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Brown Rat

Rattus norvegicus

Description:

Dead brown rodent with large ears, slanted nose and long tail.

Habitat:

Found under an avocado tree at my front door. I suspect a cat!!! Cats

Notes:

"To date, there are few scientific data available to assess the impact of cat predation on prey populations. Even well-fed domestic cats may hunt and kill, mainly catching small mammals, but also birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish and invertebrates. Hunting by domestic cats may be contributing to the decline in the numbers of birds in urban areas, although the importance of this effect remains controversial. In the wild, the introduction of feral cats during human settlement can threaten native species with extinction. In many cases controlling or eliminating the populations of non-native cats can produce a rapid recovery in native animals. However, the ecological role of introduced cats can be more complicated: for example, cats can control the numbers of rats, which also prey on birds' eggs and young, so in some cases eliminating a cat population can actually accelerate the decline of an endangered bird species in the presence of a mesopredator, controlled by cats." - Wikipedia Aka common rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Brown Norway rat, Norwegian rat, or wharf rat

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Escondido, California, USA

Spotted on Sep 19, 2011
Submitted on Oct 18, 2011

Spotted for Mission

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Reference

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