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.

If you are releasing, make sure and go several miles away. There has been a study done that found mice will return if less than 2 miles (it takes them a while (little legs ) but they will return.

Please don’t kill it. Try to catch it and take it outside to the bottom of your garden, releasing it under a hedge or compost heap, taking care that the cat doesn’t follow you out…..

See if you can see any poops. Mice droppings are small, like brown grains of rice or seeds. Rat poop is bigger, think large orzo.

Rat.

@MrsVeryTired

If you are releasing, make sure and go several miles away. There has been a study done that found mice will return if less than 2 miles (it takes them a while (little legs ) but they will return.

Surely that's only an issue if the mouse came into the house of their own accord. In this case the cat brought it in so maybe not such a need to take it miles away

If you catch it tonight in a humane trap, it's a mouse. If you don't, it's a rat- they can take a while to catch as they are clever and don't trust newly-placed things. And it looks like a baby rat to me, my cat likes to release both rats and mice inside 🙄

Snap traps are quick and much better than a long drawn out death from a humane trap away from food, familiar surroundings etc.

You know you empty the humane trap, right? And personally I just take them back outside, especially if they're not living in the house but have only been brought in by the cat. It's not like you either leave them in the trap to starve to death or dump them in a concrete wilderness where no mouse can ever survive.

I'd say it's mouse. I've had cats for many years, and one used to bring them in alive.

We had a family of rats in the garden a couple of years ago (from building work next door) and the babies were bigger than that

If you’re getting lots of them brought in that are all the same size then mice seem more likely than loads of baby rats.

If you do catch it and it’s been injured by the cat then a local small animal rescue will likely be willing to take it in.

@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.

its a baby rat only just out the nest, they tend to be rather bold/fool hardy at that age.

if you want to catch a mouse or rat cheese is bollocks thats like stuff from a cartoon. they love cake, every body loves cake like coconut macaroons or baternburg etc.

I've had pet rats they dont really give a stuff about cheese, cake they loved and drinking super malt.

@WisherWood

Snap traps are quick and much better than a long drawn out death from a humane trap away from food, familiar surroundings etc.

You know you empty the humane trap, right? And personally I just take them back outside, especially if they're not living in the house but have only been brought in by the cat. It's not like you either leave them in the trap to starve to death or dump them in a concrete wilderness where no mouse can ever survive.

you need to take them at least half a mile away or they will come back they have a great sense of direction.

snap traps should be banned its disgusting what some people do to animals.

Yeah sorry baby rat more than mouse or vole

It's a mouse.
We were advised to use nutella or peanut butter on traps.

Not a great picture maybe can tell by the tail. My dog killed this today. Mouse or baby rat ?

[quote RatMam]@DomesticatedZombie

This one isn’t wild, don’t worry. Well, not in the same way as OP’s He’s finishing for peas in a paddling pool in my living room currently after swinging from my curtains earlier!
This was when I picked him before he came home. He looks like this now [/quote]

Gee Whizz. No wonder there's so many baby rats about if the blokes are all gadding about with balls like that

(he's very cute though, from the waist up)

snap traps should be banned its disgusting what some people do to animals

No what should be banned are people who can not face reality. If you abandon a rodent miles from home it will have a slow and drawn out death, they live in family groups, they don't fend well on their own. Plus if a cat has bitten it (likely) the wound will become infected and the mouse will die. Rodents have a shitty hand in life, a quick snap is much kinder. (See also poison, a way to make animals die slowly but out of sight)

Maybe a glis glis?

Ignore my comment- they have bushy tails but I can’t delete my comment lol

@Hullabaloo9

It's tail is quite thick. Thicker than any of the mice I've been gifted. It's face seems shaped more ratty to me and it was heavy. Its also very very loud when it squeals when the cat chases it at 4am

Why is it always 4am?? My cat was bounding about like a giddy goat at 4am this morning and, sure enough, when I went downstairs at 6am, there was a very dead mouse decorating the hallway.

OK my son is home from college and he is the only one to have had more than a fleeting glance at this specific critter. He says it is definitely bigger than the dead one in the picture. I'm thinking rat. I now dont think it will fit in the humane traps I've put down, but we will see...

I've had plently of mice in the house that's a baby rat I'm afraid

I would /have used snap traps. All that happens is you let them go . They either die. Or end up someone else's problem. And when you see big wild rat in your home you may feel different.

RatMam Sorry, all I could think was "LOOK AT THOSE THINGS!" too

Post a close up picture of the tail.

Looks like a mouse to me 🤷🏽‍♀️