We recently had a run in with a rat! First we thought it was a Tree Squirrel who was making such a big mess in my clients shed. But it was strange because every day there would be a big pile of stuff collected from the shed in the middle of the floor.
We set a trap and trapped the little critter on the same day. As it turns out it is a Bushy Tailed Wood Rat. The only native rat species to Canada.
IDENTIFICATION:
Though commonly known as the pack rat, the bushy-tailed woodrat is actually more closely related to the deer mouse than to what many people think of as a rat—those scaly-tailed residents of big city sewers. This dapper-looking rodent has large round ears, long whiskers, soft buff-gray fur, big onyx eyes, white feet, and a bushy, squirrel-like tail. From nose to tail tip it measures roughly 15 inches.