Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus) Predation on an Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus)

Paul R. Sievert^1,* and Todd K. Fuller¹

¹Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003. *Corresponding author.

Northeastern Naturalist, Volume 30, Issue 4 (2023): N54–N56

First published early online: 15 November 2023

Abstract
We report an observation of a Rattus norvegicus (Brown Rat) capturing and killing a Tamias striatus (Eastern Chipmunk) in rural western Massachusetts. This documentation of predation on an active animal suggests that the potential for predation by rats to affect some small-mammal populations may be underestimated.

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