Mice & Rats
What ties mice and rats together is a shared set of habits and body parts you can easily spot around the house, starting with those continuously growing front teeth that leave telltale gnaw marks on baseboards and electrical wires. Whether you are dealing with a house mouse nesting behind the kitchen stove or a field-dwelling deer mouse that wandered into the garage as the weather turned cold, every member of this group leaves behind the same signature footprints with four toes on the front feet and five on the back, accompanied by small tubular droppings scattered along their favorite runways.
Telling them apart from other creatures in your yard usually comes down to looking closely at the tail, ears, and overall movement rather than panicking over a quick flash of fur in the dark. Voles have stubby tails and leave mown grass runways on the lawn, squirrels sport bushy tails and run around in broad daylight, and bats possess actual wings that keep them roosting up high instead of scampering along baseboards. Once you know what you are looking at, keeping them out mostly means sealing up any exterior gaps measuring a quarter of an inch or larger and securing your food, though you should always consult a health professional immediately if anyone suffers a bite or feels unwell after an encounter.
Explore mice & rats
House mouseMus musculus
Norway ratRattus norvegicus
Roof ratRattus rattus
Deer micePeromyscus species
White-footed mousePeromyscus leucopus
Wood mouseApodemus sylvaticusQuestions about mice & rats
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