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 
1. Alleghany Wood Rat. Neotoma pennsylvanica Stone. Des- 
cription and range as above. 
2. Florida Wood Rat. WN. floridana (Ord). Rather smaller and 
plumbeous, tail more scantily haired. Skull not nearly so 
heavy. 
Range. Lower parts of the South Atlantic and Gulf States. 
3. Misstssippt 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. 
Range. Eastern North Carolina around the Gulf Coast to Louisiana. 
Represented in Florida by closely allied varieties. 
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