Predator Free Wellington
  • Our project
    • Our project
    • News
    • FAQs
    • Our impact
    • Our supporters
    • Meet our team
    • Contact us
  • Sign up – Phase 2
    • Phase 2
    • Phase 2 volunteering
  • Miramar
  • Trapping
    • Find a trapping group
    • Our trapping guides
    • Community heroes
  • Support us
  1. Home
  2. Trapping
  3. Our trapping guides
  4. Monitoring and biosecurity
  5. Rat or mouse?

Rat or mouse?

If you are in an area where we’ve removed rats and suspect that you’ve seen a rat, please report this online or call 0800 NO RATS (0800 667 287). It’s better to be safe than sorry!

How can you tell a young rat from a mouse?

Young or baby rats and adult mice can look very similar. Generally, young rats have bigger features compared to their body size and look slightly out of proportion. This includes bigger feet (‘clown feet’), head, ears and also a thicker tail. In comparison, for mice, their feet, head, ears, and tail look proportionate to their body size.

Mice are not one of our target species. If you want to remove mice, you can purchase a couple of low-cost mouse traps (supermarket or hardware store ones work well) and place them next to the fridge – just follow the instructions.

Read a PDF of this information.

In this section

  • Trapping
    • Our trapping guides
    • Community heroes
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Contact us
  • Receive our newsletter

© 2025 Predator Free Wellington • Privacy statement • Website by RS

  • Home
  • Our project
    • Our project
    • News
    • FAQs
    • Our impact
    • Our supporters
    • Meet our team
    • Contact us
  • Sign up – Phase 2
    • Phase 2
    • Phase 2 volunteering
  • Miramar
  • Trapping
    • Find a trapping group
    • Our trapping guides
    • Community heroes
  • Support us
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletter signup