Hello!

Finally after weeks of running GUD feeding trials for kangaroo rats I got to get up close and personal with these little guys! Another group of researchers is conducting genetic studies on kangaroo rats and the endangered giant kangaroo rat and they invited us out to lend a hand trapping and of course to hold any that they catch!

They look a lot like a hamster, have the tail of a rat, and hop like a kangaroo (hence the name!) After catching the kangaroo rat they were weighed, tagged and hair samples were taken for DNA analysis.

We didn’t have much luck trapping. We only caught one kangaroo rat (the one being held in the pictures) but that was still quite exciting!