Jerboas as Pets: Feeding, Housing, and Personality

Jerboas are small rodents with a rather bizarre-looking appearance that are rarely kept as pets. They are distinctive in appearance and highly sought after because they are one of the few mammals that are bipedal, maneuvering with a hopping motion in a similar fashion to kangaroos, as well as sprinting like a road runner. Their particularly thin legs and tiny size make this mode of locomotion appear even stranger; therefore jerboas are fascinating to observe in captivity.

Unfortunately, they aren’t readily available due to two important factors: they are extremely hard to breed in captivity and there is a restriction on the importation of African rodents (in the United States).

To read more on this story, click here: Jerboas as Pets: Feeding, Housing, and Personality

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This Tiny Animal Looks Like A Mix Between A Mouse, A Rabbit, A Pig, And A Kangaroo And It’s Absolutely Adorable

Our Mother Nature is often quite weird and the little long-eared jerboa is the perfect example of that. I mean, just look at this tiny creature. This adorable animal has a mouse-like body, rabbit-like ears, a pig’s snout, and back legs that look like a miniature model of a kangaroo’s. Seriously, what kind of Pokemon is it? Never heard of it.

The long-eared jerboa is so mysterious, so weird, and so cute that people on the interwebs seem to be absolutely in love with this little creature.

The long-eared jerboa looks like a cross between a mouse, a rabbit, a pig, and a kangaroo

To read more on this story, click here: This Tiny Animal Looks Like A Mix Between A Mouse, A Rabbit, A Pig, And A Kangaroo And It’s Absolutely Adorable

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Rats Chewed Through About $18,000 Worth of Cash Inside An ATM

A local Indian bank got a series of complaints about one of its ATMs. The cause of its sudden malfunction is quite unsettling.

Just thinking about this story alone sends shivers down our spines. What you are about to read will definitely give you quite a shock.

In the Tinkusia district, located in the Eastern state of Assam, India, an ATM was starting to act a bit askew.

Countless people were soon left with empty pockets when the machine simply just wouldn't shoot out any more cash.

After a series of complaints from the bummed out ATM users, the bank's officials decided it was time to figure out exactly what was going on.

If you thought the ATM was robbed bone-dry, then guess again. Instead, it was a family of squeaky rats that had made their way inside the machine. The wily rats had proceeded to nibble through banknote after banknote, destroying a whopping amount of roughly 1.2 million rupees, nearly $18,000. The gobsmacked bank employees even found a rotting dead rat at the scene of the crime. You can see in the photos of what a few destructive rats can do over a short period of time.

To read more on this story, click here: Rats Chewed Through About $18,000 Worth of Cash Inside An ATM

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Man Captures Footage of a Massive Spider Carrying an Adult Mouse

Coppabella, Australia - An Australian man summoned to his neighbor's kitchen to "see something cool" captured footage of a massive spider carrying its next meal, an adult mouse.

Jason Womas of Coppabella, Queensland, posted a video to Facebook of the gigantic huntsman spider carrying the apparently dead mouse up the side of his neighbor's refrigerator.

"So I am just about to leave for work... and me neighbor says 'You want to see something cool' and I say 'Hell yeah.' So we proceed to his place and he shows me this. Huntsman trying to eat a mouse," Womas wrote.

He said in a follow-up post that he and his neighbor decided to let the spider go about its business unharmed and they gave it a name, Hermie.

"OK guys so just letting you all know that the spider is fine. We have named him Hermie, we have adopted him and he is now running his own extermination business out of our town Coppabella. Oh and he is now paying rent," Womas posted.

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15-Inch Monster Rat Burrowed Itself in a Family’s Home Behind Their Kitchen Sink

A Swedish family actually lived what is probably many people’s worst nightmare after they discovered that a 15-inch monster rat had chewed through the wood and cement into their home and burrowed itself behind their kitchen sink.

This “Viking rat” was discovered by the Bengtsson-Korsås family at their Solna home after their cat Enok refused to enter the kitchen. The family already had suspicions that there was a mouse in their home after hearing noises, so when they went to empty the trash bin, they were shocked to find that a monster rat had made itself a home.

“It was right there in our rubbish bin, a mighty monster. I was petrified. I couldn't believe such a big rat could exist,” said Signe Bengtsson-Korsås. “I couldn't help but do the old classic and jump on the kitchen table and scream.”

Signe’s husband Eric said he didn’t believe his wife at first, but when he finally came in contact with the rat himself, he was horrified by how large it was.

“It was quite a shocking experience,” said Eric Bengtsson-Korsås. “By the time I got home, the rat was so domesticated that it just sat under the kitchen table.”

The family quickly realized that the rat had actually came in through the basement, chewed through the wood and cement, and then made its way into the kitchen to chew through the pipes under the sink, ultimately causing a flood in the home.

Exterminators were called to kill the monster rat, and a day after putting three giant rat traps down, one of them went off. Shockingly, the rat wasn’t immediately killed. It ran around with the rat trap around its neck for some time before it eventually died.

"In the end we managed to find it dead, it had slowly strangled," said Eric. "Then we felt a bit sorry for it."

  

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Bomb-Sniffing Mice Are New Weapon Against Terror

Amazing bomb sniffing mice unveiled at Security Expo. These mice are capable of sniffing out a variety of explosive materials, narcotics and more. They may soon debut at airports across the globe.

When it comes to safety in the skies and the prevention of terrorist attacks, one company believes our best line of defense is a crack team of specially-trained rodents.

Yes, bomb-sniffing mice could well be the best way of tackling would-be plane bombers, according to security experts.

Forget sniffer dogs, pat-downs and X-Ray machines, these miniature creatures are said to be cheaper and much more accurate, according to New Scientist magazine.

Israeli researchers have designed a body-scanner style machine, but instead of taking an image of passengers, it conceals three teams of eight mice behind secret panels.

Air is passed over the passengers then pumped into the panels and if explosives are detected the mice run into another chamber, raising the alarm.

Rodents have a more acute sense of smell than dogs and don't rely on the same amount of treats and encouragement needed by their canine colleagues, making them less work for trainers.

In return for working two four-hour shifts a day, the rodents have comfortable cages and access to as much food and water as they want. And they can retire after 18 months.

The company behind the invention believes the mouse-powered machine could be the ultimate low-tech, low-cost answer to airport security.

And it would certainly solve the controversy surrounding full-body scanners which transmit 'naked' images to a member of the airport security team.

'Animals' noses are always a good solution, and the mice don't see you naked,' security expert Bruce Schneier told the New Scientist.

The first field test was run in a Tel Aviv shopping centre in December 2011 and the rodents picked out each of the 22 test 'bombers' who were carrying explosives.

The Israeli company hopes to find financial backing to expand the project, meaning a crack team of mice could soon be coming to an airport near you.


Bloomberg's Elliott Gotkine reports from Israel which is currently hosting a Homeland Security Conference. He speaks to Boaz Hayoun, chief executive officer of Tamar Explosives, who has developed an alternative to sniffer dogs.

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