A question about rats

[Bron King <>]

Exactly so.  Generally speaking, small mammals survive to adult size
only by keeping out of sight.
Cheers
Daryl

At 06:07 PM 11/03/2007, Steve Holliday wrote:

Many thanks Daryl, really helpful
 
On that basis I'm happy to call it Rattus rattus. I suspect Roy the dog could have removed a fair piece of the tail, the end of what was left wasn't very tapered. I'm interested by the median sizes you give, most R.rattus I have seen here, usually in the grape vine or fig tree, have looked a fair bit smaller, presumably immatures. Maybe the older ones are cagier and better able to keep out of sight.
 
And extra thanks for not asking me to retrieve the body.
 
cheers
 
Steve