The number one way to tell if you have the presence of rats is by the presence of their poops. Therefore it may be helpful to know what they look like! The picture above portrays some rat droppings next to a standard sized paper clip so that you can get a sense of the size of these droppings. Let’s go through each of the features one-by-one!
Color
When the rat poop is fresh, the color is a dark brown. Over time the poop will lighten in color. The picture above would resemble fresh poop.
Size
Norway Rat poops are about 3/4″ in length with 1/8″ in diameter. Here is a picture to show Norway Rat poops versus mouse poop.
Shape
Norway Rat droppings are sausage shaped with blunted ends. This differs from mouse poops which is more skinny with pointed ends.
Quantity
Rats can poop up to 40 times per day! That is lot of poop! Assuming a rat is up about 12 hours a day, they are pooping every 20 minutes. Over the course of a few days/weeks it should be very apparent there are any rats in your house/car.
Formation
Norway Rat poop will typically be found in small formations. Usually they won’t be scattered about. Norway Rats don’t like to move too much when they are doing their business.
Safe Handling
The vast majority of human diseases that can be transmitted from rodents are done so through their feces (see article Why Rats Are Dangerous). It is SUPER IMPORTANT that if you find rodent droppings, that you take extra precautions when cleaning them up. I highly suggest that you review the article How To Clean Rodent Droppings.
I hope that you have found this article to be helpful!
For any comments/questions, please drop a note below!
Thank you!!
-Rat King Dave
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poop of rat can be two inches long or morethan that
Hi Liza, hahaha! I’ve never heard of rat poop being that long, but you must be dealing with a HUGE rat! I could say it’s certainly possible but the vast majority of rodent droppings will be smaller than that. Thanks for the comment lol.
I saw some big dropping under my refrigerator and then there were 3 big droppings and a 3 in dead mouse behind my stove. Do I have a big rat in here too?
Hi Beverly! I just found out that this was never responded to! I’m so sorry for the delay!! Hmm, depends on how big the droppings are. Here is an article that explains the size of Rat Poop. Mouse poops tend to be about half that size, like grains of rice along with little strings at the end. Hope this helps and so sorry for being so late in my reply here! Any questions, please let me know! RKD
Its great that you put a picture up so that people can get a visual on what the poop looks like. Pet rats are great but the ones that eat their way through your vehicle and property are not ideal.
Hi Simon! You’re welcome! I am much more of a visual learner so its pretty important to be able to see examples of the poops so that you can be more effective at spotting them. I’ve heard rats can be great pets, but always keep them away from any wiring in the house. Any questions pop up, let me know! Thanks for the comment! RKD
My husband found some dropping in our basement the other day. However, we don’t know what kind it was, so this was helpful. It sounds like we could have a rate problem since the poop we’ve discovered were in small formations.
Hi Becca! I’m sorry I didn’t realize you had commented! So glad that this article helped you! Please let me know if I can be of any other assistance! Thank you!! RKD