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Welcome to the Rodentia Family Reunion. I am so glad that you guys made it here today.
My name is Prickles the porcupine and this is Bernice the beaver. Wait, you guys don’t look anything like us?
Well,that is because they are humans and we are rodents. We have many things in common like our incisors.
What are incisors? Incisors are large paired upper and lower sharp teeth. They are rootless and continuously grow.
We have to keep gnawing on things like this antler or tree to keep our teeth filed down. That’s why I chew on trees all the time. I know humans don’t like it but if I didn’t I would look like Uncle Chucky.
( People laugh) Besides all of us have fur. Yeah I have special hair! Yeah I have special hair! Yeah I have special hair! (people laugh)
Everybody duck and take cover! (People laugh) Prickles, what is that sound? (People laugh)
That is my teeth chattering and my quills rattling. When I get excited or need to defend myself my quills stand up and they rattle. why are you hiding behind that table?
Because you can shoot your quills. You silly, I can’t shoot my quills. Animal has to come in contact with me in order for them to get quilled.
My quills are modified hair that grows into hollow tubes with hundreds of microscopic sharp barbs at the ends. I have 20,000-30,000 quills covering my body from my head to the tip tail but not on my soft belly.
I shed in the Fall to grow new quills and thicker fur to keep me warm in the winter. Bernice, how do you stay warm in the winter in the water?
I have two layers of fur. My dense underfur acts as insulation and keeps the skin dry with the help of castor oil.
Oh! Oil in the waterways? That doesn’t sound so environmentally friendly in our waterways.
No silly, I make castor oil that using my split nail called a grooming claw, I spray it all over my body to make my fur waterproof.
I do it all the time to keep it waterproof. All this grooming is making me hungry, do you want to bob for apples. No you go ahead and do it in waterways, Let me show you how it’s done.
To encourage Bernice, we are goint to chant her name 3 times. On the count of 3, are you ready? 1,2,3. Bernice! Bernice! Bernice!
(People shout uh!uh!uh!) How did you do that? Bernice, how did you do that? Did you say something? How did you do that?
I have special flaps on my ears and nose so I can dive deeper and stay underwater longer. That sounds pretty cool. Hey family, are you guys getting hungry too? Let’s see what is on the food table.
We got walnuts, corn, mushrooms, slugs, snakes…the Chipmunk likes to eat. This is little different. This one has
maple seeds, grapes, moths, and a big acorn (people laugh). I think this belongs to the squirrel. He is a real health nut.
This heavy platter has cottonwood, birch, willow, grapevines…and what is that smell. It smells like scat. Scat is the scientific word for poop. Family, who eats poop?
People laugh. I do. I eat my poop because I get more nutrient from it the second time around. It’s not like I’m the only one. My cousine Viny the vole does
Uh! He eats scat too? And he also eats leaves, bulbs, tubers(potato). Add some scat to that and you have a well-balanced diet.
What is next? Caterpillars, corn, big spiders, dead mice. Who eats mice? The Mouse family eats that. Gross. They eat their own family, Well I guess it beats a protein shake in the morning.
Look at this platter.These must be for our two hibernating family members: It is filled to the brim! leaver, flowers, grasses, peas, beans, apples, alfalfa, grasshoppers, ants . This must be for Woodchuck and 13-lined ground squirrel.
Who is missing? The rat pack. I forgot that they are performing with The Beatles tonight so they can’t make it.
Hey, where’s Perry? Perry the platypus is not a rodent, he is not invited. neither do bunnies they are not rodents. They are not invited..
Well, I am getting hungry and Bernice and I to sit for dinner. I eat pine trees, birch, raspberry bushes, Hey where did you get that?
Hey this is good. This is where we get our minerals. Do you guys want some?... Oh good! I am going to keep this so I can stay healthy.
You can continue on and get yourself a tasty treat at the end of your journey. Bernice and I would like to thank you for coming to the Rodentia Family Reunion. People clap.