The Allegheny woodrat (Neotoma magister), is a species of "pack rat" in the genus Neotoma. Once believed to be a subspecies of the eastern woodrat (Neotoma floridana), extensive DNA analysis has proven it to be a distinct species.
Description
The Allegheny woodrat is a medium-sized rodent almost indistinguishable from the closely related eastern woodrat, although slightly larger on average, and often with longer whiskers. Adults typically range from in total length, including a tail measuring . Males weigh on average, while females are slightly smaller, weighing an average of .
It is the second-largest member of the native North American rats, and can weigh up to a pound, roughly the size of an eastern gray squirrel.
The fur is long, soft, and brownish-gray or cinnamon in color, while the undersides and feet are white. They have large eyes, and naked ears. Their most distinguishing feature is their tails: while the tails of European rats are naked with only slightly visible hairs, the tails of woodrats are completely furred with hairs about one-third of an inch long, and predominantly black above and white beneath.
The whiskers are unusually long, typically over in length. About 50 whiskers are found on each side, consisting of a mixture of stiff black hairs and softer white ones.
Habitat and ecology
Allegheny woodrats prefer rocky outcrops associated with mountain ridges such as cliffs, caves, talus slopes, and even mines. This is mostly true for Pennsylvania and Maryland. In Virginia and West Virginia, woodrats are found on ridges, but also on side slopes in caves and talus (boulders and breakdown) fields. The surrounding forest is usually deciduous. Throughout their range, they are found in mixed pine-oak forest, but they are also found in a range of other forest types, most commonly with a mix of hardwood trees.
Their diets primarily consist of plant materials including buds, leaves, stems, fruits, seeds, acorns, and other nuts. They store their food in caches and eat about 5% of their body weight a day. Predators include owls, skunks, weasels, foxes, raccoons, bobcats, large snakes, and humans. At one point, the Allegheny rat was hunted for food and sometimes killed due to false identification based on its resemblance to more problematic European rats.
Behavior
Nocturnal, Allegheny woodrats spend their nights foraging, collecting food and nesting materials. They are most active during the earlier part of the night, from about a half hour after sunset, and again shortly before dawn. During the summer, males have home ranges of about , and females of about . However, these contract dramatically in the late fall and winter, when little fresh food is available, and they rely instead on their caches to survive. At such times, home ranges may shrink to as little as .
Individuals are generally aggressive towards each other, especially when competing for nest sites, and, while home ranges may overlap, each actively defends its own den. They are generally quiet animals, but have been reported to make "squeaking" and "whimpering" noises in captivity.
They very rarely travel more than a few hundred feet from their home ranges.
They also collect and store various non-food items such as bottle caps, snail shells, coins, gun cartridges, feathers, and bones. This trait is responsible for the nickname "trade rat" or "pack rat". These rats form small colonies with nesting areas, a network of underground runways and many conspicuous latrines. Latrines are large fecal piles the rats deposit on protected flat rocks. In some cases, researchers have found dried leaves placed around the nesting area which appear to act as alarms to warn the rats of approaching danger.
In addition to the latrines, Allegheny woodrats of both sexes also scent mark various objects around their home ranges, using a scent gland on their undersides. The gland becomes particularly prominent around the breeding season, and is said to produce a strong odor.
Reproduction
Unlike most other rodents, Allegheny woodrats are not prolific breeders. The breeding season is variable across their range, but is broadly between March and October, and they average two or three litters per year. Gestation lasts 30 to 36 days, and results in the birth of a litter of one to four young (typically two)
The young are born hairless and blind, weighing . They become fully furred at two weeks, and open their eyes at three weeks. They live with their mothers in nests composed of grass, bark, and similar materials, often located in relatively inaccessible crevices or ledges.