Ok, so same relative, different building (a shed instead of the garage this time).
We saw a ton of droppings, so we were cleaning and saw one live rat when moving something.
We blocked off where we think they are getting into the shed, and set some traps…if we catch one, what features should I photograph? Size (with a ruler again), feet (per @fffffffff )…what else will help narrow species down?
Got a call JUST NOW from the relative about a new dead rat (not trapped) on their property. They want me to ID it so we can figure out potential diseases to watch out for (eg. Apparently Norwegian rats aren’t know to carry hantavirus, but roof rats are, etc) when they clean poop out of a nearby building later. What features should be photographed?
If you can lay it out with the tail straight, that will allow the observer to compare length of tail and body, which helps identification. A ruler helps.
It died with the tail straight, and I did get a ruler in the photo.
I’ll link it here, but while there’s no gore, I don’t expect you to visit (I think I remember from another thread that you don’t like to view dead observations, but I could be misremembering).
Also, here are the first 2, but I photographed them before I even created the forum topic, so they aren’t as detailed and there may not be anything diagnostic in them:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/38125733
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/38125703
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