COMMON INSECTS - Rodents
Description
Adults are about 13 – 18cm with the tail. The fur is smooth and usually dusty gray above and light gray or cream on the belly. The muzzle is pointed, eyes are small, ears are large, feet short and broad, and a uniformly dark, scaly, semi-naked tail.
Biology
They reach sexual maturity in 35 days. Pregnancy lasts an average of 19 days. The average litter size is anywhere from 5 – 8, with about 8 litters per year. The life expectancy is normally less than a year. Mice have keen senses, except for eye sight and are colour blind.
Habit
Mice are very social. They will eat a variety of foods, but seeds are the usual preferred food. Their preferred nesting sites are dark, secluded places where there is abundant nesting material nearby and little chance of disturbance.
Description
Adults are about 25 – 30cm in length, the head and body length combined is longer than the tail. Their hair is course, shaggy, brown with scattered black hairs. The muzzle is blunt, eyes are small, and the ears are small the tail is coloured and scaly.
Biology
Norway rats reach sexual maturity in 2 – 5 months. Each litter contains up to 22 young. They have poor vision and are colour blind, but the other senses they have are very keen. They are good runners, climbers, jumpers and swimmers.
Habit
Norway rats are nocturnal and are cautious. They prefer to nest in burrows. Norway rats prefer to eat meat and cereal, though they will eat anything. They will gnaw through almost anything to obtain food and water, even plastic or lead pipes.
Description
Adults are 40 – 45cm long. The tail is longer than the head and body. The fur is soft and smooth; colour is between brown with black intermixed to gray to black above. The muzzle pointed, eyes and ears are large. The tail will be scaly, uniformly dark, longer than head and body combined.
Biology
Roof rats reach sexual maturity in 2 – 5 months. Each litter contains up to 8 young. Roof rats have poor vision and are colour blind, but their other senses are highly developed. Touch is done with their whiskers. They are good runners, excellent climbers, jumpers and swimmers.
Habit
Roof rats are primarily nocturnal and they are very cautious. They prefer to nest in the upper parts of structures. Outdoors, they prefer to nest in higher places such as in trees but may be found in burrows. They will eat almost anything, but prefer fruits, vegetables and cereals.
