MAMMALS OF UTAH 73 



GRAY BUSHY-TAILED WOOD RAT 



NEOTOMA CINEREA (Ord) 



Mus cinereus Ord, Guthrie's Geog., 2d Amer. ed., II, p. 292, 

 1815. Type from Great Falls, Cascade County, Mont.: 

 "Based on the ash-colored rat of Rocky Mountains of 

 Lewis and Clark." 



Neotoma cinerea Baird, Mamm. North Amer., p. 499, 1857. 



Teonoma cinerea acraia Elliot, Pub. Field Columb. Mus. Zool. 

 Ser., Ill, pp. 247-248, December, 1903. Type from Hot 

 Springs, Long Canyon, Mount Whitney, Inyo County, Cal.; 

 No. 12850, female. Field Mus. of Nat. Hist., collected by 

 Edmund Heller, July 31, 1903. 



Description — Fresh pelage : Upper parts grayish buff, 

 in some specimens varying to ochraceous buff, palest on 

 ~face, the back much darkened by admixture of dusky hairs; 

 lower surface, including upper lip, white, the hairs along 

 sides of belly pale plumbeous basally ; forefeet white, this 

 color insensibly passing over fore limbs into general color of 

 upper parts ; hind feet white ; color of hind legs reaching a 

 short distance over tarsus ; ears covered with brownish and 

 grayish hairs, and faintly edged with whitish; tail above 

 brownish gray, below white, usually crossed basally by a 

 pale buffy band. (Goldman.) 



Distribution — Mountainous region of Montana, Idaho, 

 western Wyoming, Utah, northern Arizona, central Nevada 

 and central California. Specimens have been taken in Utah 

 from Beaver mountain, Blacksmith Fork, Cache county, 

 Fish Lake plateau,, Henry mountain, Ogden, Parowan and 

 Provo. 



Habits — The presence of woodrats is generally indicated 

 by accumulations of odds and ends filling the crevices of 

 rocks about their retreats, or piled about the entrances to 

 their burrows, such accumulations including small sticks, 

 pieces of bark, leaves, cactus, burrs, bones, stones, and any 

 other small objects which may be found in the vicinity. In 

 northern localities they gather stores of pinyon or other 

 nuts, potatoes, corn, and other non-perishable food, conceal- 

 ing these supplies in cavities in the nests either above or be- 

 low the ground. They eat many kinds of fruits, seeds, 

 leaves, and other parts of plants, sometimes including bark 

 of shrubs or small trees and even cactus pads. They are 

 mainly nocturnal and appear to be extremely active through- 

 out the night. 



