Rat or Large Mouse ID please (1 Viewer)

[vilbs]

Hi there back from holiday and have 3 non-bird ID's if anyone is able to. All taken in Gloucestershire within the last week.

Again filmed by my pond - I am thinking it is a rat and trying not to mind and love all nature equally! I have a video of it swimming in my pond as well.

 

[Farnboro John]

Correct. Brown Rat. Long thick tail, robust appearance, rough look to fur when wet. (Personally I would add the confidence with which it moves about: mice are a lot more jittery!)

John

 

[vilbs]

Correct. Brown Rat. Long thick tail, robust appearance, rough look to fur when wet. (Personally I would add the confidence with which it moves about: mice are a lot more jittery!)

John

Thanks John. As you seem knowledgeable on the subject - is there any positive PR spin I can put on this ID particularly when I inform my wife of the sighting?

 

[Farnboro John]

Thanks John. As you seem knowledgeable on the subject - is there any positive PR spin I can put on this ID particularly when I inform my wife of the sighting?

Not really. If you live in a rural area then I suppose the line to take is that its impossible to wipe them out across the land (goodness knows mankind has waged total war against them for long enough without success) and they are bound to wander across your land occasionally. If sightings persist or you start getting numbers, get the traps and poison boxes out and if you've ever fancied yourself with an air rifle, that's all the justification you need.

I know perfectly well the brook outside my garden is a rodent reservoir but if they start to take up residence actually in the garden then its full-spectrum warfare.

John

 

[vilbs]

"full spectrum warfare" - brilliant! We have compost bins, chicken feed as well as all the other creature comforts of the countryside so I have always assumed they are roaming freely. I think I will leave it that if I see them with my naked eye (as opposed to wildlife camera) then that will signal a problem causing me to wheel out the howitzer Thanks again for your help across the 3 x IDs.