Animals

Original Articles

MOON RAT
The Moon Rat (Echinosorex gymnura) is the world's largest insectivore. It is a distant cousin of the hedgehog. Moon rats are native to the lowland regions of Borneo, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula.

Unlike hedgehogs and tenrecs, the Moon Rat doesn’t have any spines. It protects itself from predators by emitting a strong noxious odor. This species has also developed an immunity to snake venom. The bulk of their diet consists of invertibrates (insects, spiders, scorpians, centipedes, crustaceans, etc.), and fruit.

Moon Rats look like a cross between an oppossum and a lab rat, with long white guard hairs and thick ropelike tails. Adult Moon Rats may grow to be the size of a large house cat (16 inches long, with an eight inch tail).

Links to Other Animal Websites

Aardvark

Anaconda

Badger Gallery

Badgers.org -- "This is the home of Taxidea Taxus, the North American Badger."

Badgerland -- The Definitive online guide to Badgers in the U.K.

Bat Cave Preserve

Bat Conservation International

BBC Science and Nature: Mammals

Build a Better Bat House

Beaver, North American

Beavers in British Columbia
(Castor canadensis)

Bettong
Endangered Australian marsupial that looks like a giant kangaroo rat

Another Bettong page
Learn more about these endangered animals

Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis)

Cane Toads
BE AFRAID. BE VERY AFRAID.

How far have feral Cane Toads spread?

CANE TOADS: THE MOVIE

"It would be pointless to label the sex drive of the cane toad as high; their enviable libido lands somewhere in a region known as absolutely unreal.

"Male members of the species often attempt to mate with human feet or arms, clumps of mud, or even other animals, much less other species of toad.

"There is a documented instance of a male toad attempting to mate for some eight or more hours in the middle of a road with a female that had been dead quite some time...

"One man slew over two hundred toads following an incident where several of his pet ornamental goldfish were killed by toads attempting to mate with them; another gent takes Sunday drives solely to run over as many toads who stray to lay in the way of his VW van."

-Mark Furman

CANE TOADS: An unnatural History (1987)
A film by Mark Lewis. NOW ON DVD.

Capybara - The World's Largest Rodent

Crow, North American

Dire Wolf (extinct!)

The Echidna, or Spiny Anteater

Echidna information from Wikipedia

Echidna, Short-beaked

Gambian Giant Pouched Rat

Giant Pouched Rats as pets
From the Rat and Mouse Gazette

Pictures of a domesticated Gambian Giant Pouched Rat

Giant Squid