What is the Difference Between a Rat and a Mouse?

Rats and mice are both rodents, so look similar - the biggest difference is their size. Rats are larger and heavier while mice have smaller slender bodies. Mice also have long slender tails (for their body size) covered in hair compared to rat tails which are shorter, thicker and hairless.

There are three species of rodent that are the most prevalent pests in homes and businesses worldwide due to their ability to adapt quickly to the human environment. These are the Brown rat (Rattus norvegicus, also called Common or Norway rat), the Ship rat (Rattus rattus, also called the Black rat or Roof rat) and the House mouse (Mus domesticus).

The house mouse has several subspecies that are common in different parts of the world and are increasingly being recognised as separate species, but these are all virtually indistinguishable from each other.

All rodents have the common identifying features such as a pair of incisor teeth in the upper jaw. They tend to have short legs and a long tail, but a closer look at their body characteristics and habits shows that they have distinguishable features that you can use to identify which pest is invading your property.

The easiest distinguishing feature is the smaller body size of the house mouse at 3-10 cm long, compared to a rat’s body length of 16 - 40 cm. However an adult mouse can be easily confused with a young rat.

• A mature mouse can be distinguished from a young rat by its larger ears and longer tail compared to its body length than the rat.
• A young rat also has distinctly larger feet and head compared to the body than a mouse.
• Mice are usually light grey or brown in colour with a lighter shade on their bellies.

Find out more about UK mice with our common mice species guide.

Brown rats (also called Norway rats) are larger than Black rats (also known as Roof rats or Ship rats) find out more about UK rats in our common rat species guide. These rodents have the following differing body features to help you tell the difference between them:

• thicker body;
• tail shorter than length of head + body;
• paler colour underneath the tail;
• small hairy ears;
• blunt nose.

• slender body; 
• large thin ears;
• pointed nose;
• tail longer than head +body.

Both rats and mice are omnivorous but the brown rat and house mouse prefer cereals, while black rats prefer fruit and foods with a high moisture content.

• Prefers cereals;
• cuts grain when eating, giving the appearance that is has been chopped;
• tends to seek food in the same places, making baiting easier;
• drinks about 60ml water a day;

• Prefers moist fruit;
• cuts grain when eating, giving the appearance that is has been chopped;
• tends not to eat at the same location on consecutive nights. This makes them more difficult to control, requiring many small baiting points using moist food, which only remains edible for a few days before needing replacing.
• drinks about 30ml water a day.

• prefers cereals; 
• when eating it ‘kibbles’ the grain by removing the outer husk to eat the white endosperm inside; 
• tends to seek food in the same places; 
• doesn’t need to drink water but will drink about 3ml if available.

Brown rats usually live on the ground and burrows. They are usually spotted throughout buildings, in sewer systems and outdoors. Their burrowing can cause extensive damage to sewers. The brown rat tends to walk on the pads of the feet and the surfaces that it travels along show continuous smudges from the oily fur.

Black rats are mainly restricted to buildings around ports and in ships in temperate countries (hence the name ‘ship rat’). They are agile and a good climbers, nesting high up under roofs. In warmer countries, where they originate, black rats will nest in trees, especially in woodland and orchards. Black rats tend to walk on their toes and the surfaces that the ship rat travels along show separated smudges.

Mice usually lives on the ground and nests in burrows, but is agile and can climb. In heavy infestations, grease from the body combined with dirt and urine can build into small pillars. These can remain for a long time, so may not indicate a current infestation. A mouse obviously has a smaller footprint than a rat.

The droppings of the three animals differ in size and shape, according to the body size. Rat droppings can often been mistaken for mouse droppings and those from a cockroach.

Brown rat droppings are wide and are dark brown colour. They are typically found in a tapered, spindle shape – resembling a large grain of rice.

Black rat droppings are long and thin, and are smaller than brown rat droppings. Black rat droppings are more regular in form with a banana like curve and pointed ends.

Mouse droppings are approximately 3-8mm in length, and are often found scattered randomly during a infestation. Mouse droppings are granular in shape and black in colour and can be found near nesting areas.

Mice reach sexual maturity earlier and produce larger litters at a more frequent rate than rats. The new borne of all three rodents are blind, hairless and completely dependent on the mother for feeding and protection.

• litter size: 4-16 
• number of litters per year: 7-8
• maturity: 8-12 weeks

• litter size: 7-8 
• number of litters per year: 3-6 
• time to maturity: 10-12 weeks

• litter size: 5-10 
• number of litters per year: 3-6
• time to maturity: 7-8 weeks