Showing posts with label Mammals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mammals. Show all posts
Friday, October 28, 2011
Friday, October 17, 2008
A Rat It Is Not!
I think we need to shift what the word rodent conjurs up when we hear it. We think of oogly, disease carrying, filthy RATS, with sharp teeth and long wet tails, scurrying around when we least expect it, scaring the shyte out of us.
BUT-- those adorable little squirrels I've been posting about are rodents. Some people refer to them as tree rats. Harsh! Insensitive! Other rodents like the nutria, while not exactly as cuddly, and beavers, a bit more cute, have been casually called water rats. Defamation!
Who doesn't smile at the playful little chipmunk? Well, they are rodents too.
And so is this little being below. I'd never seen one before, and I'm wondering if you ever have. Usually she is curled up in a ball asleep, so this is a rare daytime clip of her in action... well, she seems like she first plays dead then springs back, literally.
She has floppy ears like a bunny, big eyes with long lashes like a giraffe, teeth like a beaver and a tail like a fox. And she hops like a kangaroo (though she doesn't come with the pocket).
It's a SpringHaas (or spring hare). Who knew?!?
This mammal is quite common in the Savannahs of South and East Africa, the desert region. And this soft, fuzzy gal IS considered a rodent, most closely related to squirrels, gophers and beavers.
Springhaas are nocturnal, so they only come to life at night, by literally leaping from the underground burrows in which they sleep. And lively they are, digging holes in dirt and hopping from plant to plant for their bulbs and roots. Their ability to hop 6 feet at a time aids them well in avoiding predators.
Next time you hear the word rodent, you no longer have to think of something icky. Think instead of these crazy little guys, Chip and Dale or Rocky the Flying Squirrel, or even of Baxter, the Nutria. Okay, with Baxter, I may be pushing it...
BUT-- those adorable little squirrels I've been posting about are rodents. Some people refer to them as tree rats. Harsh! Insensitive! Other rodents like the nutria, while not exactly as cuddly, and beavers, a bit more cute, have been casually called water rats. Defamation!
Who doesn't smile at the playful little chipmunk? Well, they are rodents too.
And so is this little being below. I'd never seen one before, and I'm wondering if you ever have. Usually she is curled up in a ball asleep, so this is a rare daytime clip of her in action... well, she seems like she first plays dead then springs back, literally.
She has floppy ears like a bunny, big eyes with long lashes like a giraffe, teeth like a beaver and a tail like a fox. And she hops like a kangaroo (though she doesn't come with the pocket).
It's a SpringHaas (or spring hare). Who knew?!?
This mammal is quite common in the Savannahs of South and East Africa, the desert region. And this soft, fuzzy gal IS considered a rodent, most closely related to squirrels, gophers and beavers.
Springhaas are nocturnal, so they only come to life at night, by literally leaping from the underground burrows in which they sleep. And lively they are, digging holes in dirt and hopping from plant to plant for their bulbs and roots. Their ability to hop 6 feet at a time aids them well in avoiding predators.
Next time you hear the word rodent, you no longer have to think of something icky. Think instead of these crazy little guys, Chip and Dale or Rocky the Flying Squirrel, or even of Baxter, the Nutria. Okay, with Baxter, I may be pushing it...
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