Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Creature Feature #109: Cloud Rat

Cloud Rats are also known as Cloudrunners, and they are large rat-like rodents found in the Philippines. Here they lead an arboreal existence, following a vegetarian diet of fruits, shoots, leaves and seeds. This fellow is the Northern Luzon slender-tailed cloud rat and his kind have been successfully bred in captivity, and have also started to enter into the exotic pet trade. He is relatively common on the island of Luzon, where he makes his home both in lowland rain and montane forest, but has also been found on cultivated land - provided there is a plentiful supply of food. Despite this, little is known about these attractive rodents and much of their lifestyle remains a mystery.

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