Rhizomys pruinosus

Silver-star bamboo rat belongs to the subfamily Rhizomyinae. In terms of classification, there is no dispute about the species-level classification unit, but the subspecies are more confusing. There are 3 subspecies in China, and whether they are established needs further research. They live underground for life and mainly eat bamboo roots and bamboo shoots. When the population density in a local area is very high, it can cause the death of bamboo forests in large areas. This species is large, delicious, and easy to raise.

Silver-star bamboo rat is a nocturnal animal. Except for the clear sky after rain or at night, it mainly lives underground. It hides in caves to rest during the day, moves less and sleeps more. It only comes out at dusk or at night to move around and look for food. There are two peaks of activity for the silver star bamboo rat every day, one is a few hours after dusk, and the other is a few hours before dawn. During the day, bamboo rats rarely come out. They like a dark, cool, quiet, clean and dry living environment. They are afraid of wind and strong light, and cannot tolerate high heat. The suitable temperature range is 12-30℃ and the relative humidity is 50-60%.

The silver star bamboo rat is a herbivorous species with a wide range of food. It mainly feeds on bamboo, grass roots, grass stalks, sugarcane, corn and other plants. In particular, bamboo roots, thatch roots, bamboo stems and plant roots, tubers, and seeds are the favorites. When classifying the food stored in the food storage points in the bamboo rat caves observed, nuts and plant seeds accounted for about 67% of the total, and plant roots and tubers accounted for about 20%. No tender leaves and young stems of plants with high water content were observed, indicating that bamboo rats have certain choices in eating and storing food.

Silver-star bamboo rats live in caves. The caves are divided into summer and winter. They are composed of five parts: the cave entrance, the mound outside the cave entrance, the cave passage (corridor, feeding passage, shelter), the nest, and the toilet. Usually, caves are built under bamboo forests or large areas of reed grass. The caves are relatively simple in shape with 1-3 openings, 9-15 cm in diameter, and often with large mounds of earth outside the caves. The cave passage is about 4-11 meters long and 10-15 cm in diameter. The passages are mostly parallel to the ground, and are about 30-40 meters above the ground on average. The nest chamber is located at the branch of the cave passage, with a size of 15×15×15-50×50×16 cubic centimeters, which are paved with bamboo branches, bamboo leaves, reed branches, etc., weighing a total of 1500-7500 grams, and some feces. Silver-star bamboo rats have the habit of dragging, cutting bamboo or reed stalks in the cave and tearing them into thin strips as nest mats. The length of the bamboo and reed sections is almost equal to the length of the head and body of the bamboo rat. In other words, as long as you know how long the bamboo and reed sections are, you can judge how big the bamboo rat is.

Silver-star bamboo rats can reproduce in all seasons, but there are more pregnant female rats between November and December and March and July, with the peak in spring. The gestation period is at least 22 days. Each litter has 1-5 pups. Generally, there are 2-3 pups. Newborn pups weigh 35-40 grams, are naked and hairless, and have closed eyes. After 5 days, body hair can be seen, and the ear shells gradually straighten after 7 days; the body hair color is similar to the adult hair color at 20 days, and the eyes open at 24-30 days. After 1 month, they can eat hard food. They are weaned at 56-78 days and can start to move around alone without the mother. The life span is about 4 years.

Silver-star bamboo rat is on the list of major fur animals in China. Its fur is long and thick, with good board quality and moderate thickness, easy to tan, and the hair base is gray, easy to dye, so it is very popular in the international fur market. The adult Chinese bamboo rat is about 30-40 cm long, with soft fur, abundant fur, glossy color, and good board quality. It is a high-quality raw material for making fur coats, leather collars, and hats. In particular, the board skin is a good raw material for making high-quality leather and shoes. The body shape and size of the silver-star bamboo rat are similar to those of the Chinese bamboo rat, but the fur is rougher, and there are white-tipped needle hairs on the back of the body that are exposed like silver stars and have a glitter. The use of its fur is the same as that of the Chinese bamboo rat.

At the same time, bamboo rat whiskers can be used to make high-end brushes. This type of brush is a traditional Chinese export product and has always been popular in the Japanese market.

Bamboo rats have clean eating habits, large bodies and lots of meat. The meat is delicate and lean, fresh and delicious. It is a meat food with high nutritional value, low fat and low cholesterol. "Compendium of Materia Medica" states: "Bamboo rat meat is sweet, flat and non-toxic. It replenishes the middle qi and detoxifies." According to a test report, bamboo rat meat contains 57.78% crude protein, 20.54% crude fat, 17.36% crude ash, 0.84% crude fiber, and 0.05% cholesterol. It is also rich in phosphorus, iron, calcium, vitamin E, amino acids, and steroids. The content of lysine, leucine, and methionine is richer than that of ordinary poultry and livestock meat. According to modern medicine, bamboo rat meat has the effects of promoting the growth of human white blood cells and hair, enhancing liver function, and preventing vascular sclerosis. It has a good effect on maintaining youth and anti-aging, and is a natural beauty and body-building product. It is also said that bamboo rat meat is rich in collagen. Ingesting collagen from bamboo rat meat can improve the physiological functions of various organs of the body, promote human metabolism, reduce the decline of cell plasticity, enhance skin elasticity, and prevent skin dryness, atrophy, and wrinkles.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, the blood, gallbladder, liver, heart, brain, testicles, kidneys, teeth and bones of bamboo rats can all be used as medicine. Blood serum soaked in wine has special effects on the treatment of bronchial asthma and diabetes; gallbladder can improve eyesight, refresh the mind and strengthen the brain, and can treat eye diseases and deafness; kidneys can treat scabies and beriberi; liver, heart and brain can treat panic, palpitations, insomnia and other symptoms; testicles fried dry with a little borneol, swallowed with boiled water can treat high fever, vomiting and rheumatism; bamboo rat teeth ground into water to treat mosquito bites, swelling and pain; bamboo rat bones are used as the main medicine to soak in wine, which can treat rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis and joint pain.

Bamboo rats have abundant fat under their skin and in their body cavities, accounting for 15%-18% of their total body weight, which can be used to refine "bamboo rat oil". All species of the genus Bamboo Rat can be harvested and processed in all seasons, but late autumn and early winter are the best. After being killed, the fat is extracted and refined over a slow fire. Bamboo rat oil has the effects of detoxification, pus discharge, tissue regeneration and pain relief. It is mainly used for external treatment of burns, scalds and unidentified swellings, and can prevent mosquito bites and be used as a raw material for high-end cosmetics.

Note that bamboo rats are "three protected animals" under state protection. It is illegal to capture and trade wild bamboo rats in the wild. Wild bamboo rats may contain viruses and their sources cannot be explained. Wild bamboo rats that have not been strictly domesticated and raised according to standard procedures and have not been strictly quarantined cannot be eaten.

In China, it is distributed in Guizhou, Guangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan, and southern Sichuan south of the Yangtze River. Abroad, it is distributed in India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia.

Silver-star bamboo rats mainly live in bamboo forests or mixed forests composed of bamboo and other plants below 1,000 meters above sea level, and in valleys with Miscanthus. Sometimes they also live in Masson pine forests and grass slopes, where bamboo or Miscanthus grows and there is a water source nearby. The main habitat is usually very dense, which can provide good material conditions for bamboo rats to live and concealment conditions to escape natural enemies.

The body is stout, with thick and smooth fur. The individual is large, 1500-2500g. The average body length is about 260mm. The fur on the back is dark brown, with many long white guard hairs. The whole color is close to silver gray. The tail is bare and hairless. The ears are small, slightly protruding from the fur, and the auricle can be seen. The eyes are small, the front feet are strong, and have strong digging ability. The skull is thick, the muzzle is wide, and the zygomatic arch is thick.