116 



ANIMAL LIFE IN THE YOSEMITE 



Streator Wood Rat. Neotoma fuscipes streatori Merriam 



Field characters. — Form and size about those of House Rat, but tail shorter than 

 head and body (fig. 13); tail round, closely haired, not bushy (fig. 12i); pelage soft 

 and smooth; ear rather large, rounded. Head and body 714 to 8V4 inches (183-209 mm.), 

 tail 6% to TV2 inches (165-191 mm.), hind foot about 1^ inches (35-38 mm.), ear 

 from crown 1 to IVi inches (24-32 ram.), weight 7^4 to 8% ounces (206-247 grams). 

 Coloration brownish gray with a general overlay of black hair tippings; whole under 

 surface of body, under side of tail, and upper surface of feet, white. 



Workings. — Nests or 'houses,' 2 to 3 feet high, conical in shape, composed of twigs, 

 leaves, chunks of wood, etc.; placed on ground beneath brush plants or trees, or, less 

 often, on horizontal branches of oak trees at height of several feet from ground. Drop- 

 pings: Cylindrical, about % inch long and % inch in diameter, scattered in and about 

 nest, or at intervals along runways. 



Occurrence. — Common resident chiefly in 

 Upper Sonoran Zone and lower part of Tran- 

 sition Zone, on west slope of Sierra Nevada. 

 Recorded from Snelling and Pleasant Valley 

 eastward to floor of Yoseniite Valley. Lives 

 in mixed stands of trees and brush, occasion- 

 ally among rocks. Chiefly nocturnal. 



The Streator Wood Rat is well 

 known to residents of the foothill 

 country of east-central California. 

 The animal itself is seldom seen, but 

 evidence of its presence in the form 

 of large nests or 'houses' is to be 

 observed in many places. This animal 

 is often referred to as 'pack rat' or 

 'trade rat' by rea.son of its propensity 

 for carrying articles from place to 

 place in and about cabins or camping 

 places. 



The Streator Wood Rat is close to 



the house rat in size, the length of body 



and the weight being about the same 



in the two; but the wood rat's tail is 



shorter than its head and body, while 



the reverse is true of the roof rat. The 



pelage of the wood rat is rather short, 



witli no conspicuous coarse over-hairs; 



it is den.se and even, and feels soft to 



Fig. 12. Tiiils of (a) Alexandrine thetouch. The coloration above varics 



Roof Rat, {})) Streator Wood Rat, and f,.,,,,, ),lm; „p.,y ;„ Oj^ younger aili- 

 (c) Gray Hushy tailed Wood Rat. One *^ ' . ' 



half natural size. iiials to saTidv browii in adults. Very 



