Rodents
Why Rats and Mice are a problem
Rats and mice are unwelcome guests of human dwellings and farm buildings. They are destructive and carry disease causing organisms. These organisms can cause problems to humans, pets and farm animals.
Rats and mice destroy and foul animal food. Their presence causes "stress" to farm animals, pets and humans resulting in lower productivity and profits. The common pest species of rats and mice in Australia are the Roof Rat, Norway Rat and the House Mouse |
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Products used by
Direct Pest Control
are safe around children and pets
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The Roof (Black) Rat
The Roof Rat is long and slender weighing about 300g. It has large ears and eyes and a pointed nose. The tail is longer than the head plus body.
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| Roof Rats are excellent climbers found in roofs of houses, on trees, vines, shrubs and dense vegetation. They prefer fresh fruits, vegetables, oats, sugar, vegetable fat to meats. The Roof Rat has a daily food intake of about 20g. |
The Norway (Brown) Rat
The Norway Rat has a heavy thick body weighing about 500g. It has small ears and eyes with a blunt nose. The tail is shorter than head plus body and pale below. The Norway rat is a poor climber but digs burrows.
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Usually found under fridges, furniture, between walls, under slabs, garbage cans and in crawl spaces. They prefer human and animal stock foods, fresh meat, fresh fish to fruits and vegetables. The Norway Rat has a daily food intake of about 30g.
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The House Mouse
The House Mouse is very much smaller compared to the rats. The mouse is a good climber and is usually found between pallets of stacked food and feed.
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They may also be found around cat litter, trash, pipes, holes in walls and in all floors of buildings and in the roof. They like to eat coarse commeal, hulled steamed oats, sugar and vegetable fat. The house mouse has a daily food intake of about 3.0g.
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Information and images on this page are courtesy of Bayer Environmental Health
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