WOOD HATS 117 



large males become suifused with reddish or huffy brown, particularly on 

 the sides of the body. On the whole under surface of the body and tail 

 at all ages the fur is pure white. Although streatori is grouped mth the 

 brown-footed wood rats, its feet are pure white, as is also the lower half 

 of its tail. The tail of the Streator Wood Rat is well haired and hence 

 quite different in appearance from the scaly tail of the roof rat; but the 

 hairs on the tail of streatori are short and closely laid, with no long hairs 

 on the sides of the tail as in the Bushy-tailed Wood Rat. (See figs. 

 126, 13.) 



Fig. 13. Streator Wood Rat. Photographed from fresh specimen trapped near foot 

 of Yosemite Falls trail in Yosemite Valley, November 22, 1915. About % natural size. 



The Streator Wood Rats are active chiefly by night, so that sight of 

 one is seldom obtained. Most of our information relating to the rats them- 

 selves was gained by setting traps baited with rolled oats near nests or 

 other places which showed signs of recent occupancj' by the animals. The 

 individuals taken for specimens were all trapped during the night-time. 

 Only three of the animals M^ere noted abroad during the daytime and on 

 each occasion the rat was in view for but a few seconds. At El Portal, in 

 early December, one was seen to run into a brush pile on the hill above 

 the river; near Cascades in November a wood rat appeared while one of 

 our party was 'squeaking' at a Winter Wren; and near Coulterville an 

 adult wood rat was frightened from its nest while one of our party was 

 dismantling the structure. 



The 'round-tailed' wood rats are active throughout the year, so far 

 as we know; trapping at any season is likely to produce specimens. In 

 Yosemite Valley tracks of the Streator Wood Rat were seen in snow on 

 the Yosemite Falls Trail on December 9 (1914). In midwinter, when 

 snow covers the exterior of the rock slides on the Valley walls, the wood 

 rats are able to run about in comfort and safety in the spaces between and 

 beneath the granite blocks. 



