Here's an uncropped version of the same photo:
Can you tell what it is yet?
That's my hand in the background. I'm holding two large seeds that have been chewed on by a rat! You can see the teeth marks on the seeds.
After seeds fall to the ground from the trees, rodents often carry them away. Sometimes they eat them right away, but often they hide them somewhere else to eat later. Many of the seeds will probably get eaten, but the ones that are forgotten can then sprout into seedlings.
Have you seen squirrels hiding acorns in the fall? They're doing the same thing as the rodents here in Tanzania.
Hi Ms. Carrie!
ReplyDeleteAre the seeds difficult for them to eat? Do they have teeth marks on them because they were carried or because the rats were trying to eat them but couldn't? Love the picture! Can't wait for the next mystery photo!
-Ms. Kruger
Hello Ms. Kruger! The seeds of this species aren't especially hard, but I think they probably don't taste very good because I don't see seeds of this species eaten like this very often. For these seeds, the rat might have just chewed off the outer part without actually eating it, maybe intending to eat the remaining seed (pictured) later. It's difficult to know for sure what happened!
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