Please identify this rodent for me

[Hullabaloo9]

OK my cat has been bringing in these rodents the last few days. Some are dead when I find them, some I rescue and put outside but one has escaped both me and cat. It is currently living in the cavity behind all my kitchen cupboards and popping up randomly in different drawers. I've emptied my kitchen and am now unsure what to do. Suggestions welcome!

Basically I would feel a lot happier if I'm dealing with a mouse or vole rather that (as I suspect) a baby rat. The picture is of one of the dead ones.

That’s definitely a juvenile rat.
You could buy a humane trap, leave some food inside it and hopefully catch it fairly quickly 🤞🏻

It's a rat.

Now that's a cat not to be messed with.

You need to identify the source or you'll never get rid of them, especially as you're turning them loose.

That's a fine cat you've got there. And our house is on Team Rat.

As a rat keeper I can definitely say that’s a mouse. Baby rats have huge feet in comparison to their bodies

Definitely a mouse

@ClawedButler I dunno I’ve heard jim is a bit of a twat when you get to know him.

Google pictures of wood mouse - we caught one in our house once and I also had the same panic that it might be a young rat. They are white bellied and usually live in hedges, not often found inside.

Baby rat!
Definitely not a mouse which are smaller and sleeker.

I can only think that everyone saying rat has never actually seen one IRL

I would say large adult mouse.

Breeding season for wild rodents doesn't really start until March so I can't imagine there would be many rat (or mouse) babies around just now anyway, although it has been a mild winter.

It’s a field mouse and if you’re putting the ones you rescue straight back in your garden then it’s probably the same ones coming in each time.

I'm also going mouse, but whatever don't use humane traps, there is no such thing they are just sold because most humans prefer to pretend that the rodent lives happily ever after rather than the reality that they have a drawn out death. Get a snap trap and be done with it. Everything needs washing as mice are incontinent

@noblegreenk

It's a juvenile rat. I had pet rats years ago so know what they look like. Plus my hound is an excellent ratter and is always catching young rat snacks to eat in the garden.

Exactly. The size alone, nearly 4'' long...? That ain't no mouse.

We have mice in summer in the compost bin occasionally, small, glossy sleek creatures without that wedge shaped head and longer wispy hair.

Have you taken the kick board off at the bottom of the cupboards? It might be screwed on or might just be snapped on. Take it off and leave the cat in the kitchen.

I think it's a wood mouse, also known as a field mouse. You do get them in houses too, especially if you live somewhere less urban.

I think it's a young rat ,

If you are going to catch and free it make sure it can get food or it will just starve ( to young to be very good at looking for food )

If you are going to use a snap trap check them regularly, they don't always kill outright ( trap a paw / head but not neck ) it's a slow painful way to die which no creature deserves .
And in that case you will need to dispatch it yourself either way is a brick or a bucket of water

Looks like a big mouse to me

Its a rat. Don't dick about with humane traps. Get your council pest control in and look for entry points.

That's a baby rat. I know it for sure. Seen a few of them, half or totally eaten during my two cats' heyday.

I love this thread:

Rat mouse rat rat mouse mouse rat rat rat mouse mouse mouse

If it helps, these are the latest mouse corpses we have been presented with.

Not a rat

This thread is hilarious - mouse, rat, no mouse, DEFINITELY RAT, never seen a mousier looking mouse EVER, rat...