Roof Rat Vs Wood Rat

Their tails are shorter than their bodies and they are usually covered in scales as are their ears.

Roof rat vs wood rat.

The fur of roof rat is smooth while the fur of the norway rat is rough and shaggy. It s usually easy to tell them apart from roof rats especially by the shape of their droppings which are not only capsule shaped but also much larger than those of roof rats. Female roof rats have 10 teats norway rats have heavy thick bodies blunt muzzles and small close set ears. The roof rat has a long tail which is longer than the combined length of the head and body.

Roof rats have soft and smooth fur that is typically brown with intermixed spots of black. There are several distinguishing characteristics. Their undersides are often white gray or black. Conspicuously shorter than their combined head and body their tails are carried with comparatively less movement than roof rats.

Their 6 inch to 8 1 2 inch tails are dark on top with lighter undersides. The species found in arizona is the white throat wood rat also known as woodrat and new world rat. Roof rats are not as common as norway rats. Roof rats have black fur with pale underbellies while norway rats have brownish gray coats.

If you pull the tail back over the body it will reach over its head. They re typically found within 100 miles of the gulf coastline or the coastline of the western united states. Roof rats rattus rattus are most likely to be found nesting in attics and other high up places such as ceilings tall cabinets and the inside of walls. Facts about rats roof rat or black rat.

But after its dna was indexed alongside other rats in the eastern woodrat species it was discovered that the allegheny woodrat is indeed a species of its own. There are over 20 species of pack rats from the arctic to central america. Pack rats on the other hand are not considered true rats as they belong to the neotoma genus they are a different species. Roof rats got their name because of the fact that these rodents are natural climbers that prefer to build their nests in high up locations such as in eaves or attic rafters.

Another way to differentiate between the two rodents is size. Color is an easy way to identify roof rats vs. The adult roof rat is about 7 10 inches long and weighs about 5 9 ounces. The allegheny woodrat was once thought to be a subspecies of the eastern woodrat.

Also called the black rat ship rat or old english rat the roof rat measures 6 8 inches long and has a tail that s slightly longer than its body. This rat prefers the inland areas of the northeastern united states. Adult roof rats measure about eight inches in length while norway rats can be up to ten inches long. Adult roof rats measure 6 8 16 20 cm when combining their head and body length.

Additionally the roof rat. Roof rats are long and thin rodents that have large eyes and ears a pointed nose and a scaly tail. There is a third type of rat the woodrat that you might find in the southwest but it is rarely a problem for humans.