. Agri-news. Agriculture. November 10, 2003 Is it a rat or a rodent? Autumn is the time of year when young animals leave the family unit and begin seeking a home of their own. Although this is nothing new to rodents, it can be a little confusing to the uninitiated urban and country resident. "During the fall months people often encounter small animals like rodents under unusual and bewildering circumstances and ; says John Bourne, vertebrate pest specialist. Alberta Agriculture. Food and Rural Development, Vermilion. "In reality, young or juvenile rodents are only d
. Agri-news. Agriculture. November 10, 2003 Is it a rat or a rodent? Autumn is the time of year when young animals leave the family unit and begin seeking a home of their own. Although this is nothing new to rodents, it can be a little confusing to the uninitiated urban and country resident. "During the fall months people often encounter small animals like rodents under unusual and bewildering circumstances and ; says John Bourne, vertebrate pest specialist. Alberta Agriculture. Food and Rural Development, Vermilion. "In reality, young or juvenile rodents are only doing what comes naturally - seeking a home of their own. The trouble is that dispersing young rodents often wind up in unusual locations or situations leaving the casual observer bewildered. Such unusual behaviour leads the observer to conclude the animal in question might be a rat because regular' rodents don't behave so ; For instance, says Bourne, it is not unusual to see a rat-sized, juvenile muskrat scamper beneath the parked car in the garage, or behind stored boxes or other garage items. It is also not unnatural to see a rat-sized' rodent lumbering across the parking lot at the shopping mall at mid-day. Nor is a rodent scurrying along main street in busy downtown traffic worthy of panic. "The fact of the matter is these naive and misguided creatures have merely lost their way and are not trying to disguise themselves as ; says Bourne. "Juvenile muskrats. pocket gophers, woodrats and many mice species as well as other larger animals such as coyotes, foxes and skunks arc simply looking to set-up shop once they find a suitable ; Bourne says there are several ways to tell most common rodents from rats: • the most distinguishing feature of a Norway or roof rat is its long, cylindrical, hairless tail that is nearly as long as the animal's seven-or-eight-inch body. All native rodents including muskrats have considerably shorte
Size: 2013px × 1241px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcoll, bookleafnumber255, booksubjectagriculture, bookyear2003
