FLORIDA RAT. 35 



agility of the squirrel, although we do not recollect having observed it 

 leaping from branch to branch in the manner of that genus. » 



The Florida rat is, in Carolina, a very harmless species ; the only de- 

 predation we have known it to conmiit, was an occasional inroad on the 

 corn-fields, when the grain was yet juicy and sweet. We have seen 

 several whole ears of Indian corn taken from one of their nests, into which 

 they had been dragged by these animals the previous night. They appear 

 also to be very fond of the Chinquapin, {Castania purnila,) and we have 

 sometimes observed aroimd their nests traces of their having fed on frogs 

 and cray-fish. 



This species is nocturnal, or at least crepuscular, in its habits. In pro- 

 curing specimens we were only successful when the traps had been set 

 over night. Those we had in captivity scarcely ever left their dark 

 chambers till after sunset, when they came forth from their dormitories, 

 and continued playful and active during a great part of the night. They 

 were mild in their dispositions, and much less disposed to bite when pur- 

 sued than the common and more mischievous Norway rat. 



Wliilst the young are small, they cling to the teats of the mother, who 

 runs about with them occasionally without much apparent inconvenience ; 

 and even when older, they still, when she is about to travel quickly, cling 

 to her sides or to her back. Thus on a visit from home, she may be said 

 to carry her little family with her, and is always ready to defend them 

 even at the risk of her life. We once heard a gratifying and affecting 

 anecdote of the attachment to its young, manifested by one of this species, 

 which we will here relate as an evidence that in some cases we may 

 learn a valuable lesson from the instincts of the brute creation. 



Our friend, Gaillard Stoney, Esq., sent us an old and a young Florida rat, 

 obtained under the following circumstances. A terrier was seen in pur- 

 suit of a rat of this species, followed by two young, about a third grown. 

 He had already killed one of these, when the mother sprang forward and 

 seized the other in her mouth, although only a few feet from her relent- 

 less enemy — hastened through a fence which for a moment protected her, 

 and retreated into her burrow. They were dug out of the ground, and 

 sent to us alive. We observed that for many months the resting place 

 of the young during the day was on the back of its mother. 



From three to six are produced at a litter, by this species, which breeds 

 generally twice a year ; we have seen the young so frequently in March 

 and August, that we are inclined to the belief that these are the periods 

 of their reproduction. We have never heard them making any other 

 noise than a faint squeak, somewhat resembling that of the brown rat. 

 The very playful character of this species, its cleanly habits, its mild, 



