White-throated woodrat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids White-throated woodrat |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Neotoma
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| Species: |
albigula
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| Subspecies | |
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Neotoma albigula varia |
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The white-throated woodrat (Neotoma albigula) is a type of rodent in the family Cricetidae. You can find it from central Mexico all the way north to Utah and Colorado in the United States. In the U.S., it mostly lives in the western parts, from central Texas west to southeastern California. Some woodrats living east of the Rio Grande in New Mexico and Texas were once thought to be white-throated woodrats. But since 1988, scientists have said they are actually a different species called the white-toothed woodrat (Neotoma leucodon).
These animals usually live in desert areas and woodlands. They can be found in pinyon-juniper woodlands in higher places. They also live in desert habitats at lower elevations.
Like other woodrats, the white-throated woodrat builds special homes called "middens." These middens are made from many things like sticks, parts of cactus, and other bits of stuff. Inside the midden, there's a cozy nest made of grass. This nest is kept very clean. In flat areas, their den is usually several feet wide. It's often built around the base of a bush for extra protection. In rocky areas, they use cracks in the rocks. They block the entrance with sticks and other materials to keep their nest safe.
Scientists have studied the genes of these woodrats. They think this species separated from other similar woodrats about 155,000 years ago. This was during a time called the Illinoian Stage of the Pleistocene Ice Age. The oldest known fossils of this rodent were found in Slaton, Texas. White-throated woodrats are common fossils in caves in the Southwestern U.S. More than 20 fossil sites from the Pleistocene age have been found in New Mexico alone.
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Where White-throated Woodrats Live
White-throated woodrats live across a wide area. Their homes stretch from southeastern Nevada and California. They are also found across southern Utah and all of Arizona. You can see them in southwestern Colorado, western Texas, and south into central Mexico.
There are many different types, or subspecies, of white-throated woodrats. These different types live in specific parts of this large area. For example, one type lives in northern New Mexico and Arizona. Another type is found in Utah and Colorado. Other types live in different regions of Mexico and the U.S. Southwest.
These woodrats generally live in desert grasslands and dry shrublands. They also like saguaro cactus areas and pinyon-juniper woodlands. You can find them in pine forests and evergreen woodlands too.
Preferred Habitat and Homes
White-throated woodrats live in many different plant communities. They can be found from sea level up to 9,200 feet (2,800 m) high. They are most common in the desert grasslands and shrub habitats of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts.
These woodrats often live near plants like creosotebush, mesquite, and different types of cacti. They also like catclaw acacia and paloverde. These plants are important because they offer two main things:
- Cover: Places to hide and stay safe.
- Food: Juicy plants that contain a lot of water.
White-throated woodrats prefer places with not too many tall trees. They like areas with lots of shrubs, rocks, and fallen wood. If there are natural or human-made areas with water, they might use those too.
Cover from Trees, Shrubs, and Rocks
Studies in Arizona show that white-throated woodrats like areas with low tree cover. They prefer lots of shrubs, rocks, and leaf litter on the ground. In places with ponderosa pine and Gambel oak trees, woodrats were found where there was less tree cover. They were more common where there was plenty of shrub and rock cover.
Woodrats also like rocky areas within forests. This includes ledges, cliffs, and canyons. In one forest, all woodrats were caught within 210 feet (64 m) of rocky spots. This shows how much they prefer rocky places for safety.
Water Sources
White-throated woodrats are good at living in dry places. But they will use natural or human-made areas with water if they can find them.
Natural Water Spots
At Montezuma Castle National Monument in Arizona, more woodrats lived near a river channel and floodplain. This area had less tree cover and more rocks than a nearby mesquite forest. The river area had desert willow, velvet ash, and Arizona sycamore. Even though more woodrats lived near the water, the male woodrats in the mesquite forest were heavier. This might mean the mesquite forest was a "better quality" home for them.
Human-Made Water Spots
People sometimes build water sources in dry areas. These can help white-throated woodrats find water and a place to live. For example, on a wildlife refuge in Arizona, woodrats were often found near human-made water sources. They were in thickets of velvet mesquite that grew close to the water. They were rarely found in areas far from water.
Woodrats also used a human-made desert area with water near the Colorado River. This area was planted with native trees like Fremont cottonwood and honey mesquite.
Fallen Wood for Shelter
White-throated woodrats like habitats with lots of fallen wood. This wood gives them good cover. In pinyon-juniper woodlands in Colorado, woodrats were often caught in areas with coarse woody debris. In a flooded river area in Arizona, woodrats were much more common where there was fallen wood.
In New Mexico, woodrat numbers increased in pinyon-juniper woodlands where trees were pushed over and left on the ground. These fallen trees gave the woodrats cover and materials to build their homes.
Building Their Homes
White-throated woodrats need shelter to stay warm or cool in extreme weather. They usually build two main types of homes:
- Houses: Built at the base of plants.
- Dens: Located in cracks in rocks.
They might also use holes in riverbanks, burrows made by other animals, piles of fallen wood, or even human buildings. These houses and dens are often used and fixed up by many generations of woodrats.
Houses are built at the bottom of trees, shrubs, cacti, or in piles of fallen wood. Woodrats like to build their houses near plants that offer both good shelter and food. Their houses are made of different materials. They are usually 3 to 10 feet (1–3 m) wide and up to 3 feet tall. Dens are like houses but are found in rock cracks or under piles of boulders.
Inside their houses and dens, there's a system of paths and rooms. This includes the woodrat's nest. The nest is about 8 inches (20 cm) wide. It's made of soft, fine materials like grass, shredded cactus fibers, or juniper bark.
What They Use to Build
White-throated woodrats use materials they find nearby to build their homes. In wooded areas, they use sticks and other debris. In deserts, they often use parts of cacti, catclaw acacia, mesquite, and yucca. They especially like to use cactus parts for building. They might even use things like animal droppings, bones, or human trash. One study found 75 different items used in 100 woodrat houses! Common materials included mesquite, catclaw acacia, paloverde, and creosotebush twigs. They also used cholla joints and fruits, and parts of prickly-pear cactus.
Woodrats gather building materials close to their homes. They often collect 30% of their materials within 33 feet (10 m) of their shelter. They keep changing and fixing their houses and dens throughout the year.
What they use depends on what's available. In pinyon-juniper woodlands, they use juniper leaves and berries. In desert scrub, they use mesquite leaves and pods, and Christmas cactus joints. They might prefer some plants for their strength and food value. Other plants are used just because they are easy to find. For example, mesquite sticks are often used because they are abundant, even if the woodrat doesn't eat much mesquite.
Where They Build Their Homes
Woodrats look for cover close to the ground when choosing a home site. In the northern parts of their range, they build houses at the base of trees. In the southern parts, they build at the base of shrubs or cacti. If rocks are available, woodrats prefer them for shelter. Rocks offer better protection from temperature changes than plants.
Plants They Use
Woodrats can use almost any tree, shrub, or cactus for shelter. But some plants are used more often.
They build houses at the base of live and dead juniper trees in pinyon-juniper woodlands. They sometimes use pinyon trees too.
Mesquite trees are often favored for shelter in areas where mesquite is common. In California, they preferred taller honey mesquite trees. These taller trees probably offered more shelter and food.
In areas with lots of yucca, woodrats use the base of these plants for shelter. They build houses at the base and in the fallen trunks of yucca.
Cholla and prickly-pear cacti are often used for cover. Their spines offer great protection from predators. These cacti also provide food and water. Woodrats might choose a home site just because teddy bear cholla is nearby.
In some areas, white-throated woodrat homes might be limited by other woodrat species. If other woodrats are around, white-throated woodrats might choose different plants for their homes. For example, they might build under honey mesquite instead of prickly-pears.
They also commonly use the base of catclaw acacia for shelter. Woodrats prefer plants with many stems and a dense, low canopy. This provides more cover. For example, they often choose organ pipe cactus. This cactus has many stems branching near the ground, offering lots of hiding spots.
Other Shelter Spots
White-throated woodrats sometimes make their homes in rock crevices, under large boulders, or in river banks. They might also use underground areas or caves. In some places, they use burrows dug by other animals, like kangaroo rats. These burrows can have many openings and are sometimes covered with small twigs.
White-throated Woodrat Life Cycle
The white-throated woodrat is a small rodent. On average, it measures about 12.9 inches (32.8 cm) long. Females weigh about 188 grams, and males weigh about 224 grams. Except for mothers with babies, these woodrats live alone. They each have their own house. They are mostly active at night and stay active all year round. Some studies say they can live up to 45 months (almost 4 years). Others suggest they can live up to 72 months (6 years).
The time of year when white-throated woodrats mate changes depending on where they live. In Arizona, they mate from January to August. In Big Bend National Park, Texas, they mate almost all year. In California, mating usually happens in February, March, and possibly May. One male woodrat will mate with several females.
Pregnancy for a white-throated woodrat lasts about 37 to 38 days. Babies are usually born in the spring and early summer. In Arizona, a mother typically has 2 to 2.5 young per litter.
Young woodrats stop drinking milk from their mother when they are 62 to 72 days old. They can start having their own babies when they are 166 to 176 days old. However, in western Arizona and parts of Mexico, young woodrats grow up faster. They are weaned between 27 and 40 days old. They can reproduce when they are 80 to 87 days old. In Joshua Tree National Monument, young woodrats build their own dens by August or September. This is a few months after they are born.
Scientists don't know much about how big a white-throated woodrat's home range is. One young female woodrat in Arizona had a home range of about 47,760 square feet (4,437 square meters).
The number of woodrats in an area might depend on how many good plants are available. These plants provide shelter, food, and water. In Joshua Tree National Monument, more woodrats lived where there were more teddybear cholla cacti. These cacti gave them shelter, food, and water. In New Mexico, the number of woodrats depended more on plants that gave them enough water and food, rather than just shelter.
What White-throated Woodrats Eat
White-throated woodrats eat whatever they can find. They are mostly plant-eaters. Their diet includes seeds, fruits, green parts of plants, and flowers. They eat small amounts of grass. Sometimes, they also eat beetles, ants, and even small reptiles. Some of their favorite foods are mesquite flowers, leaves, seeds, and bark. They also enjoy cactus flowers, stems, and fruits, and yucca leaves.
What they eat depends on what's available. In northern Arizona, their diet included yucca, juniper, rabbitbrush, and sagebrush. In southern Arizona, cacti and mesquite were their main foods. When given a choice, they preferred cacti with spines. This might be because spiny cacti have more protein. They also use the spines around their nests to protect against predators.
White-throated woodrats need a lot of water. They get this water from desert plants, especially cacti. In Organ Pipe National Monument, they relied on teddybear cholla, buckhorn cholla, and jumping cholla for water. In other areas, they got water from evergreen plants like ephedra, yucca, and juniper. These plants keep a lot of water inside them all year.
Their diet changes with the seasons. In warm, wet months, they eat many different plants, including deciduous shrubs. These plants have high water content then. In cool, dry months, they mostly eat evergreen plants. Even so, they prefer evergreen species no matter the season.
Some white-throated woodrats store food in their houses. In New Mexico, most dens had stored food. On average, they stored about 2.2 pounds (1.0 kg) of food per den. This food was mostly mesquite beans and seeds from cacti and other plants. Woodrats usually collect food within 98 to 164 feet (30–50 m) of their dens.
Predators of the White-throated Woodrat
Many animals hunt white-throated woodrats. These predators include:
- Weasels (Mustela species)
- Bobcats (Lynx rufus)
- Ring-tailed cats (Bassariscus astutus)
- Coyotes (Canis latrans)
- American badgers (Taxidea taxus)
- Mexican spotted owls (Strix occidentalis lucida)
- Great horned owls (Bubo virginianus)
- Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi)
- Rattlesnakes (Crotalus species)
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Department of Agriculture document "Neotoma albigula".
Images for kids
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A white-throated woodrat.
- Harris, A. H. 1993. Quaternary vertebrates of New Mexico. pp. 179–107, in Vertebrate paleontology in New Mexico. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 2.
