Table 2.

Percentage occurrence of food items in the guts (G) and faeces (F) of Rattus rattus from Surprise Island in November 2004 and February 2005. Direct observations of predation (rat teeth marks and consumption by rats, DO) are noted by the symbol +. n represents sample size for gut and faecal contents corresponding to the number of rats examined

Rat food items	November 2004 (n = 16)			February 2005 (n = 6)
	G	F	DO	G	F	DO
Seabird feathers	56	38		0	0
Seabird eggs	0	0	+	0	0
Sea turtles	0	0		0	0	+
Skinks	13	0		0	0
Insects (I)	38	75		83	67
Insects (II)	50	100		67	50
Plants C3	100	100		50	67
Achyrantes aspera	13	44		0	0
Argusia argentea	13	25	+	33	33	+
Tridax procubens	13	31	+	0	17
Abutilon sp.	6	6		0	0
Hibiscus tiliacens	6	0		0	0
Pisonia grandis	75	94	+	50	50	+
Cocos nucifera	0	0	+	0	0	+
Colubrina asiatica	12	18		0	0
Microsorum scolopendrium	6	0		0	0
Plants C4/CAM	75	100		33	50
Portulaca sp.	6	50	+	17	17
Boerhavia repens	44	88	+	17	33	+
Tribulus cistoides	12	18	+	0	0
Lepturus repens	25	25		0	33
Stenatophrum micrathum	6	18		0	0