Mouse or rat?!

[Y1006]

Feeling worried about this. Is this a mouse or a rat? No food been left out but we live in the countryside.

I have heard a really really loud scratching sort of noise this morning in the attic. Not heard it since.

Rat, but I wouldn’t worry they are everywhere.
If you are worried they’re in your loft though you should get a pest control person to come and look

😂I knew what you meant!

Mr Ratty, rip.

I would think it got there courtesy of a cat or possibly a fox or bird of prey. Most likely a cat.

Rats are everywhere.

Birds are starting to seek out nest sites and make a great racket on rooves, eaves, gutters etc. That is probably the nice you heard.

How long have you lived in the countryside?

Looks like a juvenile rat to me.

Would the horrified posters who can’t stand images of dead vermin please give it a rest. There’s nothing in those pictures that anyone could possibly object to as being posted on MN.

Me too, dragged through the cat flap and presented to me in my BEDROOM!!! It was huge too,half the size of our cat 😱

I know it looks like a rat, that was certainly my impression. However, OP says it has a hairy tail. Rats never have hairy tails, do they?

There is a saying, you are never more than 10ft away from a rat.... they are everywhere.

It looks like a half eaten rat or mouse, most likely from a cat (I know from experience) it is difficult to tell from the photo which one it is, but rat tails are hairless normally.

If you suspect an infestation in the loft then get pest control to have a look, but don't put poison down unknowingly

Bit difficult to tell without a head. We live in a semi rural area by fields and woodland and had a bit of a mouse infestation a couple of years ago. We got humane traps and caught a few which were then released back into the wild. We didn't want to put poison down as the mice are food for other animals including birds of prey and owls. This is a picture of 2 that were in the trap, they are cute but I didn't want them running around my kitchen eating food from the cupboards and they are unhygienic as their droppings and urine stink.

Thanks for the scale. I would say field mouse (bigger than house mouse). Too small for rat. Rats are BIG.

Baby rats aren't 🤣

A baby rat, I'd say.

That's probably good news from your perspective. They carry all the same diseases and mice are significantly more likely to enter and nest in your home.

No Mr Fawlty, he's a hamster.

Looks like a rat. I'm shit scared of them always have been actually when it comes to any rodent. Once vacated my house because I could hear scratching in the loft. Turned out to be birds nesting in the guttering 🤣

It is always a rat. Get it sorted sooner rather than later, they chew wires, pipes etc. I no longer have this problem because I have ended up owning 5 cats (in theory 2 are still fosters but been here 2 years now...)

Just to add, although rats are horrible, better than having to deal with a squirrel in your loft. Whole different ball game when it come to pest control- I know people who remain traumatised by having to evict squirrels. ...

Looks like a baby rat with the tail and feet, but please don’t listen to some posters saying put poison down that’s incredibly inhumane.

My cats can get the head off a squirrel - rats are smaller.

One nearly set fire to our house, we had smoke in the kitchen, called the fire brigade who investigated and shortly the smoke went away, they didn't find the cause.
It turned out to be a rat, as we discovered when there was an incredibly bad smell in the room about a week later. It had chewed the insulation off a live wire and electrocuted itself. Luckily the rat's body (found under the floorboards) somehow had reinsulated the cable.

The dead rat smell had soaked into the joists, so I tried to disguise it with some strong aftershave (Brut).
It didn't work. Dead rat and aftershave... 😬🤢🤢🤢

I haven’t seen your photo, but mice are tiny. Actually tiny. Sadly I’m no stranger to them, living in an Edinburgh Georgian property!

I’d guess a bird of prey has ripped it up and dropped / left part of it
doubt you have rats

Don’t put poison down outside
might kill other wildlife like hedgehogs or field mice or birds etc
there are humane traps but I serious doubt you have a rat problem

lol, 'badly injured'. It's just a flesh wound!