Roof Rats Have Separate Colonies

The key difference is that roof rats live and nest in high places while norway rats live and nest in colonies that are at or below ground level.

Roof rats have separate colonies.

So where do rats hide. Where rats live rats habitat will vary depending on both their species and on rural or country setting. If you suspect you have rat activity in or around your home you may be concerned about rat habitats. However the two most common types found in the united states are the norway rat and the roof rat.

Roof rats live in colonies and even forage in small groups of ten or so. The color of the roof rat varies depending on the sub species and is as follows. The female roof rat has ten mammary glands. Roof rats weight 4 to 12 ounces and are 13 3 4 to 17 3 4 from the tip of nose to end of tail.

The easiest way to quickly distinguish a roof rat from a norway rat other than the smaller size is that a roof rat s tail is very long. Rattus rattus is black to slate colored on both back and belly. Roof rats are long and thin rodents that have large eyes and ears a pointed nose and a scaly tail. Their undersides are often white gray or black.

Roof rats rattus rattus also known as black rats are small typically dark gray rodents. Adult roof rats measure 6 8 16 20 cm when combining their head and body length. Being excellent climbers they can easily access any part of the house through pipelines wires blocks of brick or concrete or even branches of tall trees. If you were to pull the tail back over the body the roof rat s tail would extend past its snout.