344 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1941 



of seeds, vegetables, green vegetation, fruit, and meat, and supplied with bones, 

 wood, cardboard, and other material for keeping their teeth worn down. Nest 

 boxes should be well supplied with nest material. Animals from the Tropics 

 should not be subjected to chilling. 



MALABAR SPINY MOUSE (Platacanthomyidae). Little-known inhabitants 

 of southern India and Cochin China, and not known to the author to have 

 been kept in captivity. Try same food as for Cricetidae. 



BAMBOO RATS (Rhizomyidae). Feed vegetables, green leaves and stems, 

 hay, seeds, fruit. Must have wood or bones to gnaw. May consume some meat. 

 Inhabitants of the Tropics ; should not be subjected to chilling. 



MOLE RATS ( Spalacidae) . Same care as for bamboo rats. 



MICE and RATS (Muridae). This very large family contains, in addition 

 to the well-known house mice and house rats, many attractive and interesting 

 animals that inhabit most of the Old World. The habits of some kinds are 

 little known, but many have been successfully kept by the same care as out- 

 lined for the mouselike creatures (Cricetidae). Those from the Tropics should 

 not be subjected to chilling. 



AFRICAN DORMICE (Graphiuridae). Not known to the author to have been 

 kept in captivity. Try same materials suggested for Cricetidae — the mouselike 

 rodents. 



MOUNTAIN BEAVER, SEWELLEL (Aplodontiidae). Almost all of the nu- 

 merous efforts to keep it in captivity have resulted in prompt failure. In the 

 wild the animal inhabits a very humid region and feeds on a wide variety of 

 vegetation, burrowing into hillsides for shelter, but spending much time on the 

 surface of the ground or in low vegetation. 



LARGE AFRICAN "FLYING" SQUIRREL (Anomaluridae). Not known to 

 the writer to have been kept in captivity. Try foods similar to those of tree 

 squirrels. 



DWARF or LONG-TAILED AFRICAN "FLYING" SQUIRREL (Idiuridae). 

 Not known to the writer to have been kept in captivity. Try foods similar to 

 those of tree squirrels and mouselike creatures. 



JUMPING MICE (Zapodidae). Feed seeds, green vegetables, grass, clover; 

 provide with plenty of nest material. Must be given facilities for hibernating in 

 winter. 



JERBOAS and their relatives (Dipodidae). Feed assorted seeds, bread, and 

 small quantities of green vegetation such as lettuce, and vegetables. Should 

 have fine, clean, dry sand constantly available to keep fur in good condition. 



AFRICAN JUMPING MICE or GUNDI (Ctenodactylidae). Not known to the 

 author to have been kept in captivity. Try same treatment as that recommended 

 for the Cricetidae — mouselike and ratlike creatures. 



AFRICAN JUMPING HARE (Pedetidae). Feed vegetables, lettuce, grass, 

 clover, and other greenery ; also grains and hay. 



CAPE MOLE RATS, or NAKED SAND RATS (Bathyergidae). Feed vege- 

 tables, lettuce, grass, clover and weeds, seeds, and plenty of live roots ; also give 

 them bones and woody plant stems on which to wear down their teeth. These 

 are burrowing rodents of the Tropics, some of them practically naked. They 

 should have soil in which to burrow and a uniformly warm temperature. 



OLD WORLD PORCUPINES (Hystricidae). Feed vegetables, greenery, some 

 hay, and keep well supplied with wood and bones so they can keep their teeth 

 worn down. Animals of the Tropics ; should be fairly warm. Unlike the Ameri- 

 can porcupines, they are not tree climbers. 



AMERICAN PORCUPINES (Erethizontidae). Feed vegetables, grain, and a 

 wide variety of twigs and leaves, and, for the North American porcupines, there 



