# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hubert\_Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hubert\_Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hubert_Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/21 "2007-06-12T21:30:45Z")
Squirrels love to eat birds eggs, as well as the occasional bird they’re able to catch (one would probably have to be injured) and mice. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/22 "2007-06-12T21:33:09Z")
[QUOTE=Mouse\_Maven] Rats, mice, gerbils and hamsters all engage in cannibalism on occasion. [/QUOTE] Yep. We had a pair of pet gerbils as kids, which lived happily together for a couple of years, and then one turned on the other. The wounds on the dead one were certainly more than was necessary to kill it. ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/23 "2007-06-12T23:14:39Z")
[QUOTE=Hubert Cumberdale] Squirrels love to eat birds eggs, as well as the occasional bird they’re able to catch (one would probably have to be injured) and mice. [/QUOTE] I’ve heard about squirrels cracking and eating hatchling turtles like nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/24 "2007-06-12T23:35:42Z")
[QUOTE=Pazu] I’ve heard about squirrels cracking and eating hatchling turtles like nuts. [/QUOTE] And someone here recently mentioned seeing a squirrel eating another squirrel. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/25 "2007-06-13T00:11:46Z")
It’s recently been discovered that house mice prey on albatrosses. I am not making this up. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/26 "2007-06-13T00:35:15Z")
I just hope [this rabbit](http://www.neatorama.com/images/2007-01/giant-rabbit.jpg) never gets any funny ideas about how flesh might be tasty. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/27 "2007-06-13T00:42:46Z")
[QUOTE=Pazu] I’ve heard about squirrels cracking and eating hatchling turtles like nuts. [/QUOTE] And what do they drink with those turtles? Fermented frog urine? ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/28 "2007-06-13T01:27:47Z")
[QUOTE=psychonaut] It’s recently been discovered that house mice prey on albatrosses. … [/QUOTE] And what flavour are they? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/29 "2007-06-13T01:52:49Z")
But seriously… According to Wikipedia, [muskrats](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskrat) are omnivores, including mussels, crawfish, frogs and small turtles in their diets. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/30 "2007-06-13T02:53:05Z")
[QUOTE=Celyn] And what flavour are they? [/QUOTE] [Monty Python]Allllllbatross![/Monty Python] ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/31 "2007-06-13T02:58:56Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] I just hope [this rabbit](http://www.neatorama.com/images/2007-01/giant-rabbit.jpg) never gets any funny ideas about how flesh might be tasty. [/QUOTE] According to this [documentary](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069005/) it has happened before. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/32 "2007-06-13T03:09:39Z")
> [@](#): > > And someone here recently mentioned seeing a squirrel eating another squirrel. It was definitely one of the freakiest things I’ve ever seen. I half expected zombie squirrels to take over the yard. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/33 "2007-06-13T03:10:53Z")
> [@](#): > > I just hope this rabbit never gets any funny ideas about how flesh might be tasty. For that we would need the Holy Hand Grenade. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/34 "2007-06-13T04:00:00Z")
[QUOTE=Celyn] And what flavour are they? [/QUOTE] Python quoting aside, they must taste pretty good if mice are willing to abandon æons of genetically programmed herbivory. Lest anyone think I was joking about this, here’s [a report and video](http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050718/full/050718-2.html) (warning: not for the easily sickened) on the news. Googling for “mice albatross” yields several more articles. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/35 "2007-06-13T12:34:34Z")
_“And, oddly, the attacks only take place on some of the island’s peaks, despite the fact that the mice live everywhere on the island.”_ Listen, carnivorous mice preying from mountain tops is no basis for a system of evolution… or maybe it is. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/36 "2007-06-13T13:23:01Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] I just hope [this rabbit](http://www.neatorama.com/images/2007-01/giant-rabbit.jpg) never gets any funny ideas about how flesh might be tasty. [/QUOTE] If so, he can start with the hand that feeds him – it’s larger than the human’s head! (Looks like photo distortion to exaggerate the size of the rabbit). Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750/37 "2007-06-13T13:45:46Z")
[QUOTE=Sailboat] Looks like photo distortion to exaggerate the size of the rabbit. [/QUOTE] [Let’s go to the video.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVswPKP-uso) That is one big-assed rabbit, any way you look at it. Apparently, its a big breed, of which I was (until recently) unaware. [More](http://www.synthstuff.com/mt/archives/giant-rabbit.jpg) [still](http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41309000/jpg/_41309696_robert_203.jpg) [images](http://www.neatorama.com/images/2005/giant-rabbit.jpg). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-rodents-eat-meat/407750.md?page=1)