1936] MAMMALS OF OREGON 173 



There is no indication of more than 1 litter a year. The reproduction 

 is less than half that of the squirrels and chipmunks, but the safe 

 retreats of the wood rats afford partial immunity from many 

 enemies and their numbers keep up to very limited standard. They 

 are never abundant. 



Food habits. Wood rats are dainty feeders with small stomachs, 

 usually containing green foliage or unripe seeds of the plants where 

 they live. They do not become fat or hibernate, but store up food 

 for winter ; a " hay " composed of numerous plants is commonly eaten. 

 At Malheur Lake, captives kept for study of habits were fond of 

 the leaves and tender shoots of pigweeds (Chenop odium), a herba- 

 ceous Atriplex, nettles, and Suaeda (Donaia). They ate some tips 

 and leaves of greasewood (Sarcobatm) and rabbitbrush (Chryso- 

 thamrms) , and a little grass, but were more partial to such domestic 

 foods as cabbage, cantaloup and watermelon rinds, apple parings, 

 rolled oats, biscuit, cheese, and such scraps from the table. They 

 drank a little water but preferred it in the form of melon rinds or 

 juicy fruits and plants. The writer found where they had stored 

 leaves of the wild currant (Ribes aureum) and large quantities of 

 nettle leaves and nettle stems loaded with seeds. Some had their 

 stomachs filled with these seeds, which are pleasant, rich, and 

 mucilaginous, like the seeds of elm trees. Jumper twigs and berries 

 are often stored for food, and any seeds, nuts, and grain are eaten 

 occasionally. Green vegetation, however, seems to be preferred. 



Economic status. Wood rats feed mainly on green foliage of 

 weeds and worthless plants, rarely coming in contact with crops, 

 and doing practically no damage except as one occasionally gets 

 into a barn, shop, camp, or cabin and cuts or carries off property. 

 They sometimes cut harness, saddles, or other leather goods; eat, 

 carry away, or muss up food supplies ; carry away small objects for 

 building material ; and cause much annoyance until destroyed. Gen- 

 erally it is necessary to trap or otherwise remove them from occu- 

 pied buildings. The common rattrap catches and kills them quickly 

 and mercifully, but a box set inverted on a board with a baited 

 oval trigger under one edge will catch them alive, when they can 

 be carried away or kept in a cage for study or as interesting pets. 

 They are very fond of running in a squirrel wheel, and if given a 

 wheel and good quarters are contented and happy. 



NEOTOMA CINERBA FUSCA TRUE 

 DUSKY BUSHY-TAILED WOOD RAT 



Neotoma occidentalis fusca True, U. S. Natl. Mus. Proc. 17: 354, 1894. 

 Neotoma fusca apicalis Elliot, Field Columb. Mus. Pub. 74, Zool. Ser. 3: 

 160, 1903, from Gardiner, Coos County, Oreg. 



Type. Collected at Fort Umpqua, Douglas County, Oreg., by E. P. Vollum 

 in 1859. 



General characters. Large; tall wide and bushy; ears large and nearly 

 naked ; vibrissae about 4 inches long ; fur dense and almost woolly. Color much 

 the same at all seasons, upper parts dark cinnamon brown heavily obscured 

 with black or dusky outer hairs; tail blackish above, dark gray below; feet 

 and belly whitish. 



.Measurements. Large male: Total length, 470 mm; tail, 217; foot, 48; ear 

 (dry), 28, from crown, 18. 



