If you are going to quote something, please quote the entire quote or it can be construed as misleading.Originally Posted by twh
Here is the full quote:
"Distribution
Widespread and locally very common throughout Africa south of the Sahara, excluding West Africa. It is believed the species was once confined to southern Africa but spread northwards as a human commensal. In some other areas it is declining because of competition with the larger, more aggressive Black or Ship Rat Rattus rattus, which was inadvertently introduced into Africa by the early explorers. Its apparent absence from West Africa is perplexing. Most probably the prevailing habitat of dense rain forest is not to its liking, although the forest is now very fragmented and only in parts of Central Africa is it still continuous. Or maybe it could not compete with the indigenous fauna already found there. But possibly its absence from this area is misleading. Few field studies have been conducted on the smaller mammals of West Africa and it is conceivable that further research might ultimately show that the species does have a toehold there. "
Courtesy of this web site: http://www.jirds.cwc.net/rag/profiles/nmmr.htm
Yes, I do believe they are a natural food item of BP's. I have a coworker who is from Ghana who still goes back every year or two as he strugles to get his full US citizinship. He is familiar with the species (should have seen his face when I showed him the pictures!!!). He can't believe that I keep them in my garage. He says they are "the devils children." Ironicly, this same guy did not know that most of us get our ball pythons from Ghana. He thought they only exported gold!
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