Excerpt from British Mammals: Lagomorpha

Although sharply defined as regards structure, the order includes a great variety of types, displaying very different habits and existing under a great diversity of conditions. Some are burrowers, climbers, swimmers, or jumpers others are cursorial, sedentary, or, being provided with parachutes of skin, appear to be in a fair way to attack the problems of flight. With the exception of the actual oceans, there are few parts of the world's surface where rodents have not secured a foothold, and they exist in one form or another in almost all types of country being found from the eternal snows of the lofty mountain ranges to the swamps of the great rivers, and from the frozen lands of the north polar basin to the vast burning sand deserts.

By nature primarily herbivorous, they differ from the other great order of herbivorous mammals, the Ungulata, in the fact that they rarely attain to any considerable size. To this fact, together with their extreme fertility and their general readiness to adapt themselves to an omnivorous, to an insectivorous, or even a carnivorous diet, they probably owe the secret of their success as an order, but it should be noted that some species are absolutely restricted to vegetarianism.

All the British representatives give birth to several young at a time, and, usually, to more than one litter in a season, so that, under favourable conditions, their increase is rapid. Except in the case of the hares, all British rodents are born in an undeveloped and helpless state, and are at first well cared for in a warm nest, placed often in an underground tunnel con structed by the mother, and frequently lined with wool or hair plucked from her own belly. The cavies or guinea-pigs, only known in Britain in captivity as domesticated varieties, probably represent the extreme of mammalian precocity, since they will eat cabbage within half an hour of their birth. All grow with great rapidity, and breed as soon as, or before, they are full grown.

They may be gregarious, sociable, or solitary, and the majority seem to be polygamous. Some, like the Squirrel, are monogamous, but they may change their mate at the end of a season.

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