100 



ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



a family, but never -by a colony. Wood-rats are social 

 and visit back and forth from one house to another 

 until well-worn trails often connect the houses and 

 lead to the feeding grounds. The food of these ani- 

 mals is mainly seeds, berries, and many kinds of green 

 foliage. Where the houses are located near the edges 

 of fields, grain, fruits, and vegetables are sometimes 



FIELD-NEST OF BAILEY'S WOOD-RAT. 



From Warren's "Mammals of Colorado." By Permission of G. P. 

 Putnam's Sons. Photo by H. W. Nash. 



eaten or carried away and stored up for food, but 

 fortunately the rats are never sufficiently numerous 

 to do serious damage. Their houses are easily de- 

 stroyed and the occupants captured by a few min- 

 utes' w r ork with a shovel, or the rats can readily be 

 trapped or poisoned. They frequently enter cabins 



