Burrow characteristics of lesser bandicoot rat (bandicota bengalensis) in the agro-ecosystem of pothwar plateau,Pakistan

The study reveals the burrow characteristics and food hoarding of the lesser bandicoot rat (bandicota bengalensis) in the agro-ecosystem of pothwar,pakistan. we excavated 8 burrows in sorghum and groundnut crops and 5 burrows in wheat crops at the time of crop maturity,and 9 burrows on crop field boundaries during the non-crop summer season. for each burrow system we measured: the number and diameter of burrow openings,length,diameter and depth of burrow tunnels,number of chambers and amount of hoarded materials. burrows in wheat crops were significantly shorter and the burrows on crop field boundaries were significantly shallower than those excavated in other habitats. averaged over all 30 burrow systems,burrows had 2.1 number of openings with diameter of 8.3 cm. burrow tunnels averaged 8.9 m long,3.9 cm diameter wide and were 11.5 cm below ground surface. each burrow system had 1.8 chambers. hoarded material was recorded in 28 (93.3%) burrows,with a dry weight of hoarded food of 14.7 g per burrow. the shallow nature of the burrows suggests control of the bandicoot rat in pothwar croplands could be improved by deep ploughing immediately after harvest of crops to destroy the burrow systems and expose the rats to raptors and predators.