"black rats", better described as "Roof Rats" can be any shade of brown to blackish brown. http://seattletimes.com/html/homegarden/2008632463_zhom15fixit.html http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/mammals/Rodentia/Rattus%20rattus/IMG_saz_20111127_1920.JPG You need to clean up the bird feeders and do some rat control. Roof rats will invade houses and chew wires, destroy your insulation and generally wreck the place. Here is a link that might be useful: Rattus rattus

Been there; done that! We have a big mouse and packrat problem out here where I live in the mountains of New Mexico. On top of that, they can carry Hantavirus, Bubonic Plague and rabies, all of which can be transmitted to humans and and pets. Packrats, luckily, are an outside problem for us, but as Goldie mentioned, they can be a huge one! Not only will they tear apart your cloth and leather furniture and car upholstery for their nests, but they love to make huge nests on top of your car engine block, tearing out your insulation and wiring to use in them. Mice are a problem everywhere out here. We use snap traps to catch and kill them. We also use real peppermint oil ( a few drops on cotton balls) to keep them away. For some reason, they hate the smell of peppermint. But, it must be the real stuff, not peppermint that you buy in the spice section of your supermarket. I buy mine at my local hardware store. If you find an opening in your cabs where they may be getting it, stuff it with scouring wire (like the kind we used to use to scrub pans with . . . but not the kind with the soap in them. You can buy that at your hardware store, too. They can't eat their way through that . . . at least without killing themselves in the process! BUT, before you do any of that, wipe out your cabinet with a strong cleaner such as ammonia & water, using a mask and disposable gloves. Make sure to wipe heavily along where the cabinet walls meet the floor of the cabinet! Mice urinate as they walk, leaving a scented trail for themselves and other mice to follow when they return . . . and they tend to follow the walls. Once your cab is thoroughly cleaned, and anything this mouse could have urinated on as it walked is thrown away or washed in hot water and sanitized. Stuff scouring wire in any cracks. Throw in a couple of peppermint oil cotton balls and you should be ok. But, I've found, after living in this house for the past 20 years, if they can't get in one opening, they'll look for another. So, keep a lookout for mice droppings elsewhere, especially in your kitchen and pantry areas. Good luck! Lynn

You're the ones who have seen the little creature.....was it mouse like? Shrews are known to enter homes, too.....was it shrew like? Insect like? Critters like this can fit through the tiniest spaces.

They probably ARE eating those things, but you haven't seen them eat it yet. Unless you conduct a necropsy on a dead one, and examine its stomach and intestinal contents, or analyze its droppings microscopically, it would be impossible to determine what they are consuming. Deer mice are largely seed eaters, so if you have bird seed, that will attract them, but like most mice, they are opportunistic eaters and will feed on a variety of things. Due to their small size, and the fact that they aren't colony dwellers like house mice, you probably just aren't noticing the missing bird seed, pet food or human food.