Rat but what kind

Toby

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I have an old farmhouse out in the country and discovered my first rat, caught it in my basement and one in my garage, lived here for 6 years now. So I set some traps and caught him but I do not know what kind it is. So far no more have shown up and I have lots and lots of traps set. I have heard it could be a wood rat, roof rat, or a Norway rat. Here are some pictures. Body is about 8 inches with a tail of about 7 or 8 as well. What is your guy's take on what kind because I am new to trapping an actual rat, used to trapping muskrats. Here are the pictures:

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After reading about rats I am really hoping this isn't a Norway...hoping it is just a wood rat. The other thing that really worries me is that I haven't had a mouse all winter which is exceptionally unusual because I normally have mice in my basement in the winters.

I tried to take as many detail pics as I could but, like I said, I am in unfamiliar territory here. Hoping someone can tell me. Thank you.
 


Huskerdu

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?Wood.. Don't know what it is for sure...but from seeing the little devils years ago , they don't seem to run in packs, 4/5 at at time , maybe a pack? if you don't have a lot hiding spots on your property and keep your yard clean they won't be a problem in my experience , they show up when the weather warms up
 

Magpie

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That there's the only kind of good rat. A dead one. I'd say Norway by the dark tail. And you've got more than one.
 

espringers

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I wouldn't spend much time trying to figure it out. Just burn the house down, bulldoze the yard and sell what's left for $1. Rats suck! And I've never known them to be alone.
 

Toby

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So I've gotten the 2, the 1 in the garage and 1 in the basement...garage door leads to the basement. I've put up game cams in the basement and garage with a pile of bait, chips and peanuts, and nothing yet. Like I said, 1st year for this so I am a little concerned. Hoping it was just the 2. The 2 I got were male and female. Damn corn around my place this year.
 


Bfishn

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Wood rats have a bushy tail and are called a “bushy tail wood rat” I believe they are only in western ND. I had an encounter with one in an outhouse in the badlands.

bushytailed-woodrat-picture-id128591953


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KDM

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Norway Rat. Sorry!! With this last snow, food is harder to find so rodents will gravitate toward homes and barns more. Roof rats are smaller than the one pictured by about 50%. I believe the wood rats are the same species, but there are lots and lots of common names for rodents. Field rats, rice rats, and sewer rats come to mind. Almost all of them are Norway rats under a different name. Clean up the clutter where rats like to live and remove the food and you should be fine. Done battle with them several times at my place with a combination of rat poisons, traps, and sanitation. When the snow melts, they go back into the bush and I don't see them until winter again. Good Luck!! Sounds like you are off to a fine start. Keep after'em.
 

Toby

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The rat in the pic is a female with no evidence of teets, meaning no offspring, and the male I trapped a couple weeks ago was the exact same size. Most of the pics I have researched point to Norway, although there are several different strains of wood rats that look the same as a Norway. My research has also indicated that roof rats are usually darker in color with fine fur and monster ears and are usually the smaller of the 2. I agree with espringers about burning the house down and then using a bulldozer...I am thinking with a flamethrower and youtubing that shit because that would be epic. On a real note though, I really do need to know what kind this is because somewhere on my land they are living, doesn't help I have a very very dense tree grove all around my house, very thick underbrush.

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KDM...I thought so too but didn't want to accept that one. Norways are the hardest to get rid of if they invade your home...my basement is close enough to home for me. I do think you are right. F-word!
 

KDM

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Without a taxonomic analysis, meaning the thing in my hand, the best guess I can give you from your pic is a Norway Rat. If you need positive ID, take the carcass to any mammalogy dept at a university and they will be able to give you a positive ID on the thing. Assuming it's a Norway Rat, there's really nothing you can do to remove these things from your property short of making it a parking lot. As a Navy Medical Officer, I fought with these things for 14 years on 3 continents and in environments ranging from desert to rain forest jungles and the best you can hope for is a dull roar. They are there to stay. Plug the entrances into the house as best you can, cut the grass and undergrowth around the house, put poisons outside the house if possible as putting it inside only invites them into the house, place lots of traps around making sure they are positioned perpendicular to and right next to the walls, and check on the place often. 'Bout the best advice I can give you. I live in my house and CONSTANTLY monitor the place and have traps and poison out all the time. I still get the odd one here or there. My neighbors have livestock and they have hundreds of rats on their place. I get the overflow. Again, good luck!!
 

Lou63

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few years ago they tore down some grain bins in town and the rats decided to move to my basement, rock walls and dirt floor, found out when the internet went out in the bedroom and I found a chewed wire in the basement.

went to menards and bought 3 kinds of poison. the little buggers are smart, one gets sick they figure it was the free food-poison. 3 diff kinds they had no idea what it was that made em sick. went back a week later and filled in the 3 holes I found in the dirt and they were never dug back out and no other evidence to this day.
 


Toby

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KDM, I am also 99.98% these guys are Norway as well. They are little bastards, have to buy a new dishwasher to lay claim to this. The one I got in the basement crawled up the hole in the floor and ate the shit out of my dishwasher outlet drain meaning mess all over the kitchen floor and water in the basement. That is how I found out I had one still living in the basement. I do not have rat shit anywhere in my house or the basement so I am assuming that I do not have an all out infestation. However, my pole barn that is about 300 feet away I cannot speak to because I store my straw and garbage in a locked cage for the winter, used to be an old pig barn before I bought the place. There is no garbage in the cage because I started just hauling it to the dump every week. This weekend I will have to take a strong look at that pole barn because I feel that is where those little bastards are living.
 

shorthairsrus

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A pack of young shorthairs will eradicate any rat problems u may have.

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In other words crunch and munch
 

Rut2much

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https://youtu.be/nAdnTgh9g3E

Get a cat, get a feral cat or 3 fasssst..problem solved! Seriously, they will take em out and strike the fear of death like you wouldnt imagine..
Ashamed to share a URL link with cnn attached, but i seen this clip somehow, at some time and it reminded me of this..

Disease-infested/little rodent prick-like rats, skunks, or nasty raccons have a special little place at the end of my black rifle barrel..
 
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PrairieGhost

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Not many species of rats around North Dakota. The only native is the Wood Rat in a small colony in western North Dakota. What you have in the pictures is a Norway rat. It was 1968 or 69 we helped some with the flood in Minot. If you took your boat under a tree along the river it would rain down rats.
 


Rowdie

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https://youtu.be/nAdnTgh9g3E

Get a cat, get a feral cat or 3 fasssst..problem solved! Seriously, they will take em out and strike the fear of death like you wouldnt imagine..
Ashamed to share a URL link with cnn attached, but i seen this clip somehow, at some time and it reminded me of this..

Disease-infested/little rodent prick-like rats, skunks, or nasty raccons have a special little place at the end of my black rifle barrel..
^^^^^This^^^^^ Get a couple cats!
 

espringers

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I slightly jest. I did battle with them when the grass around my place flooded for a couple of years. They never made the house. But, invaded the chicken coop and barn. KDM is right. Kid rid of their hiding places and keep grass cut close to house. Clear junk piles and burn old out buildings if they serve no purpose. Fwiw, my chicken coop got burned to the ground and we erected a new one of steel.with spray foam. When we burned the old one rats were everywhere. Must have been 50 in there. Think us and the dogs got 45 of them.

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Also... cats^^^. with as many as i had, i am 100% convinced that the reason they didn't make the house was because i had cats (3).
 
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LBrandt

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Momma cat with 1/2 doz kittens that need to be feed. She will pile them up like cordwood.
 

Jigaman

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Burn the house down and get some cats.

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cats can also be trained to be great hunting companions.
 

snow

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Moved into a old farm house many years ago,damn thing had mice,and what turn out to be roof rats,bastards invaded my kitchen,shit and pissed in the silverware draw's old lady freaked,it was a mess,trap line set in the basement,kitchen,poisen bait stations around the outside of the house and pole barn,Trapped a couple rats,white and brown which turned out to be roof rats which were smaller than what you have,found they're burrows under the work shop I tore down,end of problem.

But agreed,come cool october nights and these critters gravitate to your house,on going battle if you keep the fight outside meaning using bait stations.
 


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