Greater Stick Nest Rats Surviving On Island
August 1, 2024 10:48 AM Subscribe
How this tiny native rat on the brink of extinction is thriving on an island infested with snakes. A rat which became extinct on mainland Australia by the 1930s is staying safe from predators on an island off South Australia by living in one of Australia's worst invasive weeds.
Finally! An island that wants rats!
I recently read an article about how devastating rats can be to island ecologies and how heavily they need to be guarded to keep them rat-free. Like the wrong ship coming too close can transmit enough rats to doom every seabird on the island. So good to see rats being a positive.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:03 PM on August 1
I recently read an article about how devastating rats can be to island ecologies and how heavily they need to be guarded to keep them rat-free. Like the wrong ship coming too close can transmit enough rats to doom every seabird on the island. So good to see rats being a positive.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:03 PM on August 1
Also:
"Stick-nest rats are massive homebodies, they're fat little rodents and they make good meals for pretty much anything," Ms Kraehe said.
"They don't really like leaving the protection of their nest so they'll basically just eat the house, Hansel and Gretel style."
I feel seen.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:03 PM on August 1 [4 favorites]
"Stick-nest rats are massive homebodies, they're fat little rodents and they make good meals for pretty much anything," Ms Kraehe said.
"They don't really like leaving the protection of their nest so they'll basically just eat the house, Hansel and Gretel style."
I feel seen.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:03 PM on August 1 [4 favorites]
> I spent weeks poking through the faecal pellets of stick-nest rats to identify microscopic plant remains
How many young scientists' have a story of this sort? When I was a larval analytical chemist I spent months doing GC protocols on pig urine samples, a few hours at a time twice a week. The pigs had been intentionally poisoned with trichothecene mycotoxins(1) and vets (or vet grad students probably) had collected urine samples every 15 minutes for many hours. I was assaying the urine for excreted toxin.
It was a lot of pig piss.
But yes, fascinating that the endangered small mammal is able to thrive in the invasive weed that defeats even snakes.
(1) This was back in the 1st Reagan Admin, after the Yellow Rain scare. The veterinary toxicology lab I was working at had gotten a contract from the Military Industrial Complex to figure out how to do forensic chemistry on this then-obscure class of mycotoxins.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 12:12 PM on August 1 [3 favorites]
How many young scientists' have a story of this sort? When I was a larval analytical chemist I spent months doing GC protocols on pig urine samples, a few hours at a time twice a week. The pigs had been intentionally poisoned with trichothecene mycotoxins(1) and vets (or vet grad students probably) had collected urine samples every 15 minutes for many hours. I was assaying the urine for excreted toxin.
It was a lot of pig piss.
But yes, fascinating that the endangered small mammal is able to thrive in the invasive weed that defeats even snakes.
(1) This was back in the 1st Reagan Admin, after the Yellow Rain scare. The veterinary toxicology lab I was working at had gotten a contract from the Military Industrial Complex to figure out how to do forensic chemistry on this then-obscure class of mycotoxins.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 12:12 PM on August 1 [3 favorites]
Here's the wikipedia entry for anyone who wants to know more about
Greater stick-nest rats.
"They are about the size of a small rabbit and construct large nests of interwoven sticks.
The behavioural description is of a passive and gentle species, largely active at night, with a herbivorous diet largely composed of succulent leaves. The 'nest' of L. conditor is sited at a cave, rocky outcrop or over a shrub, the construction reaching a metre in height and around two metres in width. The larger part of the nest is tightly woven from sticks, the inner part is built from softer grassy material.
Ownership of nests appears typically to be passed down through relatively sedentary, genetically related female lines, with males typically distributing throughout the landscape at sexual maturity.
Mainland populations were reported in historical accounts to prefer building nests over slight depressions in the ground or above the burrows of other animals, which were used as escape routes. Some animals were known to weight their nests with small rocks. Nests were reported to be strong and secure enough to repel dingos and other predators."
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 12:14 PM on August 1 [5 favorites]
Greater stick-nest rats.
"They are about the size of a small rabbit and construct large nests of interwoven sticks.
The behavioural description is of a passive and gentle species, largely active at night, with a herbivorous diet largely composed of succulent leaves. The 'nest' of L. conditor is sited at a cave, rocky outcrop or over a shrub, the construction reaching a metre in height and around two metres in width. The larger part of the nest is tightly woven from sticks, the inner part is built from softer grassy material.
Ownership of nests appears typically to be passed down through relatively sedentary, genetically related female lines, with males typically distributing throughout the landscape at sexual maturity.
Mainland populations were reported in historical accounts to prefer building nests over slight depressions in the ground or above the burrows of other animals, which were used as escape routes. Some animals were known to weight their nests with small rocks. Nests were reported to be strong and secure enough to repel dingos and other predators."
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 12:14 PM on August 1 [5 favorites]
A lot of things occurred to me when reading this article:
- Death adder is the best name for a snake. Particularly an Australian snake.
- It is rare for an article to mention fecal samples, and even rarer for it to show actual pictures of the samples. Good on you, ABC.
- If the rats are eating the berries, presumably they are also (soon later) planting the seeds, so is it really a net benefit?
- Regardless, I'm happy that the native rats are able to thrive somewhere. Invasive foxes have destroyed so much native fauna.
I recently read an article about how devastating rats can be to island ecologies and how heavily they need to be guarded to keep them rat-free.
GenjiAndProust: that's Rattus norvegicus, the common brown rat (although lots of them are grey), and the problem is that they're invasive nearly everywhere. This is a different species of rat, native to the ecology.
posted by adrienneleigh at 3:40 PM on August 1 [1 favorite]
GenjiAndProust: that's Rattus norvegicus, the common brown rat (although lots of them are grey), and the problem is that they're invasive nearly everywhere. This is a different species of rat, native to the ecology.
posted by adrienneleigh at 3:40 PM on August 1 [1 favorite]
Box thorn is a shit of a thing. It dries out in hot weather and drops twigs, and the twigs are decorated with hypodermic-sharp hair-barbed spikes that taper to maybe 3mm thick and 30mm long, and they are strong. Strong enough to puncture a steel-belted tyre if the angle is just right. The spikes on the dropped twigs stay sharp and strong for years, sitting there under the grass just waiting to inoculate something's bare foot with tetanus. Human, kangaroo, goat, horse, box thorn don't care. If you walk where a box thorn infestation has been taken out in the last ten years, it will hurt you.
If these little guys can make a living keeping that shit under control, they have all my respect.
posted by flabdablet at 1:36 AM on August 2 [2 favorites]
If these little guys can make a living keeping that shit under control, they have all my respect.
posted by flabdablet at 1:36 AM on August 2 [2 favorites]
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