The Rodents, or Gnawing Animals 



159 



Photo by A. S. liudlaad <£■ Sons. 



SHORT-TAILED IfUTIA. 



Tbu Initios art; another group <if octOLlonts, found iia the We>t India 

 l,s lands. 



of reeds piled in a mound, in the lakes and 

 swamps. The body is only 12 inches loniT, 

 but the fur is thick and close, and much 

 used for lining coats and cloaks. The vast 

 chains of rivers and lakes in Canada make 

 that country the favourite home of the musk- 

 rat. This creature lives upon roots of aquatic 

 plants, freshwater-mussels, and stems of juicy 

 herbs. Besides making the domed houses of 

 grass, reeds, and mud, it also burrows in the 

 banks of streams. There it malves rather an 

 elaborate home, with numerous passages leading; 

 to the water. The odour of musk is very 

 strong even in the skin. The tail is narrow 

 and almost naked. This species is the largest 

 of the vole group. 



The Typical Rats and Mice. 



These animals were originally an Old 

 World group. Though the brown rat is now 

 common in America, it is believed to have 

 come originally from China. 



A very large number of animals are now almost dependent on man and his belongings. 

 Such creatures are said to be " commensalistic," or eaters at the same table. They are often 

 very unwelcome guests, whether they are flies, sparrows, or cockroaches; but probably the 

 least welcome of all are the rats and mice. The Bkown Rat is the best known of any. It 

 has come into worse repute than usual of late, because it is now certain that it harbours the 

 plague-bacillus, and communicates the disease to man. Its habits and apjiearance need no 

 description. The Black Rat is the older and smaller species indigenous in Europe, which 

 the brown rat has almost extirpated from England. A few old houses still hold the black 

 rat, and there are always a few wild ones at the Zoological Gardens which feed in the animals' 

 houses. The BLACK-AND-^^'HITE Rat (not the albino white rat) kept tame in this country is 

 probably a domesticated form of the Alexandrine Rat of Egypt. 



The House-mouse is now found in all parts of the world to which Europeans have access. 

 In England its main home is in the corn-ricks. 

 Were the farmers to thresh the grain, as is done in 

 the United States, as soon as it is cut, mice w'ould 

 be far less common. Besides these parasitic mice, 

 there are a host of field- and forest-mice in this and 

 other countries. One of the best-known English 

 species is the Harvest-mouse, which makes a globular 

 nest of grass in the wheat^fields, attached to stems 

 of corn or weeds. In this the young are born. In 

 winter the mouse lives in holes in banks, and lays 

 up a store of kernels and grain. The Wood-mouse 

 is larger than the former, or than the House-mouse. 

 It is yellowish brown in colour, lays up a great 

 store of winter food, and is itself the favourite prey 

 of the weasel. 



The Bandicoots. 

 A very mischievous class of rats is represented 



BiUK-ruussiiJil of the Hun. WalUi- ItiilhschUd, TrcKj. 

 rOKOUFIXE. 

 The common porcupine is found in Italy, Slinin, and 

 Xortli Africa. TLis one was Itept by Mi. Rothscliild, \vho 

 had it photographed by Mr. S. G. Payne, of Aylesbury. 



