rodents
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Rodents (Rodentia) are the largest of the mammalian orders, containing over 2,000 species. In this case Rodents have been split into various sub– orders; in Britain, species belong to one of two Orders: - The Sciuridae (the squirrels) - The Myomorpha This one is divided into two `Superfamilies` - The Muroidea (mice, voles and rats) - The Gliroidea (dormice)
Rodents have sharp incisors which they use them to gnaw wood, break food or bite predators. Most rodents eat seeds or plants, but some of them (mice, rats…) use “easy” sources of food, food which is stored by people thus the risk of disease as they contaminate our foodstufs. Rodents have always lived close to human beings. The main reason is humans providing warm homes and plenty of waste for them to feed on. Rodents have been very successfully at following humans around the world, and there are only few places left that they have not colonised. Rodents are one of those problems that annoy farmers every winter, half of all farm fires are caused by rodents as they gnaw through electric cables and damage to feed stores and buildings on UK farms is estimated at £14 – 28 million a year. And the biggest problem is that number of rats and mice is increasing every year. Love them or hate them, they will never be too far away.
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