Ecology, Books and too many Rodents

Musings, rants and obsessions of a twenty-something postgrad in Norwich...

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[half-black-phillip]

I’m so mad because this worked

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ROGER HELP ME

[animaltoday]

Malagasy Giant Jumping Rat

Jumping Rats give birth to one offspring per mating season.  Pairs are monogamous and will stay together until the death of one.  Both parents will work together diligently to raise young and have very tight family bonds. 

[cool-critters]

Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica)

The Indian giant squirrel is a large tree squirrel species genus Ratufa native to India. It is a large-bodied diurnal, arboreal, and herbivorous squirrel found in South Asia. The Indian giant squirrel is an upper-canopy dwelling species, which rarely leaves the trees, and requires tall profusely branched trees for the construction of nests. It travels from tree to tree with jumps of up to 6 m. When in danger, the Ratufa indica often freezes or flattens itself against the tree trunk, instead of fleeing. The Giant Squirrel is mostly active in the early hours of the morning and in the evening, resting in the midday. The species is endemic to deciduous, mixed deciduous, and moist evergreen forests of peninsular India. There is some disagreement between biologists regarding how many subspecies belong to the Ratufa indica lineage. It is generally acknowledged that there are either four or five subspecies, depending on the source. The Indian Giant Squirrel lives alone or in pairs.

photo credits: wiki, wiki, Rakesh Kumar Dogra, adityajoshi

[gifsboom]

Hares boxing. [video]

[fuckyeahdinoart]

Isn’t this little guy cute? Don’t you want one of your very own? Yes you do. I have this little guy over here. He’s cute too, but he’s only small. Now there’s a bigger one. Go get one.

Who doesn’t want their very own pet trilobite? Now you can have one too!

It’s easy to find plush models of large prehistoric animals like dinosaurs, mammoths, and saber-tooth cats. But here at the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI), we recognize that creatures both large and small are a huge part of life on Earth. Our wildly successful plushie line, Paleozoic Pals, was designed to bring lesser-known and lesser sized -yet just as important- fossil creatures to life for the community of scientists, students, and the public as a whole to enjoy.

[happy-rodent]

The perils of being a short-tailed vole

In the British Isles, short-tailed voles outnumber humans. But why don't we often see them?

[typhlonectes]

Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge - Iowa

As spring arrives, the thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) have emerged from hibernation at the Visitor Center near Onalaska, Wisconsin. Their stripes help them hide from northern harriers, their top predator on the prairie! Photo credit: Daniel Arndt

[moreanimalia]

How fabulous looking o.o

[creatures-alive]

Wild Rabbit by boamatthew

[earthstory]

Hares and Rabbits. Ecologists from the UK Mammal Society are asking the UK public to keep an eye out for rabbit and hares this spring. Both these species are key to the ecosystems they live in, grazing on grass and being predated on by foxes and birds of prey. The Mammal Society is trying to monitor distribution of hares and rabbits and thus calculate population change. This information will then be fed into the National Mammal Atlas Project which is used to advise conservation programmes.

Biologists are particularly interested in hares and rabbits at this time of year as they are easy to spot due to small early vegetation and the fact it is currently their breeding season. The Mammal Society is worried that numbers of hares are declining in some areas of the UK. They are also worried about the effect myxomatosis (a severe viral disease in rabbits introduced to control population numbers) may have had on the rabbit population in some areas of the country (whilst being aware in other areas rabbits are still agricultural pests).

Though initially appearing the same there are a few factors to make it easier to tell rabbits and hares apart. Firstly hares are substantially larger than rabbits with large limbs. These larger limbs mean hares have a more ‘lolloping’ gait whilst rabbits tend to ‘bob’. Hares also have larger ears than rabbits often with black tips.

The Mammal Society is welcoming the public to send in photos of rabbits and hares or of evidence of their presence (eg. droppings and burrows) in their local area. This will allow scientists to map and monitor the population. Evidence and pictures of other animals is also welcome as the mammal atlas project covers all UK mammals. Evidence can be submitted via the Mammal Society Mammal Tracker app which is available on iphone and android. ~SA

Picture of a hare: http://bit.ly/1GDPq7r by Rob Burke More information: http://bit.ly/1NPWq3m

[rhamphotheca]

A young summer coated Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus), in North Cascades National Park, Washington state, USA, enjoys a bite of the wild lupine before it has a chance to flower.  Wild lupine is a source of food for many other wild animals, including deer, marmots, bears and others.  

photograph: NPS/Deby Dixon

[rabbitsandmore]

Hey there! Easter is almost upon us, and you know what that means…bunnies! 

Let’s take a moment to discuss some bunny related facts that will hopefully help deter you from purchasing a rabbit for this holiday. 

1.) Domesticated rabbits live from 8-15 years. The Average rabbit lives around 10-12. 

2.) The baby bunnies you see in pet stores are usually around 2 months old, so they will be super cute and fluffy and affectionate! Which is exactly what pet stores WANT you to think you will be getting. BUT, this is a trap! Baby Bunny will hit puberty between 5-7 months of age, and will become a cranky, territorial, sexually frustrated TEENAGER.

3.) Teenage bunnies, particularly males, will spray urine on EVERYTHING, including you, your floor, your walls, your bed, and other bunnies. I don’t mean just a little tinkle, I mean literally the wall near your bunny’s housing will be literally coated in a crust of urine. It’s nasty, sticky, and it SMELLS.

4.) Unless you spay/neuter (which usually costs around 150-300 dollars) your bunny will continue to urinate on everything. females will rip their fur out and build nests and are much more likely to develop uterine cancer if they are not spayed.

5.) Rabbits love to rip carpet, chew on furniture, chew on baseboards, pee and poop on the floor(even if they are litter box trained, they will still scatter droppings as a way of saying “this is mine!”)

6.) Baby Bunny will triple or even quadruple in size. The average bunny is around 5 pounds, but some get even heavier than that. Dwarf breeds will average around 1.5 to 3 pounds.

7.) Rabbits are VERY social and get VERY sad and angry and depressed when kept alone in a tiny cage. Bunny should have a LARGE enclosure (NOT A PET STORE CAGE) and should have at least one friend. How would you like to live alone in a closet for your entire life? you would not!

8.) Rabbits require a daily diet of pellet (with NO added cereals, nuts, or candies) unlimited hay (all day every day, yep, it’s expensive) and a daily salad (green leafy vegetables EVERY SINGLE DAY)

9.) Think you can just leave bunny locked in a cage all day when you get bored of him? WRONG! Bunny gets bored, so he spends ALL NIGHT angrily biting and shaking the bars, digging and clawing at the floor, throwing his bowl around and biting his water bottle. He will keep you up all night long and drive you insane! (this also means is house is WAY too small and he needs more toys and room to play!)

10.) Rabbits get sick, they need to see the vet! Rabbit vets are expensive and hard to find. can you afford a rabbit vet? 

11.) Are you prepared to clean his litter box and feed him every single day? Can you spare 3-4 hours to sit and supervise him while he has his REQUIRED out-of-cage time? No? Then you should not own a rabbit.

RABBITS ARE NOT FOR EASTER. 

A RABBIT IS A HIGH MAINTENANCE, 10-12 YEAR COMMITMENT, WHICH WILL REQUIRE DAILY EXERCISE, A SPECIALIZED DIET, AND REGULAR VET VISITS. ARE YOU PREPARED?

[bunnies-and-sunshine]

Couldn’t have said it better.  Bunnies are not an impulse purchase.

[foinz]

Yes, very good points!

[happy-rodent]

But, if you are willing to put in the effort, Rabbits are the most rewarding pets imaginable!

[happy-rodent]

The Last 3 Of The World's Rarest Rhinos Are Unable To Breed

For the love of animals. Pass it on.

[happy-rodent]

Unbelievably Cute Mammal With Teddy Bear Face Rediscovered

More than 20 years after its discovery, the rare Ili pika was spotted in the mountains of northwestern China.

[cool-critters]

Lowland paca (Cuniculus paca)

The lowland paca is a large rodent found in tropical and sub-tropical America, from East-Central Mexico to Northern Argentina. The lowland paca is mostly nocturnal and solitary and does not vocalize very much. It lives in forested habitats near water, preferably smaller rivers, and dig simple burrows about 2 m below the surface, usually with more than one exit. The lowland paca is a good swimmer and usually heads for the water to escape danger. It also is an incredible climber and it searches for fruit in the trees. Its diet includes leaves, stems, roots, seeds, and fruit, especially avocados, mangos and zapotes. It sometimes stores food.

photo credits: gopixpic, Alex Kantorovich, zoochat, gopixpic, natgeocreative

[forestlore]

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grumpy bun doesn’t like the snow

[happy-rodent]

Orphaned Baby Beaver drinks bottle of Beaver forumla at PWRC

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The Most Trafficked Mammal You’ve Never Heard Of: Pangolin