No, of course not. Mice are mice and rats are rats. Both belong to the rodent family, but they are still two different animals.

Generally, they are close enough to make it not worth differentiating, however, the word "are", is probably not a good one to use.

Nope, I own both, however they are both rodents.

Of course not. I have 4 pet rats and they are far superior to mice!
<:3)~ (Bart)

<:3)~ (Freddie)

<:3)~ (Tip)

<:3)~ (Gus)

To the uninitiated, perhaps........Having kept a lot of rats over the last 8 years, I think that I can say that they are very different to mice. They are far more intelligent for a start. They are sociable animals with vastly different personalities. The mice that I've had, just aren't the same. Because of their physiologies, I suppose it is acceptable to group rats and mice together, but I don't think that we should forget that they are very distinct creatures.

You own mus musculus and Rattus rattus or maybe rattus norvegicus. These are EXAMPLES of rats and mice. There are around 1,000 species of rat.

As a side note, my springer spaniel is distinctly different in both physical appearance, and personality, from the neighbors german shepard.

Actually Jemmy, they are 2,000 different animals. Thats my point.

the 2,000 animals labelled mouse and rat, are all distinct. They have differnet sizes, shapes, appearances, and personalities. That is why they are different species.

However, there is no significant definable difference between the set of all rats, and the set of all mice, that makes it worth differentiating. The only difference between the two sets is size.

Taken on the whole, the 1,000 rats do not hold anything in common with each other (besides size) that they dont hold in common with mice. I have trouble with this debate, primarily because most people picture the 3 species, out of 2,000 and go on to describe how they are different!

I know that! Ive owned rodents myself [and they were fairly diverse group]!

But there is no differnece between a rat (larger group) and a mouse (larger group), besides size. And the size is really insignificant (its a pun!)!

Yes, but surely the differences between types of rat are far smaller than the differences between rats and mice? It's like grouping people together. You can say that we're all human (ie. the same thing) or you could divide us by race (as there are various differences between people of different races). However, you wouldn't say that we are the same thing as chimpanzees even though we are very similar. Of course, you could, and you would be right, we are related BUT the comparison isn't as strong as saying black people are the same as white people.

(Please no-one jump on me for using race as an example - there are differences between people of different races, just as there are differences between different breeds of rat or mouse.)

"However, there is no significant definable difference between the set of all rats, and the set of all mice, that makes it worth differentiating. The only difference between the two sets is size."

I don't agree with that at all. Mice aren't as intelligent as rats are. There's a difference for you. Mice are far less sociable. Mice are far more likely to act as nocturnal animals, even when kept as pets, whereas rats will be awake at all different times of day. I could go on.......

Actually, NO! Thats my POINT! THATS THE POINT! YOU GOT IT!

The differences are not far smaller, because mouse and rats are not categories, they are labels. Translation "Small" and "Big"! The only common quality that all mice share is being small! The only common quality all rats share is being big. WITHOUT REFERENCE TO SIZE YOU CANNOT DIFFERENTIATE THEM. It is not a classification like dog or cat, where all things within the group are more similar to each other than they are to any other classification. When we want to talk about ratlike species, but we dont care if they are big or small, we just say rat! (Or mouse), and it is understood that you are talking about both. You dont have to say "Rats and mice", just one or the other!

All the same to me.

"I don't agree with that at all. Mice aren't as intelligent as rats are. There's a difference for you. Mice are far less sociable. Mice are far more likely to act as nocturnal animals, even when kept as pets, whereas rats will be awake at all different times of day. I could go on......."

YES YES YES! That is one of the differences between mus musculus and rattus rattus. THERE ARE 1998 other species of rats and mice!

Both are rodents, and I would not want either in my house, even as pets. I am scared to death of mice, and I honestly don't think I have ever seen a rat. But, I think coming across a rat would terrify me. I hope I never encounter a rat.

I also would not want a gerbil, ferret, or hamster. They all remind me too much of rats.

No. Mice are much smaller and they will poop on you. Rats on the other hand grow to be quite large and are very intelligent. As pets, they will not poop on you.

What do you mean, there are different kinds of mice and different kinds of rats?

I am soooooooooooooooo not getting involved in this!

LEAVE ME ALONE CODY

No and I disagree that they are generally considered mice by anyone. What a load of crap.

Rats are not mice or we would call them big mice. Mice are not rats or we would call them small rats. I do think Chihuahua's are the same as rats though.

The capybara (a huge aquatic rodent of so. america) was designated as a fish by the conquistadores. The cook-outs on Good Friday sure beat the ones at home.

All right, good job, everyone out of the survey for coffee and doughnuts before the next round of observation.

I agree, let's get out of here!

They are both rodents, but they are not the same thing.

Make mine a decaf dollface!

Dollface, I like.

There are 15 main species within the sub-family Murinae, which is the group that contains rats and mice:

Acomys russatus (Golden Spiny Mouse)
Apodemus agrarius (Black-Striped Field Mouse)
Apodemus sylvaticus (Old World Wood Mouse)
Arvicanthis niloticus (Nile Rat)
Micromys minutus (Old World Harvest Mouse)
Mus musculus (House Mouse)
Nesokia indica (Pest Rat, Short-Tailed Bandicoot Rat, Short-Tailed Mole Rat)
Notomys fuscus (Dusky Hopping-Mouse)
Phloeomys cumingi (Slender-tailed cloud rat)
Pseudomys novaehollandiae (New Holland Mouse)
Rattus argentiventer (Rice Field Rat)
Rattus lutreolus (Swamp Rat)
Rattus norvegicus (Norway Rat)
Rattus rattus (Black Rat, Roof Rat, House Rat, Ship Rat)
Xeromys myoides (False Water Rat)

There are lots of variations within individual species, and some of the visible variations (such as colour) are more obvious to the eye than the underlying differences between species. A white house mouse looks very different to a grey house mouse, but a grey house mouse is difficult to distinguish from an equally grey wood mouse unless you know what you're looking for!

Also, several of these species have "twin" species that are essentially the same mouse or rat but in a different area. For example, the pygmy field mouse (Apodemus microps) and yellow necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollus) are twin species of the wood mouse.

The mice that you will find in a pet shop are usually albino (white) house mice (mus musculus), and a pet rat is usually a white Norway rat (rattus norvegicus).

Where I live, we see wood mice quite often as they are the dominant species in rural areas in Britain and Europe. But if you live in a large town or city, or in the US, then the only wild mice that you're likely to see are house mice. America has fewer wild species of rat and mouse than Europe, and most of those that are found in the US were introduced by humans.

No, because they're not.

No, but I'm not too fond of either.

Oh. Thanks. But I still think a rat is a rat and a mouse is a mouse.

I LIKE CAKE!

Pssst, the password is "jehosophat" simply convert to binary ascii and treat 0's as left turns, 1's as right turns. "Delores" reaches the cheese, but only at the beginning of the month and when you smell french candy-like perfumes from that lab volunteer.

Is '"Delores" reaches the cheese, but only at the beginning of the month' a euphemism? It sounds like one

ah, ambergris!

Mr. Happy must be close at hand. This is titanically twisted.

No. Mice are cute and when I find one scampering about my apartment I am filled with joy.

Rats horrify me.

It scares me how much you care about this.

How... annoying...

Sorry for my harshness, but when I saw ALL THOSE POSTS I couldn't let it slide.

It's just... rats and mice, dude.

And DON'T tell me "it's the principal." It's just... rats and mice...

*** applauds *** Yay!!!!

HA, HA, Ha *ROFL* Busting at the seams.
But, But this is the last stand. Are we a mouse or a man?

LOL

Argh, I essentially agree with cody about something. I think I'm going to be sick.