THE Kildare Animal Foundation is seeking a suitable home for a three-foot long Coypu American swamp rat which was found swimming in a Tipperary river.
The rat, which is three times the size of the average Irish rodent, is the first of its kind to have ever been found in Ireland. Dan Donoher works with the Kildare Animal Foundation Wildlife unit and he told the Kildare Nationalist that it’s most unusual for a rodent of this type to be found in Ireland.
“The rat which we have called Rodney was trapped by the National Parks and Wildlife Service after it was spotted swimming in the river in Tipperary. It was possibly kept by a rodent collector and either released or escaped. He is healthy and doesn’t seem to have been out in the wild for too long. I don’t think he would have survived if he had been out over a winter. It weighs 6kgs and it’s four to five times the size of a normal rat, so it’s the same size as a large cat or small dog. It’s very similar to the native rat which we are all familiar with. However as it’s a semi aquatic rat its front feet are the same as an Irish rat. but its back feet are webbed like an otter or a beaver.”
Mr Donoher said it is similar to the native rat in other respects as well. “As we know rats are prolific breeders. When the female gets pregnant she gives birth and can get pregnant immediately afterwards again. This rat is the same. However while Rodney is in our care he will be very much a batchelor. Rodney is very placid and he isn’t a threat to humans. When it comes to food native rats are opportunists and they will pretty much eat anything. However Rodney is a herbivore and he eats plant leaves, vegetables and fruit.”
Dan outlined the kind of person they are looking for to adopt Rodney. “We will be making sure that the person who takes on Rodney has the proper facilities such as a safe enclosure and the finances to home a rodent like Rodney. There is a problem with people taking on exotic wildlife and not having the proper facilities to do so. People then let them loose or they escape and this affects the native wildlife. So we would ask people not to take on exotic wildlife unless they have the means to do so. We have had a few emails already offering to take Rodney, we will be looking at each of these and any others which we receive to ensure that Rodney goes to the correct home.”
