Rats

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Identification of small mammals from photos is uncertain. It helps to have multiple photos, preferably with a scale in all images, showing: the ratio of tail-length to body-length; the nature of the ears, including how far the ear lobe will reach, in relation to the eye, when the ear lobe is folded forward; the pads under the hind feet; the fur above and below the body, any markings on the head or face; and the scales and fur on the tail.

Rats

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DonFletcher wrote:

22 Jun 2025

Hi @DallasCheryl , thanks for the record. Small mammals are hard to ID from photos and those photos, well let us say I have seen sharper, closer, clearer ones from every possible angle. Its long tail, long ears, and pale fur on the upperside of its feet make it looks like the non-native Rattus rattus but the other factor I'm going from is that no other Rattus has ever been found in the Canberra suburbs to my knowledge. We dont have Melomys down here. We have Rattus fuscipes well out in the bush away from the suburbs, Mastacomys fuscus high up in Namadgi and Hydromys chrysogaster in the lakes and rivers.

Rattus rattus

howie wrote:

13 Jun 2025

Rattus fuscipes

howie wrote:

13 Jun 2025

We have never seen a rattus rattus anywhere on our property. I disagree with the rattus rattus id. definitely rattus fuscapes

Rattus fuscipes

howie wrote:

13 Jun 2025

We have never seen a rattus rattus anywhere on our property. I disagree with the rattus rattus id. definitely rattus fuscapes

Rattus fuscipes

DonFletcher wrote:

9 Jun 2025

Hi @MaartjeSevenster, Black Rats will eat almost anything but they quite like fruit and veggies. Living in the suburbs, we and various neighbours have chooks, so if I put a camera out, there are always rats. They travel between the backyards, eat the food that the chooks spill from the feeders, eat fruit on the trees, and raid any compost bins they can get into. In winter they have sometimes tried to set up house in our roofspace or below our floor. We once had one that learned to get into the kitchen and do some amazing jumps to get onto the bench, where it would sample the tomatoes and whatever was in the fruit bowl. It invested a lot of effort and risk to get that fruit.

Rattus rattus

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