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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Since 1 Jan 2025, NatureMapr 44% of all sightings uploaded were NSW based, while 43% were from the ACT.The remaining 13% were from other states, with VIC coming in third at 5%.Strictly speaking, 67% o...

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Discussion

KellyP wrote:

Yesterday

Hi @DonFletcher - thanks for your helpful response. I guess its possible they are juvenile Rattus rattus, but they don't look or behave like baby rats (my husband concurs) - but if they continue to hang around I will try to get more picks/video to see if I can get the underside of the rear feet and also see if they get bigger. When we were still feeding parrots (I know, not good, we don't do it now), the same rodents would come down from our trees and eat in the early evening - they looked the same as these ones vs the real rats we sometimes get in the shed.

Rattus rattus

DonFletcher wrote:

5 Mar 2025

Hi @KellyP, thank you for the record. Did you consider juvenile Rattus rattus?
It would be lovely indeed to find a native species in a Canberra garden but to convince a moderator that a Rattus in the Canberra suburbs is a native species you would need very strong evidence. I think it would be the first ever. Mastacomys has very specific habitat requirements and has not been recorded in lowland areas (except during the last ice age). Rattus fuscipes does not penetrate suburbs anywhere, and must have disappeared long ago from the ACT lowands. If the video gives a lateral view or a look at the pads on the underside of the rear feet it could help with ID but Nature Mapper only accepts stills.

Rattus rattus

KellyP wrote:

5 Mar 2025

Hi - Dear moderators - I was very close to these creatures, I have had pet rats and seen rattus rattus before in different settings, including in traps - these are not rattus rattus, they aren't big enough and the body, back leg shape and eyes are different. I have video as well - and they don't behave like a feral rat. They were also too large to be house mice and the ears are wrong. They look like the images on this site - hence my suggested identification.

Rattus rattus

HelenCross wrote:

3 Mar 2025

Interesting!

Rattus rattus

KorinneM wrote:

19 Feb 2025

For reference, this page (Frequently Asked Questions) https://north-coast-nsw.naturemapr.org/content/help-and-support

lists that information as well. It does take a little bit to get your head around how things work on this site, and identifications may be a bit slower in regions that don't have mods for a particular category yet.

Melomys burtoni

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