Species: Neotoma cinerea
Bushy-tailed Woodrat
Species
Show on Lists
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Rodentia
Family
Cricetidae
Genus
Neotoma
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
rat à queue touffue
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Rodents
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Rodentia - Cricetidae - Neotoma
Ecology and Life History
Migration
true - false - false
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Feeds on a variety of vegetation; twigs, shoots, leaves, needles, fruit, and seeds. May store food.
Reproduction Comments
Breeding peaks in spring. Gestation lasts about five weeks. Up to 2-3 litters/year. Litter size is about 3-4. Births occur April-August in California. Young males disperse by 2.5 months, many females breed in natal area. Commonly 1 adult male with 1-3 adult females (Escherich 1981).
Ecology Comments
Most individuals occupy separate dens. Male may exclude other males from small rock outcrop inhabited by multiple females (Escherich 1981). Home range size in Alberta averaged 6.1 ha for males, 3.6 ha for females, much larger than for other woodrat species; females moved up to 470 m from the nest (Topping and Millar 1996). Average population density is about 1 per 20 acres (Banfield 1974).
Length
47
Weight
444
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-12
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-12
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S5&CA.BC=S5&CA.NT=SU&CA.SK=SH&CA.YT=S3&US.AK=__&US.AZ=S5&US.CA=SNR&US.CO=S5&US.ID=S5&US.MT=S5&US.NN=S4&US.NE=S3&US.NV=S4&US.NM=S4&US.ND=SNR&US.OR=S5&US.SD=S5&US.UT=S4&US.WA=S5&US.WY=S5" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
Western North America, from southeastern Yukon and westernmost Northwest Territories southward through British Columbia and western Alberta to northern Arizona and New Mexico, east to the western Dakotas (Smith 1997). See Grayson and Livingston (1989) for a discussion of high-elevation records (3648 m and 4342 m).