General Information

Photos by Chris Wemmer

The dusky-footed woodrat is a medium-sized rat-like form with black protruding eyes, soft and smooth pelage, and a long tail (Carraway and Verts, 1991). According to Linsdale and Tevis (1951), there is no significant different in the lengths or weight between males and females. Average length of an individual is 48 cm and average mass is 267 g (NatureServe, 2008). N. macrotis live for 2-3 years (Wallen 1982). The species is nocturnal and spends the majority, but not necessarily all, of the daylight hours resting within its house (English, 1923). Woodrats are most active 2-3 hours after dark (Wallen, 1982). As illustrated in the phograph above, N. macrotis exhibits reddish-orange eye-shine when its eyes are hit with direct light at night (Vestal, 1938). There are eleven recognized subspecies of N. macrotis (Matocq, 2002).

Distribution of the dusky-footed woodrat, Neotoma macrotis from Matocq (2002) (modified from Hall, 1981).Stippled, grey-filled and striped areas show the distribution of three morphologically distinct subspecies groups of N. fuscipes (Hooper 1938): stippled = group A; greyfilled = group B; and striped = group C. Large numbers and thin outlines indicate subspecies ranges: 1. monochroura, 2. fuscipes, 3. streatori, 4. annectens, 5. perplexa, 6. riparia, 7. luciana, 8. bullatior, 9. simplex, 10. macrotis, 11. martirensis. SFB = San Francisco Bay, MB = Monterey Bay, CV = Central Valley, SN = Sierra Nevada.

Distribution

Dusky-footed woodrats are found in a narrow band from the Columbia River south through the interior valley of Oregon (Hall, 1981; Lee and Tietje, 2005).  Their range extends through the Pacific Coast of California and through the interior valleys of California (Hall, 1981; Lee and Tietje, 2005).  The dusky-footed woodrat is also found in northern Baja California, Mexico (Hall, 1981; Lee and Tietje, 2005).  N. macrotis lives from near sea-level up to nearly 9,000 feet (Linsdale and Tevis, 1951). The above distribution map shows the approximate distribution for all eleven subspecies of N. macrotis.

Habitat

Habitat for N. macrotis is usually not saturated. There are unaccupied houses within any site (Matocq, 2004; Wallen, 1982). Woodrats live in a variety of habitats, both arboreal and terrestrial (English, 1923).  Habitats include chapparal, hardwood, conifer, and mixed forests, and riparian woodlands (NatureServe, 2008). In most instances, nests are constructed in inaccessible areas, such as thorny thickets, poison oak patches, or nettles (English, 1923).

Foraging and Diet

Woodrats are herbivores and eat grasses, leaves, fresh fruits,small bulbs, bark, and flowers (English, 1923).  Woodrats also store dry foods like hazel nuts and acorns (English, 1923).  Woodrats are very picky about what food they eat, but will model its diet after other members of its species (English, 1923). Mammals are typically classified as generalists or specialists based on there ability to metabolize specific plant toxins on a species level.  However, for the dusky-footed woodrat, it may be possible that populations specialize based upon the most abundant food source.  In the laboratory, researchers found that woodrats from a predominantly juniper-based habitat prefered to eat juniper and woodrats from a predominantly cedar-based habitat prefered to eat cedar even when many different kinds of food were present (McEachern et al, 2006).

Predators, Commensals, and Parasites

Since N. macrotis is a medium-sized rodent, it is a popular prey item for a number of predatory species. Predators of N. macrotis include hawks, owls, bobcat, coyote, long-tailed wease and many others. In particular, N. macrotis is a popular meal for the endangered California spotted owl (Strix occidentalis occidentalis) (Lee and Tietje, 2005). The houses of N. macrotis provide shelter to a range of other species. These include, but are not limited to, various mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds and arthropods (Vestal, 1938). The presence of these commensals suggests that woodrats increase biodiversity. There are number parasites that use N. macrotis as a host including lice, fleas, and ticks.

This website was completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Biology 323, Animal Behavior, at Davidson College in the spring semester 2008

Please direct questions, comments, or suggestions regarding this site to Carolyn Kiss or Dr. Verna Case