What’s the Difference Between a Rat and a Mouse?

Why Rats and Mice Are Common in San Antonio

South Texas provides the perfect conditions for rodents: warm weather, dense neighborhoods, and plenty of food and shelter opportunities. Rats tend to stick to upper levels of homes — entering through roof returns, soffits, and vents — while mice are more likely to come in at ground level through gaps in doors, siding, or garage thresholds.

Many homes, especially older ones, have multiple entry points that go unnoticed until the scratching, chewing, or droppings begin to appear.

Key Differences Between Rats and Mice

Size is the most obvious distinction. Mice are small — usually no more than 3 to 4 inches long, including the tail. Rats, particularly roof rats and Norway rats, can grow over a foot in length. Mice have thin, almost hairless tails and small, pointed noses. Rats have thicker, scaly tails and blunt snouts.

Rats are more cautious and intelligent. They tend to avoid new objects (like traps), which makes them harder to catch. Mice are curious and easier to trap — but they reproduce faster and can squeeze through holes as small as a dime.

Why It Matters for Your Home

Rats cause more structural damage. They chew through wood, insulation, and even metal — often targeting electrical wiring, which increases fire risks. Mice, while less destructive, can quickly contaminate food sources and nesting areas with droppings and urine.

If you misidentify your rodent problem, you might waste time and money on traps or treatments that don’t work. Even worse, you might eliminate a few individuals without ever addressing the entry point.

Why Homeland Wildlife Gets It Right

At Homeland Wildlife & Pest Control, we don’t guess — we identify. Our rodent inspections look at droppings, entry points, tracks, chew marks, and nesting materials to determine exactly what kind of rodent we’re dealing with.

Once identified, we build a custom exclusion plan that includes sealing all gaps, sanitizing affected areas, and deploying species-specific trapping. And because we back all of our wildlife exclusion work with a Lifetime Warranty, you can be confident it’s fixed for good.

Think You’ve Got Rodents? Let’s Find Out.

Call Homeland Wildlife & Pest Control for a free inspection. We’ll figure out what’s living in your walls — and how to keep it out for good.

📞 210-776-6100
🌐 www.homelandwildlife.com

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