Cotton Rat 



other debris to serve for a nest, building them sometimes into a more 

 regular dome-shaped structure. He seems to feed on whatever 

 forage the forest offers, both vegetable and animal, and in large caves 

 where foxes or wild cats have dragged their prey, the marks of the 

 wood rat's teeth are found abundantly on the bones which the more 

 powerful beasts have left behind. 



Although manifestly a rat he seems to lack the offensive odour and 

 repellent characters of the house rat, and his thick, soft fur recalls the 

 pelage of the squirrels. 



The closely related Florida wood rat is said to build its nest in 

 dense swampy thickets but probably differs little in general habits 

 from its more northern relative. 



Varieties of the Wood Rat 



/. Alleghany Wood Rat. Neotoma pennsylvanica Stone. Des- 

 cription and range as above. 



2. Florida Wood Rat. N. ftoridana (Ord). Rather smaller and 

 plumbeous, tail more scantily haired. Skull not nearly so 

 heavy. 

 Range. Lower parts of the South Atlantic and Gulf States. 



}. Mississippi Wood Rat. N. floridana rubida Bangs. Much 



brighter and decidedly reddish in colour. 



Range. Replaces the last in the lower Mississippi Valley and 

 western Florida. 



Cotton Rat 



Sigmodon hispidus Say and Ord 



Length. 12 inches. 



Description. Peculiar among the long-tailed rats and mice from its 

 superficial resemblance to the meadow mice from which, how- 

 ever, its long tail will at once distinguish it. It has the same 

 short legs, and short appressed ears with the aperture nearly 

 covered by the hair, and the fur is longer and coarser than any 

 other member of this group. The molar teeth are round in out- 

 line and divided into triangles on top as in the meadow mice. 

 Colour yellowish brown above thickly sprinkled with black hairs, 

 under parts whitish. Tail only scantily haired, the scales 

 visible. (Illustrations facing pp. 121 and 132.) 



Range. Eastern North Carolina around the Gulf Coast to Louisiana. 

 Represented in Florida by closely allied varieties. 



128 



