Rats and Mice – How Do They Differ from One Another?

Many suffer from rodent infestation in their storage facilities, houses, official buildings, etc. The infestation is noticed more in such places where there is the storage of food items. However, what the owners of such buildings fail to notice is whether the rodent is a mouse or a rat, which is damaging their goods. 

Mouse and Rat 

Both the mice and rats are listed under the family of rodents. They both look quite similar, and differentiating them is difficult without knowing how to do so in the first place. Both the rats and mice are very difficult to deal with because they can damage even the vast storage of merchandise within a few days. Hence, finding professional help is suggested. 

Manchester residents can easily take care of their rodent infestation problem with the help of the Pest control Manchester services. They are an independent company that has experience of more than a decade of handling pest and rodent issues. Contact them to hire their help by visiting their website. They can guarantee a complete clearance of any unwanted guest in your building. 

Description of a Mice

A house mouse will be no more than 3 to 10cm long. Its body will be comparatively smaller than the rats and will have a long tail and ears. It will have either brown coloured fur or a light grey coloured fur covering its body. You will notice a lighter shade coloured belly in the mouse. 

Description of A Rat 

Brown and black rats are the commonly seen species in most places. They will have thick body fur and their tail will be comparatively shorter than the length of their body. The lower part of the tail of these rats will be of light shades than their body colour and they will have a blunt nose. Their ears will be small and also hairy. 

Food Preference 

The rats and mice both are omnivorous, and yet their taste in food is comparatively different from one another. Mice prefer eating vegetables, grains, nuts, fruits, and seeds, and meat, whereas the food preference of rats is cheeses, stored meats, and dry pet food. 

Life Expectancy 

The lifespan of rats is around 2 to 3 years, whereas the mice will not live more than 2.5 years. 

Reproduction Ability 

If you have a female mouse in the house, then you should know that it can produce more than 300 offspring at a time. When these offspring complete 4 weeks, they are eligible to mate and can produce 300 offspring, and the cycle continues. 

The same goes for the rats too as an estimation of the production of offspring by the rats can exceed more than 2000 in a year. However, rats and mice never prefer each other as the mating partners. 

The infestation of both the rats and mice can cost you greatly if the issue is not taken care of at the early stages. Rats can damage brick, aluminum, cinder blocks, and the wire mesh, which is otherwise not possible by the mice. However, both the rats and mice can chew and damage the electrical wires in the house. Hence, take care of this infestation issue before it goes out of control. 

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