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Desert wood rat - NEOTOMA LEPIDA
Possibly Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Rat": "Rat" comes from the Old English word
"raet," for the animal.
Location: Southwestern United States.
Habitat: Terrrestrial. Desert plains or rocky slopes with cactus and scrub.
Description: The soft dense coat is pale to dark gray with tawny shading intermixed. The tail is covered with hair and the ears are large. The wood rat grows about fourteen inches long, half of which is tail, and it weighs up to six ounces.
Behavior: These wood rats are nocturnal and are rarely seen in daylight. They feed on seeds, acorns, and cactus. The nest, which is made with a wide variety of materials, may be built on open ground or in crevices among rocks. Wood rats are not colonial, but they may live fairly closely together, because they are not highly territorial. The desert wood rat gathers all sorts of things in its nest, and they are sometimes called pack rats because of this collecting habit.
Reproduction: The female has 4 nipples, and it can have up to four litters a year, each consisting of one to five young after 30 days of gestation. The young reach sexual maturity at the age of two months.
Go to the Rodents Page to learn more about all the gnawing animals.
Or go to the Rat Index to study other
rats.
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