Rat or Mouse ?

[EastDulwichSE22]

Funny enough I saw K&O pest control on my road today and thought to myself 'Oh no , not mice again !' Being as its a terraced house road and no doubt it will pass through my house, lo and behold two hours ago I just saw poo in my kitchen , big poo. Please tell me my worst fear has not come true and its not rat poo ? Sob.

[Sue]

Bit hard to tell the size of the poo from your picture .....

but YES! It's an ENORMOUS rat!

[ennevive]

100% mouse

[dulwichbloke]

Bit hard to say from the pic but sorry to say it looks more like rat to me. If it is about 0.75" long its rat, mouse is more like 0.25". Rat droppings are also rectangular ended. Hope its mouse though. Good luck!

[Jeremy]

James Herbert-esque Rats, I'm afraid...

[EastDulwichSE22]

I had a mouse last year and its poo was like chocolate sprinkles , this one was three longish poos. I thought it was wood chipping at first . I don't want a rat for Christmas . I shall be sleeping with the lights on , not that it will deter it .

[Help-Ma-Boab]

Do rats have stag parties?

[northlondoner]

Looks like zebra poo

[Lordlordship]

Not sure where abouts you live but when I was walking to work at about 6am on Monday morning I saw a huge rat run across St Aidens road, it really freaked me out.

[red devil]

Eeeeek!...

http://media.freeola.com/images/user-images/7964/mousedrop2.jpg

[Kingy]

Either or

1) Club it with a shovel

2) Get a cat

[Jah Lush]

Donkey.

[EastDulwichSE22]

That was a wonderful sleep whereby visions of rats running about ruled my active mind.

I need a cat. Sharpish .

[Jah Lush]

Here kitty kitty kitty.

http://www.celiahammond.org/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=26&MMN_position=35:35

[unlurked]

Looks like a splinter of wood to me, but your pic is not clear.

[BigED]

Phone Colin of K&O pest control. Money well spent, I think. And in the meantime, keep all potential food sources in glass jard or tins (or at least in sturdy plastic boxes) and keep your kitchen areas spotless. No need to give them a free feed.

[Salsaboy]

Clown maybe?

[njc97]

looks mousey to me. Rice v baked beans.

[sugarmouse]

I agree that mouse droppings look like chocolate sprinkles and I should know - we've had them down the back of our sofa for months now - ewwww! We tried so many things to catch the blighter(s): poison, humane traps, sticky boards - I watched one night as the mouse exited the hole in the radiator box where he was living, sniffed around then jumped over the sticky boards we'd laid down...

We finally got rid of him last week with LOTS of industrial strength sticky boards from pest-expert.com, lined up across a doorway so there was no way for him to get back home without running over them.

Bit of a sad end but we'd tried most humane methods and nothing had worked. We spent around ?70 in the end, probably should just have called a pest control person but never knew they could be so clever! Let's hope there was only one...

Good luck!

[simonethebeaver]

As Colin himself said to me, there is no such thing as 'a mouse'.

[Ruskin]

Like'em or loathe'em, a cat is definitely the answer if you have mice. Only had one incidence since getting ours and the one that dared enter the house was sniffed out and removed by our mouser.

Have it 'done' though.

[adonirum]

Sorry Sugarmouse but there is never ever "one", they are always in mating pairs and dependant on whether you caught the female or not, you may have got rid, as the male will move on in search of another mate, but if you caught the male then the female may well stay in situ awaiting the arrival of another mate or even if it has offspring will wait until a male amongst them matures (about 6-8 weeks) and then mate with them. Keep all your stuff down for at least two weeks ( I note you stated last week ) and only then will you be sure.

[Jeremy]

The cat solution sounds good. Until it brings a half dead bird into your bedroom as a present.

[Pilarica]

cats will not kill rats...the rats more likely to bite the cat...and a shovel to kill the rat will give you nightmares for the rest of your life......

[sugarmouse]

Thanks Adonirum, I'll keep you posted!