Residents Of Agam West Sumatra Find Rare Rats, BKSD Observations

PHOTO VIA BETWEEN

AGAM - Rozi Rahmat (40), a resident of Simpang Ampek Tapi, Lubukbasung, Agam Regency, West Sumatra, found a rare type of moon mouse.

"I saw rare animals playing while looking for food in the front yard of the shop and I immediately caught them using fishing gear", he said in Lubukbasung, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, November 2.

The mice were immediately put into the cage. The animal became a spectacle for residents, considering that they had never seen the rat which at first glance resembled a pig and the fur on its upper body like a hedgehog.

"These animals are rare and unique because we searched for them through a Google search page, I and a friend on behalf of April Yunus (34), could not find them", he said.

Considering that it is one of the endangered species, he immediately contacted the Agam Natural Resources Conservation Resort (KSDA) officer.

The animal was immediately handed over to the Agam KSDA Resort officer to be released back into the wild.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Agam KSDA Resort, Ade Putra, said this month's rats are being observed and identified at the Agam KSDA Resort office.

From the results of the identification, the rat was a lunar type, male, large in size with a body length of up to a head reaching 32-40 centimeters, a tail length of 20-30 centimeters, and a weight of about two kilograms.

"We will release the moon mouse into the wild soon", he said.

His body fur is dominated by white or whitish gray fur with some black feathers that grow spread. Sometimes also have more black fur (tight) on the body.

In addition to its 'giant' body size and coat color, another characteristic of the moon rat is its sharp and distinctive body odor. It smells like the smell of high ammonia content.

The smell is used to warn other moon rats and keep them away from predators and it is also used to mark their territory.

The snout is long and often drooling. From this last feature, moon rats are often thought of as 'solenodon', primitive rats that lived in Europe and Cuba.