How To Identify Roof Rats

Other signs of a roof rat infestation include.

How to identify roof rats. You may have already noticed evidence of the rats chewing away on wood or wiring in your attic or. They have smooth fur with hairless scaly tails that are longer than their heads and bodies. Their tails are shorter than their body length and their ears and eyes are small relative to their body. The key ways to differentiate between the roof rat and the norway rat are.

Two primary species of rats inhabit north american homes. Roof rats can fit through holes as small as one half inch in diameter. These rodents have long tails large ears and eyes and pointed noses. They have large ears a tail that is longer than their body and a pointed nose.

Regardless of the name they have smooth black or brown fur and are about 40 centimetres long and have earned some notoriety as carriers of serious diseases. The roof rat and the norway rat. Four ways to identify roof rats 1. They are also known as roof rat ship rat house rat alexandrine rat and old english rat.

The shape of the upper first molar is different in both rats. Roof rat size is smaller than the norway rat. Ranging from six to eight inches in length not including their tails roof rats are colorblind and have very poor vision. At first you might think all rats look the same.

Gnawing or scratching noises in the attic or walls gnaw marks around the home s roof or eaves spotting them running on tree limbs power lines roofs patios and in fruit trees hollowed out fruit if you have fruit trees gnawing damage to electrical. Because they prefer to be high in the air these rodents may climb on power lines or tree branches to get on the roof. Roof rats can be black or brown. Roof rats are dark brown or black in color with a contrasting lighter underbelly or black underbelly.

But what they lack in swimming prowess they make up in their climbing abilities. The roof rat looks like the norway rat. Quick roof rat facts. They do however have extremely strong senses of hearing smell touch and taste.

The black rat has a slender body compared to the norway rat. But when you start looking for a few. Norway rats sometimes called brown or sewer rats are identifiable by their stocky gray brown bodies. How did i get roof rats.