Common Names: Woodrat
Habitat:
Description:
Comments: From DesertUSA.com
"Wood rats are commonly called Pack Rats or Trade Rats because they collect various objects and bits of material to deposit in, or use in the construction of, their nests. They are especially fond of small, bright, shiny objects which they will readily confiscate.

It is a popular superstition that the Woodrat is a fair businessman, who when he expropriates something, always leaves a replacement that is of equal value. In fact, while carrying one trophy, the rat may see another that is more attractive, and so puts down the first to pick up the second, since it can carry only one item at a time.

Wood rats are pale buff, gray or reddish brown, usually with white undersides and feet. They have relatively large ears and, normally, hairy tails. They range in length from 8 to 20 inches, including their 3- to 9-inch tail.

Behavior
Woodrats live in nests built of plant material like branches, twigs, sticks and other debris. The huge, beaver-dam-shaped structures may be up to 4 feet across. They are usually constructed in a tree or on the ground at the base of a tree or rocky ledge. Woodrats can become quite a nuisance, getting into everything from attics to car engines, stealing their treasures, damaging electrical wiring and wreaking general, noisy havoc.

In the deserts, nests are often constructed in or around cactus The nest provides both shelter from extremes of desert temperatures and protection from predators by using cactus pads and cactus spines in the construction. Such construction methods helps keep the nest much cooler than the surrounding desert floor in summer, while helping retain the animals' body heat in winter.

The nests of desert-dwelling Woodrats, often built in and of cholla and beavertail cactus, are usually impregnable to predators, except for the Badger. The Woodrat is most vulnerable when out foraging for food, at which times a Coyote, fox, snake or owl may prey upon it.

Primarily nocturnal and vegetarian, desert Woodrats survive on a diet of spiny cactus, yucca pods, bark, berries, pinyon nuts, seeds and any available green vegetation. They rely on succulent plants for their water, since they do not have the refined metabolic and water conservation capabilities of Pocket Mice and Kangaroo Rats. They are one of the few animals that can navigate with impunity between cactus spines to feed on the juicy pads."

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