How will you know whether you have mice or rats on your property? Both of these rodents will leave little signs that they are cohabiting with you, and one of the first signs you’re probably going to see is the droppings they leave behind.

But how can you tell which one has left the droppings?

Mice, being considerably smaller than the average rat (in most cases) generally have smaller dropping ‘pellets’ than rats, which can leave behind considerably larger droppings. Rat poop can be about 1-2cm in length, with mouse poop being barely only a fraction of that — around 1-2mm only.



Being smaller, you’ll usually find that mice poop quicker and more frequently than rats do, too. This means that you’ll find more pellets when mice are present, and fewer pellets when rats are. A rat will leave somewhere in the region of 30 to 50 droppings per day, but the average mouse will deposit 80, 90 or even 100 plus droppings.

If you want to get close enough to check out the size of the rodent droppings, a banana-like, curved shape is usually indicative of a rat, not a mouse. Mice have more rice-like pellets, and they usually have pointed or tapered ends.

We do not recommend getting close enough to rat, mouse, or other wild animal droppings, as they are all very well known to carry and transmit a string of diseases. Some of these diseases can be dangerous and potentially even deadly to humans and domesticated animals.