It grows rarely to a length of 4 ft.; it never bites, and feeds chiefly on frogs, toads and fishes, but mice are never taken.
An old Cat was in a fair way to kill all the Mice in the barn.
The wild mouse, rat and rabbit are self-coloured, but the domesticated forms include various piebald patterns, such as spotted forms among mice, and the familiar black and white hooded and dorsal-striped pattern of some tame rats.