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The behaviour of rats and mice feeding on whole grains

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

Mary M. Spencer
Mary M. Spencer
Affiliation:
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Infestation Control Division, Tolworth, Surrey
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The way in which rats and mice eat whole grains of wheat, barley, oats and maize has been studied.

Rats (Rattus norvegicus and R. rattus) hold grains with the long axis parallel to that of the body and eat the germ end of the grain in preference to the rest.

Mice (Mus musculus) hold grains with the long axis at right angles to that of the body and attack first the cheeks of all grains except maize, of which only the germ and scutellum are eaten.

It is suggested that texture is in the main responsible for the selection of a particular part of a grain.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 51 , Issue 1 , March 1953 , pp. 35 - 38
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1953

References

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