It's not often one can spot a tree mouse, but today everyone at Maho got a glimpse:
Depending on your viewpoint, the tree mouse or tree rat can be feared and despised or admired and respected for their resourcefulness and adaptability. They feed on quite a large variety of foods, including plant material & bird and reptile eggs. There is only one mammal on St. John that is native, and this little guy is not it; they were probably introduced to the islands via ships importing & exporting.
Mongoose were imported to the islands in an attempt to protect sugarcane crops from these foraging little guys, but unfortunately it was a poor idea: tree rats are nocturnal and mongoose feed by day. Add to that the fact that mongoose can't climb trees and you can almost picture all those tree rats laughing upon the arrival of the mongoose.
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