Rodents
Whilst there are many different rodents I am only going to give a brief description etc. on the rat and mouse. I am not going into great depth about the rodents but will put a few facts to you about them and how they live and thrive amongst us.
Firstly the Brown rat is the main commensal rodent species, and along with other rodents are capable of spreading diseases such as Salmonella spp, Listeria spp, Escherichia Colli, Cryptosporidium Parvum, Leptospira spp, Hantiviruses, Bubonic Plague (the black death)
Rodent Senses
Rodents use the five senses of SMELL, TOUCH, HEARING, SIGHT AND TASTE. in order to survive.
Smell is well developed in Rats and mice and is used to identify their young and to identify strange rodents not belonging to the colony.
The smell of humans do not appear to bother rats, but the smell of a cat causes the rat to freeze, smell related to urine is very important. Males smelling unfamiliar male urine become aggressive and will attack the unfamiliar male.
Touch is one of the most highly developed of the rodents senses.
Hearing is very acute on a rodent, they are sensitive to sudden noises and to high frequencies (ultrasound)
Their eyesight is poor in the daylight but this has little effect on them as they forage mainly at night time
A good point to remember is that rodents will eat anything that man will eat including his waste and a great deal more,
The brown rat is often brown to grey with a lighter underside, it has small ears and eyes with a slightly shorter tail than the length of its head and body and it weighs in at 400 - 500 grms . It can have 3 - 6 litters per year each litter being between 8 - 10 in number, the young reach maturity in 2 - 3 months and has an average life span of 12 months.
One of the worst things about a rat problem in the home is often the very bad smell of urine etc. as they tend to frequent the same area to use as a latrine, this is more obvious in domestic properties if a nest is in a confined area, such as a roof space or under the flooring. The smell is totally different the that of a dead rodent.
The above life style is the same for both rodents the characteristics however is different not only because of the size difference,
The mouse is coloured brown to light grey with a lighter underside, its ears are large, eyes are small, tail slightly less than the length of body, weighs only 10 - 25 grms, has 5 - 8 litters a year comprising of 4 - 8 young, reaching maturity in 6 - 8 weeks and has an average life span of 3 - 4 months.
They may look nice and cute but DO NOT TRY TO CATCH A CORNERED OR THREATENED SQUIRREL IT WILL BITE AND CAUSE YOU SOME HARM