84 ANIMAL LIFE OF CARLSBAD CAVERN 



galleries and inclined stairways. There are many 

 rooms and feeding places where the chaff and refuse of 

 food lie scattered on the floor until the accumulation 

 becomes deep and troublesome, when it is carried out 

 and mixed with the earth to increase the size of the 

 mound. Most of the doorways and passages are 

 generally closed with earth when the occupants retire 

 for the day, a well planned protection against enemies 

 and thieves that would prey upon their stores of food. 

 Some of the doorways are usually left open, and the 

 burrows to which they lead are often occupied by 

 snakes, lizards, and other small animals, showing the 

 wisdom of closed doors around the nests and 

 storerooms. 



To a great extent these kangaroo rats are solitary in 

 habits, as all hoarding mammals are inclined to be, but 

 in many of the mounds in April a male and female were 

 taken, and on April 20 a half -grown young was taken at 

 a mound near the cave. The breeding habits seem to 

 be rather irregular and variable, probably depending on 

 the weather and plant growth, which affects the food 

 supply. 



The animals are strictly nocturnal, and rarely have 

 been seen alive by even the oldest settlers of the country, 

 but owls and foxes prey upon them to a considerable 

 extent, and they are easily caught in snap traps for 

 specimens, or alive in tin can traps for study. A few 

 were kept in my cabin while at the cave, but in separate 

 rooms, as they would fight and kill each other if kept 

 together. They were gentle and friendly with me, but 

 did not like to be held or handled, nor to be disturbed 



