Jake Smith
·3 min read
Finding out you have a rat infestation often comes down to tiny pieces of evidence: gnaw marks, nests, scratches, and, yes, poop. Besides being gross, rat poop can easily spread diseases like tularemia, leptospirosis, and salmonella infection—and it’s easy to accidentally touch or ingest. (Very gross, yes.)
But identifying a pile of droppings in your home can be a challenge, given that mice and co*ckroaches leave similar messes. Plus, rat feces even looks like some popular foods. Here’s how to identify rat poop in your home, then get rid of the rodents for good.
What does rat poop look like, exactly?
Rat droppings are cylindrical and about half an inch long, sometimes up to one inch, says Ian Williams, board-certified entomologist and technical services manager at pest-control firm Rollins, Inc. in Atlanta. They’re often found in groups. Fresh rat poop looks dark and shiny, while older rat poop is gray and dustier.
It’s also possible to mistake rat poop for common food items. “If you see anything that looks like raisins, coffee beans, or big pieces of rice where they should not be,” explains Bobby Corrigan, Ph.D., an urban rodentologist based in New York City, it’s probably rat poop.
You might even be able to tell which type of rat has invaded your home. Roof rats (a.k.a. black rats) leave droppings with “a slight curve with pointed ends, or more banana-shaped,” Williams says, while Norway rats (a.k.a. brown rats) leave “larger droppings that are blunt at the ends, or more burrito-shaped.”
How do rat droppings differ from those of other pests?
Wondering about rat poop vs. mouse poop? There are a few key differences between both types of droppings. “Mouse poop is small, much smaller than that of rats,” Corrigan explains, usually around less than a quarter of an inch. It actually looks more like another food item, he says: chocolate sprinkles. (Unfortunate, but true.)
co*ckroaches, meanwhile, leave droppings that look like ground coffee or black pepper, Corrigan says—much smaller than rat poop. (The secret between telling the difference between co*ckroach poop and food, he notes, is if it sticks to vertical surfaces like cabinets and walls; only poop does that.)
How do you treat a rat infestation?
“Prevention is key, and it starts with eliminating harborage, or areas that are conducive to rats,” Williams explains. Eliminate any food and water sources in your yard, move wood piles away from your home, and clear dense vegetation from around your foundation. After that, he says, you should take a look around your foundation, roof, and garage doors, sealing any gaps wider than half an inch.
Corrigan suggests sliding a #2 pencil underneath any exterior doors; if it fits, so can rats and mice. He’s also a fan of taking a look behind furniture and inside cabinets every few weeks, searching for rat poop and any other signs of an infestation.
And make sure your trash is sealed tightly inside of its bag and in your garbage bin, which helps throw rats off of the scent. If you’re dealing with a serious number of rats, both experts suggest reaching out to a pest-control expert, who can help you manage your problem more effectively than you might be able to alone.
“It really does boil down to simple, good housekeeping and hygiene,” Corrigan says. “Be preventive, just like you would with anything else.”
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