# Do any rodents eat meat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750 "2007-06-12T18:48:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/1 "2007-06-12T18:48:57Z")
Well, I know some people actually thought ferrets are rodents. Which seems odd to me, because ferrets hunt rabbits and stuff. AAre there any rodents that actually do eat meat? ---
**Author:** ![gaucho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@gaucho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaucho)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/2 "2007-06-12T18:49:39Z")
Rats. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/3 "2007-06-12T18:54:56Z")
Yes. There are a number of rodents that are largely insectivorous/carnivorous. One example is the [Grasshopper Mouse,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasshopper_mouse) which sometimes even eats other mice. ---
**Author:** ![Mouse\_Maven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@Mouse\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mouse_Maven)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/4 "2007-06-12T18:55:20Z")
Rats, mice, gerbils and hamsters all engage in cannibalism on occasion. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/5 "2007-06-12T18:59:39Z")
It also might be mentioned that there are a number of species of aquatic rats that feed mainly on fish, crabs, and other stream life. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/6 "2007-06-12T19:02:48Z")
[QUOTE=Mouse\_Maven] Rats, mice, gerbils and hamsters all engage in cannibalism on occasion. [/QUOTE] I saw a group of white feeder mice drag half of a mouse corpse into the cute little house to eat it at a pet store. ---
**Author:** ![Mouse\_Maven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@Mouse\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mouse_Maven)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/7 "2007-06-12T19:06:58Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] I saw a group of white feeder mice drag half of a mouse corpse into the cute little house to eat it at a pet store. [/QUOTE] Nothing makes my day like seeing a content mother mouse, chewing on her offspring. šŸ˜ƒ Moles are rodents. I think they eat earth worms. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/8 "2007-06-12T19:09:17Z")
Moles arenā€™t rodents, they are insectivores. Different lineage. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/9 "2007-06-12T19:13:31Z")
[QUOTE=Mouse\_Maven] Moles are rodents. I think they eat earth worms. [/QUOTE] Not rodents, but they do eat other animals. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/10 "2007-06-12T19:15:28Z")
Shrews look a bit like mice, but like moles are Insectivores. They are highly predaceous, and will kill animals larger than they are themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/11 "2007-06-12T19:26:55Z")
What technically qualifies as a rodent? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/12 "2007-06-12T19:36:41Z")
Lisa buys a hamster for a school science project: Lisa: I want the most intelligent hamster youā€™ve got. Clerk: OK. [reaches into a box of hamsters under the counter and randomly selects one] Uh, this little guy writes mysteries under the name of J. D. McGregor. Lisa: How can a hamster write mysteries? Clerk: Well, he gets the ending first, and works backward. Lisa: Aw, Cā€™mon. Clerk: Look, kid, just take him before his mother eats him, all right? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/13 "2007-06-12T19:43:50Z")
[QUOTE=Strinka] What technically qualifies as a rodent? [/QUOTE] Any member of the [Order Rodentia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodentia). They have two gnawing incisors in the upper and lower jaws that grow continuously so they never wear out. It is the largest order of mammals, with over 2,000 species. Rabbits are related, but belong to a different order. They have four incisors in the upper and lower jaws. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/14 "2007-06-12T19:49:23Z")
Well, ā€œRodentā€ just means a certain group of animals that share a common lineage. And it includes everything from beavers to capybaras to mice to hamsters to porcupines to squirrels to gophers. Note that rabbits are usually separated from rodents, even though they are fairly similar. Now, all these animals share certain features, but thatā€™s because their common ancestor had those features, and all the descendent species still have them. > **[Rodent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodent)** > > Rodents (from Latin rodere, 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (/roŹŠĖˆdɛnŹƒÉ™/), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are native to all major land masses except for New Zealand, Antarctica, and several oceanic islands, though they have subsequently been introduced to most of these land masses by human activity. > Rodents are extremely diverse in their ecology an... ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/15 "2007-06-12T19:50:55Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] Any member of the [Order Rodentia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodentia). They have two gnawing incisors in the upper and lower jaws that grow continuously so they never wear out. It is the largest order of mammals, with over 2,000 species. [/QUOTE] Yeah, between the rodents and the bats, that covers about 60% of all mammalian species. And they breed like rabā€¦ rodents! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/16 "2007-06-12T19:55:41Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] Shrews look a bit like mice, but like moles are Insectivores. They are highly predaceous, and will kill animals larger than they are themselves. [/QUOTE] Likeā€¦ bison? ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/17 "2007-06-12T20:07:54Z")
Appearantly mice like snails. Several years ago I had a couple of mice living in my storage shed, and when I went to clean it out, I found dozens of empty/broken snail shells. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/18 "2007-06-12T20:30:41Z")
[QUOTE=BluePitbull] Well, I know some people actually thought ferrets are rodents. Which seems odd to me, because ferrets hunt rabbits and stuff. AAre there any rodents that actually do eat meat? [/QUOTE] Just for the record (not that I donā€™t think you know, **BluePit** ), ferrets are not rodents; theyā€™re mustelids, related to weasels, skunks, otters and wolverines. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/19 "2007-06-12T20:35:02Z")
ā€œThe rat, although a rodent, is carnivorousā€. ā€“ Oā€™Brien to Winston Smith, while threatening to turn rats loose on his face, _Nineteen Eighty-Four_. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/20 "2007-06-12T21:29:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Likeā€¦ bison? Nah, bison arenā€™t predaceous at all, and even if they were, where would they find something larger to kill? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750.md?page=2)