Meet the Moonrat

[mkenuk]

Hi, everybody. I'm a moonrat. You've probably never seen me before because I only live in Asia, and even people who live in Asia don't see me very often, because I'm nocturnal - I hide during the day and come out at night.
Despite my name, I'm not a rat; in fact I'm closer to a hedgehog.
Fortunately, unlike many of the other animals in Asia, I'm not on the 'endangered' list - probably because none of my parts gets used in Chinese quack medicines, and nobody wants me as a pet. To be honest, I smell a bit - think of wet babies' nappies and you'll get an idea of my defence mechanism.

Well, nice talking to you. Oh, the main reason for calling - I thought my name - moonrat might have been one of the words you were looking for in the astronomy game, but apparently not. Maybe next time.

[Les303]

What a delightfully clever way to make a word suggestion.

[mkenuk]

It's 'inspired by' a homework exercise I used to give to young learners of English when I was still teaching.
I would give each student a picture of an animal, and they would have to find, using their own resources - books, Wikipedia etc -,  the answers to a few questions:
'What's your name?' / 'Where do you live?' / 'What do you eat?' etc.
They would then have to write a paragraph using the information they had found, and be prepared to read it to the class.

I thought it might be fun to make my moonrat suggestion in this way.

[Calilasseia]

Meanwhile, I've been pointed at something very strange from the world of invertebrate zoology. Take a look at this beast. A sea slug that's shaped like a fish, swims like a fish, and glows in the dark. Don't think the Generic name is going to feature in the Chi word list any time soon though ...

EDIT: oh look, someone's now pointed me at Sea Bunnies. yes, these are real.

[Les303]

Amazing pics... of course a slug is just a homeless snail.

[birdy]

This site is wonderful - it not only teaches me new words but introduces me to new critters. (I knew the term sea slug and nudibranch but hadn't known anything about the animals before),

[yelnats]

And here is the Headless chicken monster which has made the local news in the last couple of days, but it's a sea cucumber, not a slug.

[Alan W]

Okay, moonrat, you've made your case. Your name will be accepted as a rare word from now on.

The word is in a few of the online dictionaries. More information and pictures can be found at the Featured Creature website: Well, It's a Marvelous Night for a Moonrat - Except for the Stink!

[mkenuk]

Thanks, Alan.