GNAWERS MOST NUMEROUS OF MAMMALS
The rodents vastly outnumber all other mammals and are typified by the squirrels, rats, and mice; their food is mainly vegetable matter, but many of them eat insects and meat whenever available. The carnivores, including such species as the weasel, mink, and marten, are mainly flesh eaters, preying largely upon rodents, but they also eat insects and fruits of many kinds. The insectivores include the moles and shrews, which, with all the bats found within our limits, are almost exclusively eaters of worms and insects.
While rodents primarily feed on vegetable matter, it is surprising to note the large number of species among them which commonly feed on insects and have strong carnivorous propensities. This is not so much the case with such larger rodents as the beaver, porcupine, and woodchuck, but most of the smaller kinds, from squirrels to mice, have been found to be confirmed flesh eaters.
Photograph by Howard Taylor Middleton
A MILLENNIAL SCENE: A RABBIT-HOUND AND A YOUNG RABBIT ENJOYING EACH OTHER’S SOCIETY
Here the camera records a friendship almost as remarkable as that which is to mark the association of the lion and the lamb in the final days of the world’s history.
The destruction of the eggs and young of birds, both on the ground and in the trees, by these animals must have a far-reaching effect in reducing the number of insectivorous and other small birds. Some small rodents, as the grasshopper-mice, subsist mainly upon insects and flesh.
The naturalist who sets traps for small rodents in field or forest is constantly annoyed by finding trapped animals partly devoured by their fellows. When mice or rats are confined together in cages and provided with an abundance of vegetable food, it is a common experience to find that the stronger kill and eat the weaker ones, until in a short time only a single survivor remains. These cannibalistic traits are strongly developed in the common house rat, which is notorious for its savagery toward others of its kind.