People often fear rats much more than mice, considering them dangerous animals, carriers of many diseases. Mice and rats have many external differences, knowing which, you can quickly distinguish them from each other.
Instructions
Step 1
Estimate the size of the bodies of animals: rats are on average 2-4 times larger than mice. In addition, the torso of rats is much more muscular and dense than that of mice. Pay attention also to the head of the rodent. In rats, the head is often larger than in mice, and it has a more elongated shape.
Step 2
Compare the weight of the animals. Rats weigh much more than mice. Compare yourself: the average weight of an adult rat is 300-900 g, and that of a mouse is 20-50 g. To find out if a rat is in front of you or a mouse, you don't even need a scale, because the differences in weight are very significant.
Step 3
Pay attention to the paws of the rodents. In rats, the legs are larger, they are more adapted for fast running on horizontal surfaces. The feet of mice are smaller and are often used by rodents to climb branches and vertical surfaces.
Step 4
Take a look at the eyes of an animal: Despite the differences in head size, rats have smaller eyes than mice. Because of this, it seems that the rat has tiny beady eyes, while the mouse has them very large, expressive, dark and shiny. However, in domestic albino mice, which are quite common, the eyes are not dark, but red.
Step 5
Compare rodent ears. In rats, they are quite small, especially in comparison with the size of the head as a whole. If you take a closer look, you will notice that the rat ears are rather narrow at the base and it seems as if they are curled up into a tube. In contrast, mice have very large, open ears, wide at the base and tapering towards the tips.
Step 6
Look at the tails of the animals. Often times, people distinguish a rat from a mouse precisely because of its long, thick tail. If you observe a little how mice and rats run, you can easily understand that the rat's tail when running is much more noticeable than the mouse's. The fact is that in a mouse, the tail is significantly shorter than the body, and in rats, its length is either approximately equal to the length of the body, or exceeds it. In addition, the rat tail is bald or bristly, dark in color, while the mouse tail can be fluffy and light.
