[ID] Mouse? (No photo)

[Jason Green]

Hi all,

Yesterday on the way back from work, I was waiting for the train to pull in and happened to look down onto the track - and saw a mouse, I think. It appeared to be a greyish colour, with a tail that was pale and appeared hairless and about as long as, or maybe even a touch longer, than the body and head, which it held out behind - slightly curled towards the tip. It had a fairly pointed face and round ears, too. After a few seconds it disappeared back into the hole (...where I saw a second running) below the track as the train pulled in.

As I said, no photo. I hope my description is good enough. I see very few mice, so to see this on the way home was a nice sighting. Two days prior I saw two much larger ones, rats I presume, at a different station emerging from a bush - they appeared to run together, then turned back and returned to the hole they came from after jumping at each other! Sweet and playful I thought...

Thanks for reading!

Take care,

Jason

[Beekeeper]

Hi Jason, just a guess but would it be by any chance a pair of young rats.

Ian

[werdnal]

I would say more likely rats too.

[shirl]

Could well be very young rats, although when I worked in London we often saw house mice on the railway tracks, especially on the underground. Was it a light grey colour or darker grey?

Here is a pic of a young brown rat



And a house mouse



Not sure if they will help your id, but worth a try

Shirl

[Jason Green]

Hi all, thanks for the help! The pictures are good - and yes, a light grey. Which has the longer tail? It looked ighter colour in tail than the mouse's, but the shape looks good

[shirl]

Light-ish grey would suggest rat, tail length for adult house mouse 70-95mm, rat 115 - 260mm. Here's a pic showing another juvenile rat slightly darker but still light grey & you can see the tail.

Shirl