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.

Sorry, it looks like a small rat to me.

Hm not sure OP, could it be a house mouse? In a previous house we had a house mouse infestation that I didn’t know about until they had multiplied and we had to get pest control in, there was poo all over the kitchen table etc

Current house backs on to a field and we have had mice again but smaller with shorter tails? Snap trapped them as they carry hantavirus

Difficult to say - obviously since everyone is disagreeing. Also difficult with one photo from that angle. The other thing you might want to consider is a water vole - they are the size of a small rat but without the juvenile features.

I wouldn't worry too much about it not being official rat breeding season. A. I suspect nobody has told the rats when they're supposed to breed and B. if you're in England it's been a very mild winter. Rats have a tendency to carry on regardless.

We live next to a field and get loads of mice coming to visit. We have to mouse proof most bits in the garden and shed. They are small and incredibly cute.
That looks like a baby rat to me as it’s head and body are far too big. It also has quite big feet!
We have a rat that comes to visit periodically, but he/she is very wiley and has not been spotted in daylight, but triggers our security cameras when the mice don’t.

I have pet rats and pet mice. I also have a cat that likes to bring in dead (and alive) wild mice and this looks like a wood mouse to me.

@Newfluff

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

I'm with Newfluff. Humane traps are anything but. A quick clean death in a snap trap is much kinder.

But I'm voting baby rat (doo doo-doo doo)

It’s a mouse.

We have had rats under our kitchen units. Twice they’ve chewed through the dishwasher wiring. Rat poison works well.

country mouse, tend to love peanut butter and bird seed mix.

Rat, sorry!

Mouse. Take all the drawers out and open all the doors and trap the cat in there with said rodent. Or put a humane trap out and keep the kitchen door locked and all cupboard doors and drawers open. Xx

Baby rat

Ok I’m going mouse

Juvenile rat. Put out snap traps at right angles to any obvious exits from space behind cupboard

Mouse trap with a slice of Mars bar put it somewhere the cat can't get. Mice wee constantly so need to get rid

What's the issue @Nelliephant1 ?
Snap traps are quick and much better than a long drawn out death from a humane trap away from food, familiar surroundings etc.

Ah, this is the only bad thing about having cats. My sweet-but-dumb girl can't hunt to save her life, she wouldn't last a day in the wild, but the rescue is death on legs to small animals. They have limited outdoor space so don't see much of it nowadays.

I thought this was a vole, but am clearly wrong!

@Hullabaloo9

Thanks everyone. I've found the rat/mouses fav hiding spot in the cupboard under the sink. It stinks . I've put 3 humane traps in there baited with Nutella, cheddar and Parmesan. Interested to see which he goes for. I will update in the morning, hopefully with a better picture.

Peanut butter works well too! Field mouse from our experience.

Baby rat. My cat used top bring them in too. Mice have a different face and tail, so do voles.

Get a humane trap and set it free?

Roland, he’s called Roland.

They look like mice to me, hair on the tail vs scales. I live in the sticks and get several like this a week from our cat.. who sadly brings them in to ''play''.. yuck..

The rats on the other hand are much bigger and have scaly tails. Cats do catch them but they are far more interested in mice!

Get a mouse trap and put it under the cupboards. You should be able to remove the plinth that goes between the cupboard and floor and stick in there. Lots of peanut butter they love it!

Looks like a wood mouse to me, that's what we had, live on the edge of a town.

My thoughts on seeing the picture was that it was a field mouse

I think it’s a mouse too, I’ve had dozens of these and on the two occasions I got a rat I KNEW it was one, no questions asked. I’ve had big fat mice, ugly mice, cute mice, tiny mice, mice innards, mice tails, mice heads …. Oh and two squirrels.

Looks like a mouse to me. My cat brings lots of them in and they are very cute. And bigger than you would think, bigger than shrews which she also brings home I think. She eats them on the doorstep except some gut pieces.