Critter News

DECEMBER 27, 2010

I recently fostered the sweetest little rat and I currently have two mice. And, of course, our old friend, Charles River Laboratories, will be a major supplier of lab rats. While both rats and mice have similarities to humans, rats win out in key areas. Therefore, this Boston Globe article saddens me on both levels.

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Rats Mice Boston Rodents 100

4 The Love Of Animals

JUNE 4, 2016

If you’re keeping rats you often need to find out quickly whether you can give them a snack, maybe something from your own meal, or you want to know whether it’s worth buying in something you think they might enjoy. … Continue reading → The post Can My Rat Eat That? appeared first on 4 The Love of Animals.

Rats 100

Rats Animal 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2011

Green Bay, Wisconsin, will put up nesting platforms and boxes in an attempt to lure birds of prey. The nesting program isn’t to benefit the birds but to try to contain a serious rodent problem. How cool is that?

Rats 187

Rats Wisconsin Rodents Birds 187

4 The Love Of Animals

DECEMBER 16, 2010

Looks like this sweet little rat is all settled in for a long winters nap.

Rats 100

Rats 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2012

Getting rid of rabbits and goats was something that had been done for many years, but it was generally thought that rats and cats would be impossible to remove from all but the smallest islands. Hit the rats hard and quick in a single hit. But while obvious this was also a much harder proposition. Insanely ambitious?

New Zealand 210

New Zealand Rats Mammals Possums 210

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2013

Normally I feed vultures, as well as hawks and owls, defrosted mice and rats. He ate through my remaining supply of rats and mice, as well as all my pinkies (hairless, day-old rodents, easily digestible and good for starvation cases). Did I have an answer for him. Sometimes a defrosted chick. So: a broken-winged vulture came in.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 239

Wildlife Rehabilitation Rodents Mice Chipmunks 239

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2011

” Prosecutors argued in March that the woman put rat poison and antifreeze in food dishes meant for the neighborhood cats. An online lecture by Dauphine is entitled “apocalypse meow – free ranging cats and the destruction of American wildlife.” Here’s hoping that Dauphine has her name cleared.

Feral Cats 244

Feral Cats Hunting Free Range Rats 244

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2013

They’re better predictors than that more famous overgrown rat in Pennsylvania, bob-bob-bobbing along with the first warm winds to begin caroling from our maples and stalking our lawns. It’s not really spring until the American Robins return, they say. We birders know better, of course. Love robins?

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Pennsylvania Rats Birds 219

Critter News

FEBRUARY 7, 2009

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Rats 100

Rats Cats 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2012

No, wait,Red-shouldered Hawk dragged into the water by the weight of its prey, a giant rat. Unfortunately since this isn’t their usual prey it takes some time. Osprey…? They will take baths but they prefer to do it on purpose. Red-tailed Hawks eat worms. This one gets up early and finds them on the wet sidewalk.

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Rats Hunters Turkey Hunting 255

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

Perhaps the most telling thing in Bloxam’s notes is the following: We saw quantities of rats with long tails, different in appearance from the common South Sea rat and resembling in color and almost in size the Norway rat. Rats did it in, as they did so many species. (I relied upon it heavily for this article.).

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Killing Rats Cooking Norway 193

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2014

You’ve no doubt heard about birds being put at risk by nonnative cats, rats, and even goats. Yes, that’s what’s happening at Midway Atoll, a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). But plants?

Albatross 246

Albatross Goats Rats Japan 246

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2015

The long, sharp, and barbed thorns discourage rats and other small mammals from climbing the cacti to reach the eggs and chicks. Giant Hummingbirds build cup-shaped nests where eggs are exposed, but rather than hiding or camouflaging the nest, the biggest of all hummers generally places its nest in cacti.

Mammals 231

Mammals Rats Eggs Peru 231

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

Little Barrier had rats at one point, so it may have re-colonised, or may be still recovering from the rats. Whether the species only breeds on Little Barrier is obviously not known yet whether the species breeds elsewhere.

New Zealand 180

New Zealand Rats Cooking 2003 180

Critter News

APRIL 1, 2011

Anything to help stop the dissection of real mice in schools.

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Dissection Rats Mice 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2012

Bidding is on TradeMe (New Zealand’s eBay), and the money raised will go to clearing the Antipodes Islands of introduced rats ( a story we talked about before ). The Department of Conservation in New Zealand is giving you, yes you , the chance to spend two days and one night raising Kakapo chicks ! So it’s win-win really.

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Raised New Zealand Rats Parrots 160

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

A plant in South Africa, commonly called Rat’s Tail but referred to by scientists as Babiana ringens , evolved a perch for birds to use while feeding. This aids the plants because they get pollinated as part of the bargain. Now if only one of the plants in New York would evolve a couch near a good birding spot… a.

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South Africa Rats New York Africa 154

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2014

More reviled than perhaps any other species for the mess they make, their copious poop, and their general ubiquity, they are disliked, cursed, and stuck with monikers like “rat with wings.” ” But the Feral Pigeon has much about it that should be admired.

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Rats Feral Farming Collecting 209

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2011

The famous Red-tailed Hawk of Central Park is apparently using his pad with a great view of Central Park to woo the women who find themselves unable to resist his rat-catching ways and wiles.

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Rats New York 150

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2013

Here one can also find pairs of very cute Sloggett’s Ice Rats , another member of Sani’s distinct fauna. The cute Sloggett’s Ice Rat is common on the upper sections of Sani Pass, image by Adam Riley. Image by Adam Riley. The lovely Yellow Canary, another Sani Pass target by Adam Riley.

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Lesotho Rats Africa Woodpeckers 225

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2023

One creature that doesn’t budge for the Nuthatch is the Brown Rat, and a pair of these rodents were demonstrating their agility by raiding the bird seed. Unwelcome visitor: a marauding Brown Rat I left Lynford with no unusual sightings, but the satisfaction of lots of close encounters with several of our commonest birds.

Barn Owls 246

Barn Owls Rats Japan Blackbirds 246

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2016

But appreciating the humble “flying rat” doesn’t mean that when a Peregrine Falcon shows up I’m not rooting for that bad boy. I even understand, though I don’t condone, the urge that drive people to heap birdseed and stale bread on the sidewalks for them.

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Falcons Rats Dogs Birds 191

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2020

One issue puzzles me, the inclusion of those unidentifiable groups, such as bats, 39 pages of them (and this comes from a former caver who actually likes bats), also mice, rats, shrews and similar, which you aren’t likely to see (don’t trust action films) and are even less likely to ID?

Mammals 251

Mammals Asia Sri Lanka Bhutan 251

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2014

I had just come from a Rat Snake in a tree and was prepared to allow just enough space in my hopes for another reptile, but thoughts of owls quickly crowded it out again. Owls were at the forefront of my mind, but then aren’t they always? The birds were high in dense, leafy branches at the edge of the wood.

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Owls DC Litter Reptiles 223

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2023

In short, I truly believe that there still are, maybe not plenty but a good number of species that to this day go unnoticed to the scientific eye, but are surely known to the indigenous peoples (the best example is the newly discovered giant rat from the Solomon Islands). The Cocha Antshrike was one of these species not long ago.

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Solomon Islands Ecuador Colombia Brazil 246

Critter News

JULY 19, 2012

Invading rats with bodies up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) long have begun eating eggs and chicks, and some experts fear that unless the rats are eradicated, they could tip the Humboldt penguin toward extinction. From the Huffington Post.

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Penguins Chile Rats Eating Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2021

One issue puzzles me, the inclusion of those unidentifiable groups, such as bats, rats and mice, 27 pages of them (and this comes from a former caver who actually likes bats), which you aren’t likely to see (apart from fruit bats) and are even less likely to ID.

Madagascar 264

Madagascar Mammals Lemurs Seychelles 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

The South Georgia Pipit is near threatened, its nests predated by rats, and is one of the main reasons that the South Georgia Heritage Trust aims to eradicate rats from the whole area. There are eleven types of plant habitats, including Bog, Mire, and four kinds of grasslands.

Georgia 210

Georgia Penguins Wildlife Whales 210

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2016

Infected rats, for example, no longer shun cat urine but find it an aphrodiasic. It’s also their role as “vectors of disease,” especially toxoplasma gondii. That parasite has the bizarre, powerful ability to manipulate the brain, and reshape the behavior, of its secondary hosts.

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Feral Cats Cats Tnr Trap Neuter Return 268

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

They are deemed to be useless homes for rats (which provide food for snakes and owls), ugly expanses of weeds (enjoyed by seedeaters, grosbeaks, wintering Orchard Orioles , and other species), places that need to be “improved” (evictions for pioneering ground-cuckoos and endemic ground-sparrows).

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Costa Rica Sparrows Rodents Rats 264

Critter News

APRIL 7, 2009

For an 11-month period that ended in December, researchers subjected pigs and rats to about 200 blasts, according to Pentagon documents and interviews. Tags: rats animal experimentation military pigs. The explosions have ranged in intensity, wounding some of the pigs and killing others. Roadside bombs are the top killer of U.S.

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Pigs Research Ethical Treatment Afghanistan 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2014

A lot of those anti-Columbidae tendencies probably stem from a certain species frequently referred to as a “flying rat” In raptor enthusiast circles, “Peregrine fodder” is also used, and when a Mourning Dove gets naturally selected by a Cooper’s Hawk , some hawk watchers can’t hide their look of glee.

Costa Rica 228

Costa Rica Bolivia Rats South America 228

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2011

The combined effects of hunting, habitat loss and predation by introduced animals like rats and mongoose have extirpated the species from some islands and reduced numbers significantly on others.

Antigua and Barbuda 247

Antigua and Barbuda Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Jamaica 247

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2013

Just for one day, not to be pooped or puked on and to not find rat guts hanging off my clothes,” wrote Susan in Michigan. “A hot tub for my sore muscles,” wrote Sigrid in Colorado. “A A massage therapist for an hour every morning, then I wouldn’t be so bitchy,” wrote Jodi in Massachusetts. Just Desserts. “I’d

Wildlife 255

Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Oklahoma Michigan 255

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2022

On the ground, spilled wheat attracted a pair of Dusky Rice Rats , to take mouthfuls under a particular log. In the world of creatures small, squirrels are undoubtedly the kings. Both Mountain and Clay-coloured Thrushes also made their appearance.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Panama Squirrels Nicaragua 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2015

If however you are a larger “mouse”-like rodent you are a rat. In German, if you are a rodent and you are smaller than – say – a human hand, you’re a mouse. You’re not a vole or a gerbil. No “gophers” etc.

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Fox Rodents Gophers Germany 187

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

But not Lisa Kelly, who riffed on it and invented “ramousky,” which is a pinkie (just-born) mouse stuffed inside an adult mouse stuffed inside a rat, and evidently big fun for vultures (all rodents are deceased before the stuffing occurs). More slang?” asked Erin, who is primarily a turtle rehabber.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 254

Wildlife Rehabilitation Turtles Turkey Rodents 254