Roof Rats vs Norway Rats: Which One Is in Your Richmond Home?

If the noise is above your head, it is probably a roof rat. If the signs are at ground level, in the crawlspace or along the foundation, it is probably a Norway rat. Richmond has both, and knowing which one you have tells you where to look for the way in.

The quick comparison

	Roof rat	Norway rat
Build	Slim and sleek	Heavy and thick-set
Nose and ears	Pointed nose, large ears	Blunt nose, small ears
Tail	Longer than its body	Shorter than its body
Droppings	About 12 mm, pointed ends	About 18 to 20 mm, blunt ends
Where it lives	High up: attics, rooflines, trees	Low down: burrows, crawlspaces, sewers
How it gets in	Along branches, wires and roof gaps	Through gaps at ground level and under slabs

You will rarely get a clear look at the animal itself. Droppings and location are more reliable than a glimpse at night.

Roof rats: the climbers

Roof rats are agile. They run along fences, power lines and tree branches and enter where the roof meets the walls, through gable vents, soffit gaps and lifted shingles.

Inside, they nest in attic insulation. You hear them after dark as a quick, light scurrying overhead, sometimes with gnawing.

Mature trees give roof rats a route to the roof. In Broadmoor and Seafair, decades-old trees and hedges that touch rooflines act as bridges. Fruit trees and bird feeders keep them fed.

Where to check: attic insulation for trails and droppings, the roofline for gaps, and any branch within a couple of metres of the roof.

Norway rats: the burrowers

Norway rats are bigger and stay low. They dig burrows beside foundations, under sheds and decks, in compost piles and along ditch banks. A burrow entrance is a clean hole about the width of a fist, often with freshly dug soil fanned out in front.

They enter buildings at ground level: under garage doors, through crawlspace vents, around pipes and through damaged drains.

This is the rat of the waterfront and the farm. Around the docks and restaurants of Steveston, along the dykes and in the barns and ditches of East Richmond, Norway rats are the likelier culprit.

Where to check: the foundation line for burrows, the garage and crawlspace for droppings, and the base of fences and sheds.

Why Richmond has both

Richmond is flat, wet and built on river delta. Ditches, sloughs and dykes give Norway rats water and soft banks to burrow in. The farm fields in the east provide food and cover for much of the year.

At the same time, the older residential areas have exactly the tree cover and attic space roof rats prefer. Add busy restaurant strips, a working harbour and steady construction that disturbs burrows, and both species have what they need.

Why it matters which one you have

The treatment tools are the same: traps, then sealing. Where they go is completely different.

For roof rats, traps go in the attic and along rafters, and the sealing work is at the roofline. Trimming branches back from the roof is part of the fix.

For Norway rats, traps go in the crawlspace, garage and along foundation walls, and the sealing work is at ground level: vents, door seals, pipe gaps and burrows.

Seal the wrong level and you will catch nothing while the real route stays open. It is an easy mistake to make when you do the work yourself.

A note on poison

Whichever rat you have, the strongest rat poisons are not an option in a home. BC has prohibited second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides in residential buildings since January 21, 2023. Trapping and sealing are how the job is done now.

What to do next

1. Note where you hear noise and at what time of day.
2. Look for droppings and measure one against the table above.
3. Walk around the outside of the house and look for burrows at ground level and gaps at the roofline.
4. Take photos. They help a provider give you a useful answer before the first visit.

Look at the roofline from the ground. Do not climb onto the roof. If you find droppings, do not sweep or vacuum them. Follow the cleanup steps in HealthLinkBC File 37: air the space out, wear gloves, a filter mask and goggles, and wet the droppings with disinfectant or diluted bleach before wiping them up.

Our rat and mouse control page covers what a professional program involves and what it costs. When you are ready, tell us what you've found and we'll try to pass your request to an independent provider who covers your neighbourhood.