Main signs

For any layman, rodents such as mice and rats look almost the same. There are people who believe that mice are young rats, but this is completely untrue.

Types of animals and their features

Both species, both rats and mice, belong to rodents. One of the main differences is that animals cannot be crossed (the rat has 22 chromosomes and the mouse has only 20). Rats belong to the class of mammalian rodents (suborder mice). It is this animal that is considered one of the most ancient and widespread on Earth.

What is the difference between mice and rats? Of course, in size: rats are several orders of magnitude larger and have a large mass. As a rule, an adult mouse reaches several inches in length (excluding the tail), but rats can grow to quite impressive sizes (up to one foot in length).

The tail of a black rat is covered with thick and stiff hair, and its length is equal to or greater than the length of the body (there are short-tailed species). But the tails of many species are covered with rare villi and flakes of an annular shape.

Main signs

The body of the mouse is small and rounded, with a short rounded muzzle and large bead eyes. The hearing organs in mice also have considerable dimensions in comparison with the head, in contrast to rats they are thinner and rounded.

The characteristic external difference of the rat is the more pointed shape of the muzzle and oblong-pointed ears. The rat tail is much thicker and longer than the mouse. For those who want to visually compare the difference between a mouse and a rat, photos will be a great helper in this matter.

Advice!
The mouse coat is silky and soft, a particularly striking example of the difference is the fur of a mature male rat, more like a rough pile. Of course, most ordinary people are unlikely to ever want to intentionally touch these animals in order to make sure the difference, but for those who kept such pets, this difference is obvious.

The jaws of rats have two pairs of fairly long incisors. The main molars are designed to thoroughly grind food, so they grow in dense rows. Despite the fact that rats are considered predators, they do not have the fangs inherent in the latter.

The incisors of animals constantly need grinding, this is due to their constant growth. The teeth of rats are quite strong, the animal with their help can easily gnaw materials such as concrete, brick, a variety of metal alloys.

Another extremely interesting fact of how mice differ from rats is the following: rats have more nipples. There are 10 of them in mice, and two more in rats. But despite this difference, the animals have the same average litter, which is about 8-9 cubs.

Incompatibility reasons

As mentioned above, these rodents do not interbreed. In addition, these animals are natural enemies of nature. It's no secret that the rat destroys the caught prey (mouse), but it can eat it in the absence of danger.

If an adult rat gets into a place inhabited by mice, then most likely, the latter will be killed or expelled in a fairly short time period.Note that the very presence of rats in the place where there is a cluster of mice leads to their great concern.

This is because, according to some reports, mice can catch the smell of rats, which for them is the smell of danger. For this reason, pets of different species should not be in the same cage. Therefore, it is important to know how mice differ from rats; signs are extremely significant.

After all, if you decide to have such pets, then it is better to keep them away from each other, in separate cages located in different rooms.

Power Features

Both mice and rats are omnivorous animals, this suggests that they can eat almost everything. In addition, I would like to draw attention to the fact that both of these species can exhibit predatory instincts that are more developed in rats than in mice.

Attention!
Wild rats, like wolves, hunt, huddling in flocks, at first the intended prey is attacked and subsequently killed. Therefore, if we talk about how mice differ from rats, differences in nutrition will be one of the determining factors.

Mice, unlike rats, rarely prey on animals or insects that exceed them in size. In addition, mice do not hunt in packs, like rats. They do it one by one. In fact, most mice are vegetarians, although if they are offered a piece of meat, they are unlikely to refuse it.

Intelligence: Key Differences

Rats have a more developed intelligence than mice (this also applies to domesticated rats and mice). But this does not mean that the mouse is a bad pet. Decorative rats are very intelligent animals that quickly come in contact, and they quickly become attached to their owner. They lend themselves to training and can express their affection and love.

In addition, the decorative domesticated rat knows and responds to its name when it is called to itself, especially if the owner offers some goodies or fun fun.

In fact, the intelligence of a domestic rat can be compared with the intellectual abilities of other pets (cats and dogs). Rats are sociable animals that respond well to people, as evidenced by the love of games.

According to many owners of domestic rodents, the latter can even come up with their own amusements and games, subsequently willingly showing them to their owners, inviting them to join the fun.

Who is smarter?

Note that in natural living conditions, rats are smarter than their smaller counterparts - mice. For example, a wild rat is not so easy to catch, this is due to its caution.

She will never eat unfamiliar food found in the new territory she has just come to. That is, these animals are much more difficult to trap or poison.

Important!
As can be seen from the presented material, there are a considerable number of significant differences between rodents. Of course, there are other points that clarify the difference between mice and rats, but with the description above we tried to voice the most basic ones.

Note that none of the listed animals is better or worse than the other, each species is individual and has its own needs and living conditions.

Biological differentiation of rodents

When packages of cereals torn by someone appear in the house, rustles are heard in the evenings in the dark, and later litter appears, this most likely indicates that rodent pests appeared in the house.

In such a situation, the mouse and rat will almost certainly be the culprit. Both animals belong to a very large family of mice, but, despite some external similarities, parasites are identified by biologists in two different orders.

Interestingly, rats and mice do not coexist on the same territory. In some cases, larger individuals even eat small ones to free up space. For mice, rat smell is a danger signal.

Finding out how the mouse differs from the rat, the first thing that comes to mind is the dimensions. Mice are much smaller in size. There is also a difference in development: the rat carries the babies 21-25 days, and the mouse pregnancy lasts no more than 20 days. Lactation in the first case ends after 3 weeks; for smaller rodents, nature has left only 2 weeks.

The opening of the eyes of rat pups occurs after two weeks, the mice go through this stage after 3 ... 6 days of age. There are also genetic differences that prevent these groups from interbreeding. There is a difference in the set of chromosomes, 22 pairs in the first and 20 in the second.

Visual options

To understand what the main difference between rats and mice is, you need to know that an adult house mouse or field mouse, which can appear in the house, practically does not exceed a weight of 30-40 grams. The length of the body of an adult is limited to 6 cm.

Black and gray rats, which are residents of many basements of multi-storey buildings, are able to grow under favorable conditions up to 30 cm. There are, however, smaller species, whose length is limited to 8 cm, but they do not live on the territory of our country.

Advice!
The difference between the mouse and the rat is noticeable in the tail parameters. In the first case, its length is comparable with the length of the carcass. The outer part is covered with small scales. Also, small hairs are almost indistinguishable on the surface.

In the second case, the tail is significantly shorter than the body (half the length of the carcass), has no hairs, is more powerful, and is covered with bristles on the outside. In the black variety of rats, it is slightly longer than in gray parasites.

The difference between a mouse and a rat can also be observed in the size of the auricles, which are proportionally larger in the first, have a rounded shape and a wide base, are deprived of hair, are slightly weighty. In rats, the hearing organ is visually smaller. The shape of this part of the body is closer to the triangle.

Closer to their base, they take root at the withers. Black rats have thin, translucent cartilage without bristles or hair. Gray, on the contrary, have a more dense cartilaginous, non-translucent tissue, which is covered with hairs.

Rats from the mouse differ in the structure of the legs. Rat rats have well-developed muscles on their limbs. This structure provides the rodent with good data for quick movement on horizontal surfaces. Also, animals are able to jump high and swim well. In mice, the paws make it easy to move vertically and make it possible to find leads for climbing trees or any other surface.

When looking for differences between rodents, pay attention to the shape of the skull. Nature endowed rats with an elongated muzzle. In gray individuals, it is slightly rounded to the nose. Mice have a conical shape of the skull with a fairly large angle. On the rat’s head are small bead eyes. The mouse looks at the world with relatively larger black eyes.

The skin tones of the skins of the most common parasitic mice that penetrate the dwelling have a grayish-smoky color. Rats are characterized by a dirty gray or brown color, formed by coarse hard hairs, in contrast to murder, softer ones.

Even if it is clear how to distinguish a mouse from other species of rodents, one should not forget that there are several biological types among them.

Indirect Behavioral Attributes

Penetrating a mouse and a rat are different in their behavior. Even without seeing the animal itself, it is possible to determine who is raiding in its wake.

Attention!
The difference between the rats is also observed in the traces left, which will be clearer, but rarely located. This feature is associated with the method of movement - skipping. Small rodents can inherit the chain, leaving traces much more often.

The incisors of rodent parasites grow all their lives, so they are forced to grind them periodically on any surface. It is important to know how to distinguish mouse bites from rat bites. In this case, the following rule will be relevant:

  • mice prefer to nibble on a softer surface, such as polystyrene, cardboard, cellophane;
  • rat teeth need hard material such as solid wood.

It is also worth paying attention to the lower part of the wall - the mouse and rat differ even in this. Rats tend to press the body to the surface. As a result, obvious abrasions will remain on it. From mice such signs will not be noticed.

There are differences in the use of food. From rats and mice different damage is obtained in human food stocks:

  • mouse prefers cereals, flour and other plant foods;
  • rat tastes are less selective, therefore they are capable of causing damage to all types of food products, both animal and plant origin.

In relation to danger, for example, when a light suddenly turns on or a person appears in a room, rodents react differently:

  1. cowardly mice by nature rush to leave open space, hiding in secluded corners, while they are afraid to catch the eye of their enemies (the same can be observed in a cockroach);
  2. inherently aggressive rats are often able to attack their offenders, even though the potential enemy will be significantly larger, and when the light is turned on, they do not run, but evaluate the situation, freezing for a few seconds.

It is worth considering that the intellectual abilities of rats are significantly superior to their younger counterparts, which is manifested in such behavioral features:

  • the flock does not populate potentially dangerous territory;
  • before the settlement, the area will be checked for some time, which will allow a person to fight with a small group of parasites;
  • there is a clear hierarchy in the pack, to which all individuals strictly obey.

Due to these qualities, it is much easier to get rid of mice than from rats.

How to distinguish a small rat from a mouse

In some situations, it is worth knowing how a mouse and a rat differ at a young age. Even newborn individuals of both representatives will also vary in size, as well as adult representatives of species. During a visual examination, it is worth noting that the muzzles of rat babies look less sharp, almost chopped off.

In order not to confuse a rat cub with an adult mouse, it is worth paying attention to certain differences in their appearance:

  • the skull of a vole looks sharper;
  • the ears of mice are large;
  • the length of the mouse tail is at least ¾ of the body length;
  • the legs of rat pups have membranes.

Even with a short examination of rodents in the photo, rats and mice have obvious differences. If any individuals are found, we recommend that you remove them, since both types of parasites are undesirable neighbors with human housing. To do this, use the entire arsenal, including chemicals, ultrasound devices and the mechanical destruction of rodents.

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