There are guinea pigs and water rats. Such an animal as a sea rat does not exist. This is written in each of the encyclopedic publications devoted to the animal world and printed in printing houses, that is, they are quite official and accurate sources of knowledge that are trustworthy.
Moreover, this phrase as early as the beginning of the last century meant rodents living on merchant and military vessels. Of course, on modern ships, rats are nonsense, and therefore this phrase has lost its primary meaning. Now sea rats are colloquially called water rodents.
Water rat
Like guinea pigs, rodents are not directly related to the water itself. The water rat is a large vole that likes to settle closely with ponds. You can meet it everywhere - from the Far Eastern coasts to Kaliningrad and, in principle, the entire European part of the mainland.
The sea rat or, more correctly, the water one, and the muskrat, which is also often called, the animals are completely different. Although these animals have their own similarities. The water rat belongs to the Khomyakov family. Outwardly, it resembles a mixture of these same animals. Her tail is fluffy, with a small tassel at the very tip, and the muzzle is short and rounded.
In Latin, the animal is called - Arvicola amphibius, and in Russian a water rat or vole.
Sizes of water rats
The water or sea rat, whose photo is not particularly difficult to find in any zoological reference book, is a very large animal.
The weight of one individual varies from 120 to 330 grams. In length, a marine rat can reach 250 millimeters. The smallest rodents grow to 120 millimeters. The tail length is two-thirds of the body, occasionally half. The brush on its tip grows to half a centimeter.
In its size, the marine rat is second only to the muskrat, being the largest of the voles living on earth. The animals are well tamed and quite comfortable in the role of pets.
Where do they live?
The sea or water rat got its name for a reason. Animals live near ponds. To meet them near the swamps is a rarity. Rodents prefer small rivers or lakes, gladly arrange minks near clean ponds formed on the site of quarries.
During floods, animals migrate to drier places. After the water drops to its normal level, they return to their burrows. However, the spread of human habitats and their economic activities have made some adjustments to the lifestyle of water voles.
This animal can often be found in summer cottages, farm or state farm fields, in gardens. Unlike mice, water rats do not settle indoors. This means that in the underground, in the attic, in the pantry or in the barn, you can not meet a rodent. The animals live in holes located outside of human structures. In hot weather, animals do not use their dwellings, but settle down next to them in peculiar grass nests.
Rodents live in cohesion, in large colonies, forming both linear and mosaic settlements. Therefore, if a person encounters one water rat in a garden plot, this means that there are many more nearby.
Are they fruitful?
Although the animals form large colonies or settlements, they themselves live in pairs. The love of water voles in the framework of the "matrimony" is quite large. During the season, the offspring in each of the families of rodents reaches a mark of 70 individuals.
Of course, a water rat does not give birth to seventy cubs at a time. This is the total number of litters during the season is from 4 to 6, their number is directly dependent on the climate and food adequacy. Water rats breed without any calendar restrictions during the entire warm season. Accordingly, the farther south the colony of these animals lives, the higher its number.
What do they eat?
Reflecting on who is better - a guinea pig or a water rat as a pet, one can not ignore the diet of animals.
In nature, the menu of a water rat is dominated by:
- succulent roots and herbs;
- young shoots of shrubs;
- fry and small fish;
- freshwater mollusks, including crayfish and snails;
- large insects and their larvae, worms.
This means that water rats are not at all vegetarians. In their daily diet, in addition to juicy plant foods, for example, vegetables and fruits, or grains from ready-made mixtures, animal protein must be present. Without this component, the metabolism inside the rat organism will not be completely complete, impaired. And this will certainly affect her health and will be noticeable externally.
