Tikus (rats) and cencurut (shrews) are a few kinds of unwanted animals that can be found in a house. These animals are categorised as pests. Like cockroaches, many people dislike rats and shrews. They make the house dirty and also leave an unpleasant smell.
We have had some experiences encountering these animals before. But we aren’t aware if they’re rats or shrews. Since both animals look somewhat similar, we often think they’re only rats. However, after stumbling on @khairunnaim4’s video, we learned the difference between these two pests!
What are the differences between tikus and cencurut?
1) Size
According to Naim, rats are bigger than shrews. Usually, rats’ body shapes are rounder than the shrews, which are flatter and longer.
2) Physical appearance
If you look at rats, you’ll notice they have round and blunt noses. However, shrews have pointy and sharp noses.
3) Speed
Since shrews are smaller than rats, they can move faster than a rodent.
4) Family type
Did you know? Although rats and shrews look alike, they aren’t from the same family. Rats belong to the order Rodentia. Furthermore, shrews are from the order of Eulipotyphla. Wow, today we learned!
The additional information you might want to know: shrews release an unpleasant smell from the glands underneath their body! Some animals hate this smell. Not only that, but it’s also to protect the shrew from harm.
How to know if your house has these animals?
As a pest controller, Naim advises people to detect the presence of these pests using their noses.
You might wonder what makes your house a meeting spot for the shrews? The rat lookalike eats insects. Thus, if there are many insects in your house, shrews might want to stay with you too.
Let’s say your house reeks of something close to urine. It means there is the presence of shrews. Therefore, if you want to stop it from dirtying your house, you have to use the correct poison. Don’t use rat poison if your house has shrews in it. It won’t work!
Now we know the differences between a rat and a shrew. So, can you detect what animals are there in your house?
Source: TikTok @khairunnaim4