Close up of mice droppings in Leonardo, New Jersey

Mouse droppings are brown or black and pellet-shaped, and small - no more than one-quarter inch in length. Mouse droppings usually have tapered ends. Rat droppings, in comparison, usually have blunt ends, are larger, thicker, and more rectangular, and are not as clustered as mouse droppings. There were also some larger droppings that indicated possible squirrel activity as well. Those cute little acrobatic squirrels are rodents as well, and cable of causing significant damage should they infest your home. Squirrel droppings are cylindrical and are brown or red, and lighten with age. While all wildlife urine has a bad smell, squirrel urine is particularly noxious (and is an attractant for other squirrels!).