Rodentia

People already know that rats are very disgusting creatures that live in sewers and eat trash. But these four articles introduced new insights to the problems that rats cause. Some of them include causing destructive infestations, horrible diseases that can harm or kill people and pets, and the danger of using pesticides to humans. The first reason and paragraph discusses what rat infestations are and why they occur, the second paragraph talks about the dangers to human society, and the third paragraph discusses the ways people are trying to rid their lives of rats.

Various experiments and measurements were performed in the field in order to compare the two types of rodents. The following is a list of the data collected through multiple observations over a span of two years. We captured 100 rats of each rodent population, and we found the average weight, length, hind limb, and forelimb measurements. In addition, we conducted experiments in regards to their top speed, average height that they could leap, gestation time, and average time spent in the courtship display.

Rats are very intelligent animals. Some consider rats to have intelligence close or equal to that of dogs. Rats are capable of learning

Speciation is when a population cannot exchange genes with another population. This occurs because of geographic, behavioral, and temporal isolation. The rodents in the St. Kitts island is a small species that has been threatened by development. The populace is extremely minuscule and the rodents are struggling in finding a mate. During my study, I noticed the Nevis rodent population were very healthy and could be used as potential mates for the rodents in the island of St. Kitts. Unfortunately, after 240 attempts to mate the populations no reproductive event was successful. The St. Kitts rodents and the Nevis rodents cannot exchange genes

Rat infestations have swarmed throughout the world, looking for food, and spreading diseases, so of course people attempt to get rid of them. First off, they spread disease. It states in Source 1, “Around 60% of the rodents carry Weil's disease...” This quote states that the majority of all rodents, have Weil’s disease. That means that if you see a rat, it is probably infected with disease. This is incredibly dangerous for people walking the street, or someone without a home. That person who does not have a home, could get a disease very easily. The rats can carry disease and they can spread that disease, it even states in Source 4, “It was this rat which ushered in the Black Plague.” In this piece, they are speaking of Black Rats. These rats were probably one of the unlucky 60%, or it was a carrier something that was on them.

The salt marsh harvest mouse is listed as an endangered species in 1970s. Its phylogeny is of the Kingdom Animalia, the Phylum Chordata, the Class Mammalia, the Order Rodentia, the Family Cricetidae, the Genus Reithrodontomys, and the Species raviventris. The closest living relative of the salt marsh harvest mouse, according to genetic mapping, is the plains harvest mouse, R. montanus, a western interior species that are found in Mexico and central US.

The nutria, also known as the river rat or the coypu, is an invasive specie because it can destroy the land. Nutria are rodents similar to the capybara because of its body shape and brown fur. It is also similar to beavers

One of the largest rodents is the Sciuridae family is the Woodchuck (Marmota Monax) or more commonly known as the Groundhog. It is a fairly common animal most heavily found in the north and north eastern parts of the United States and across most of Canada (Encyclopedia of Life, 2015). Most Woodchucks choose to live in a habitat of grasslands or along the edge of a forest. They tend to like a cooler climate, but during the heart of winter they will hibernate in burrows that they dig throughout the year. The Woodchuck is a incredibly interesting animal that creates elaborate burrows for homes and one of the true hibernators.

The rodent problem has grown in New York City vastly in the last decade; according to Jonathan Auerbach a Columbia doctoral student in his statistical analysis on 2014 called “Does New York City Really Have as Many Rats as People”; there are approximately 2.02 million rodents in New York City and according to the Planning Department, New York’s population raised as 8,405,837 in 2013. If these reports are accurate, there is one rat for four humans in New York City. So, the problem is why New York City has so many rats and how can it decrease/eliminate the population.

Every culture treats rats differently, because of the different belief system each culture has. For instance, the Indian culture worships rats while other cultures view rats as grotesque. Specifically in the YouTube

Rats. Most people view them as unsanitary and dangerous animals that dwell in sewers. These stereotypes lead to a general hatred of rats by much of the world’s population. Most people have never had a positive encounter with a rat. As someone who owns a pet rat, I feel it’s my duty to educate people and prove stereotypes wrong. Rats make excellent, clean companions who can come in a large variety of appearances. Positivity about these lovely creatures needs to be spread, and they should be purchased for a bigger purpose than food for snakes. Stigmas should not be developed against something, especially an innocent living creature, until you’ve obtained all the facts and have personal experience.

The first article chosen to review is ‘Population dynamics of house mice in Queensland grain- growing areas, 2013, Wildlife Research, 40, 661–674 by Anthony Pople, Joe Scanlan, Peter Cremasco, and Julianne Farrell’. This article focuses on the population field mice in the Darling Downs. This region of Australia is an extremely arable district in south eastern Queensland that has lost the majority of its native vegetation cover to agriculture (Fensham and Fairfax, 1997). The theme of this ecological topic demonstrates how a population of a species can increase due to the availability of food, and the methods to reduce numbers via poison baiting.

4a. Shannon Weiners diversity index is 1.52, most of these animals are rodents such as the

Rats are distinguished from mice by their size; rats generally have bodies longer than 12 cm (5 in).

Rodents can be found everywhere on earth. Among the several different types of rodents, the ones that mostly prefer to live near humans, being the most numerous, are the mice and rats. They live in colonies which comprise of complex hierarchies, wherein they form deep bonds, often putting their own lives at risk to save family and friends. Their best habitats are cavities, holes inside walls, in sewer pipes, in stores where foodstuffs are kept, in the fields and in garbage dumps. As a matter of fact, they love to live anywhere food is available and is convenient for them to put up a nest. In addition, they can easily adjust to any kind of climate and even wipe out original mammals occupying the same niche.