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Activities: 4 The World’s Largest Rodent Puzzles: 2, 8, 9 6 It’s a Beautiful Drey Cartoons & Rodent Riddles: 7 Max & Gracie Paper Mouse Craft: 15 10 Prickly Porcupines 13 Punxsutawney Phil’s Other Skills Science: 25 Puzzle Solutions: 30 14 Mice Are Nice 16 10 Nifty Facts About Rodents 18 A Different Kind of Dog 19 Bouncing Rodents 20 Pet in a Pocket 23 Just Call Me Rock Chuck! 24 A Hamster in the Wild 26 The Great Hamsterini 27 The Vole and the Mole Rat 28 Chipper, Chirping Chipmunks
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by Kerrily Sapet
The largest rodents in the world have webbed feet and love the water. The capybara is related to the guinea pig, but you wouldn’t know it by its size. These big rodents grow to be four feet long and about two feet tall. They’ll weigh between 110 to 150 pounds full grown. Deb Copeland is an animal keeper at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. She knows a lot about the capybaras that live there. Capybaras are herbivores, meaning they eat plants. Copeland cuts tall grasses for them to chew on. In the zoo, they eat tree leaves, corn, alfalfa, and herbivore food. It’s like guinea pig chow. To keep their always-growing teeth short, rodents gnaw constantly. At the zoo, when the capybaras’ teeth get too long, the animals hook them on their cages and break their teeth shorter. Capybaras live longer in zoos than they do in the wild. “Three or four years is a long life for a capybara in the wild,” Copeland says. Capybaras are from marshes and other wet areas in South America. There, they run, jump, and dive in the water to avoid jaguars and people. Crocodiles lurk in the water. People eat capybara meat and make necklaces from their teeth.
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In the zoo, capybaras seem friendly. Copeland makes scratching motions with her hands when she sees them. They walk over for a back scratch. “Capybaras are very social animals,” she says. In the wild, they live with their families in large herds. Sometimes, however, the capybaras want to be left alone. “You have to watch their body language. Gnashing their teeth is an aggressive sound.” Copeland is amazed by their noises. “They squeak and click.” At one time, the Zoo had baby capybaras, but babies don’t live there now. In zoos and in the wild, mother capybaras call their babies with a series of clicks. They also share their babies. “They have babysitters,” Copeland says. “Daddies don’t help much raising the babies.” Instead, the males stand guard. “They are so cute when they are little,” Copeland says. “People see them and want them as pets. They are wild animals,” she says. “I wouldn’t want one. It would spend its time in the bathtub!” The best way to enjoy these “giant guinea pigs” is to visit them at your local zoo.
Do you want to know more about the world’s largest rodent? Check out these capybara facts: There were prehistoric capybaras that weighed eight times as much as capybaras weigh now. These are now extinct. Capybaras are active in the early mornings and at sunset. During the heat of the day, they spend their time resting. Their eyes, ears, and noses are high up on their heads. This helps them to see and breathe while swimming.
You can see the adult capybara’s webbed feet in this photo.
The scientific name for capybara means “water pig.” When they were first discovered, people didn’t know they were rodents. When capybaras are fully grown, their hair does not cover all of their body. To avoid sunburn, they spend lots of time in the water or resting in shade. They even roll around in mud (like pigs) to keep cool!
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by Régine Frank What on earth are those messy balls of leaves stuck in some treetops? Watch carefully, and you might see their builders scamper up into one. They’re called “dreys,” and they’re the nests of tree squirrels. Tree squirrels prefer to nest in hollow trees, especially in winter or when raising a litter. But where hollows are scarce, they build themselves a drey or two. Tree squirrels start by nipping twigs off trees while the leaves are still green. That way, when the leaves dry, they stay on the twig and add body to the nest. The squirrel chooses a fork in the branches at least 20 feet up and often higher. It may be near the trunk or on more slender branches. This makes it hard for predators, like raccoons, to reach. Once the squirrel chooses a spot, it weaves a base of twigs and fills in the spaces with clumps of moss and damp leaves to form a solid platform. It builds up and over this platform to make a hollow sphere about a foot wide. Then it stuffs the gaps with more dry leaves. Finally, the squirrel lines the inside with shredded leaves and grasses, leaving a space only big enough for one or two squirrels to curl up in. The size of a drey depends on the size of the squirrel. Smaller species build smaller dreys. Some squirrels use grasses, shredded bark, pine needles, or lichen, instead of leaves, to build their nests. Whatever they’re made of, dreys always have the main entrance at the bottom, to keep out rain, and sometimes a second emergency exit. One squirrel may build and use several dreys at once. But aren’t they cold in winter? This fall, try this: Cover yourself up to your chin in a pile of dry leaves. What do you notice? That you feel warm! Dry leaves and grasses keep in the heat and keep out moisture. Dreys are snug, even in wet, cold, or windy weather. Now gaze up at the treetops around your neighborhood and imagine curling up in a cozy drey and being rocked to sleep by the 6 swaying of the branches.
Portland, Maine 4:26 PM Intermittent rain Max and Gracie and their owners, Linda, Craig, and their seven-year-old son, Ed, are driving the back roads of America. Perhaps you have seen Max and Gracie with their heads out the window. If not, here is a letter describing their most recent adventure.
so horrible. entire life have I witnessed anything my in re befo er nev that say just Let me ks. Its long from between rocks down by the doc This morning a water rat crawled out , and even and forth. Its slick black hair was wet k bac ered slith tail its d, tche twi rs whiske ll it. Not a pleasant smell. Ugh! though I was five feet away, I could sme go, but across the rocks. I was glad to see it ran it me, and cie Gra saw it as n As soo only goal was to r it. I barked, but she didn’t care. Her surprised to find Gracie running afte catch the rat. not helping motion was about. I have to admit to Ed came over to see what all the com ted in place, re near that rat. I remained firmly plan matters because I wasn’t going anywhe chase was the ed and told Gracie to leave it alone, but barking. When Ed saw the rat, he yelp , Gracie was . The rat crossed over to the right side on. The rat went left, Gracie went left s. t into hiding, squeezing in between rock right on his tail. Finally, the rat wen Even now, as Gracie snores beside me, I can smell that rat, and it’s not pleasant. She said she had a nifty time. That Gracie!
Max 7
by Guy Belleranti
Can you find the 14 rodents hidden in the puzzle? Circle each one, then write the remaining letters in the boxes to spell a big rodent fact. BEAVER CHINCHILLA CHIPMUNK GERBIL GUINEA PIG HAMSTER LEMMING
MOUSE MUSKRAT PORCUPINE RAT SQUIRREL VOLE WOODCHUCK
A B E A V E R T E
L E M M I N G R N
L H S R L E U O T
I E Q A R E I T W
H C U B E S N A O
C A I I T U E R O
N L R S S O A K D
I P R T M M P S C
H Y E E A R I U H
C B L H H G G M U
T O A E A E S D C
V C H I P M U N K
E N I P U C R O P
Big Rodent Fact:
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by Evelyn B. Christensen
Agoutis are rodents from the tropical Americas. They’re unusual because they have five toes on their front feet, but only three toes on their hind feet. They have the amazing ability to open Brazil nuts without a tool. They use their big teeth and strong jaws. Fill in the squares so that each row, column, and 7-square section has the letters A-G-O-U-T-I-S.
S
U
G
G O S
A
I
T
A
8
S
I G
A U
T U
U
O G
T
O I S I
by Beverly Wince
Can you unscramble the names of the rodents below? Example: RIPEARI OGD is PRAIRIE DOG
1. ART 2. USOME 3. QILRUSER 4. ODOW KHCCU 5. TARSMUK 6. STRAMHE 7. KUMPCHIN 8. PROGHE 9. BILGER 10. AGINUE GIP 11. VAREBE 12. PROPINUCE
by Evelyn B. Christensen
Emily, Grace, Matthew, and Tyler each have a different pet rodent. Each pet is a different number of years old. Use the clues to decide which pet belongs to each kid and the pet’s age.
1. Nobody has a pet that starts with the same letter as their name. 2. Grace’s pet is two years older than Tyler’s and one year older than the mouse. 3. The guinea pig’s age is the sum of the hamster’s and gerbil’s ages. If you’d like, use the grid to eliminate possibilities. Put an “x” in a box if you know a name or pet doesn’t go with a particular age or if a name doesn’t go with a pet. Put an “o” if it does.
gerbil
guinea pig
hamster
mouse
Emily Grace Matthew Tyler 1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years
by Kris MacLeod
In the puzzle below, find the name of these unique rodents. Circle each word as you find it. The words are hidden horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. Then beginning with the top row, and working left to right, place the remaining letters in the spaces provided to learn an interesting fact about these cool critters. R S Q U
I
R R E L O D S E N
R V T L
I
B R E G S P L G I
A T O M R A M D U R V T N B T C E L E V R E E H H W E N I
I
R A Y
I
E
I H N N R O W M A
U M J E G R E D B O M V
I N T H U H E L A E R O E E P C I O A S O N P G E D L R U H A R E M K A C I
I
U J C R T
E H D E S R G O P H E R
R L X E C E P T A T A U S N O L K C O Y P U E T T C U A P A R C A P Y B A R A K O C N T
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K N U M P
I H C C M A
RAT JIRD Did you know: VOLE DEGU ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ HUTIA COYPU ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ MOUSE GERBIL ___ ___ ___ ___ ___, ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ BEAVER ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___! JERBOA MARMOT GOPHER LEMMING MUSKRAT HAMSTER CAPYBARA CHIPMUNK SQUIRREL WOODCHUCK PORCUPINE SPRINGHARE GUINEA PIG CHINCHILLA NAKED MOLE-RAT 9