Rice Rat Forests
This exhibit focuses on the animals found on the Caribbean island of Martinique. This would take place in a timeline where the Martinique Giant Rice Rat became critically endangered and believed extinct but rediscovered in isolated pockets of the island and hastily moved into a captive breeding environment, not unlike the Red Wolf or similar species.
This enclosure would be around 400 square feet in size, and consists of a simple mesh-covered forest paddock. It consists of two outdoor exhibits and three indoor shelters.
The outdoor paddocks consist of two forested, circular aviaries, each being around 200 square feet; the main paddock, which the rats have access to, is slightly larger at 220 square feet, while the bird paddock is 180 square feet. The substrate for the enclosures is predominantly soil, but there are patches of mulch and sand. These are all covered with twigs and leaf litter. Patches of grass are also present in some of the more open, sunny areas of the aviaries. I know little about native Caribbean flora, but suffice it to say some deciduous ground shrubbery and ferns dot the forest floor. The understory is made up of Caribbean crops; namely, mango, coconut, banana, plantain, coffee, and breadfruit trees. The mesh extends 30 feet above ground level to accommodate some of the taller trees. Logs also dot the forest floor, and there are some shallow pools and flat-topped rocks. Small, low to the ground wooden feeding racks for the rats, and flat-topped wooden feeding platforms for the birds are also present. The outdoor exhibits are separated by a large ditch the rats cannot jump across, and also my a series of low wooden posts. The birds can fly over these posts and the ditch easily to access the all-bird area, while the rats are confined to their larger paddock.
Indoor accommodations consist of four separate rooms. All have glass skylights permitting the growth of some hardy, resistant, and/or fast-growing plant species. The substrate is predominantly mulch with patches of soil. Logs, branches, and dead trees are present in all of the rooms, with the bird rooms having perches and the rodent rooms having a system of thick ropes and hammocks the rodents may be able to climb and sleep in. Guests can see into one bird room and one rodent room through one-way glass windows.
Guests view the outdoor enclosure from a path that the exhibit partially extends into. Wooden benches are also located bordering this exhibit, though they face the opposite direction. A wooden handrail keeps guests separated from the mesh, and also has signs placed on it detailing the inhabitants of the exhibit, the threats they face (primarily deforestation), and the work the zoo has done in the conservation of the Martinique Giant Rice Rat.
The indoor shelters are viewed from a larger building, which has smaller reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, and small mammals. This building has further displays talking about the threats Caribbean animals face, and guests can view videos on the work the zoo has done in the Caribbean for various species.
This mix should work, as it seems the rice rat was predominantly herbivorous. These birds are also large or fast enough to not be seen as prey by the rats. That being said, eggs and young will be cared for off-exhibit, to prevent nest predation. That being said, if there were any problems, that bird species would be removed.
1.1 Martinique Giant Rice Rat (Megalomys desmarestii)
1.2 Scaly Naped Pigeon (Patagioenas squamosa)
2.2 Brown Trembler (Cinclocerthia ruficauda)
2.4 Carib Grackle (Quiscalus lugubris)
1.2 Tropical Mockingbird (Mimus gilvus)
Long in the making, but got sidetracked. Here it is. Ready for the next species, though it may be a while as I am working on World of the Andes for Design a Zoo.