Mountain Kangaroo Rat 75 
nest. The main tunnel varied from six to eighteen inches 
below the surface, and was about two inches in diameter. 
The animals throw out mounds of earth at or near the 
entrances of their holes and during the day the entrance 
to the hole is often closed by earth to keep out such enemies 
as snakes, but this is not invariably the case, for one often finds 
burrows with open entrances. The entrance to a burrow 
is usually under a bush or plant of some kind; if there are 
yuccas the hole will be found there very often, as the sharp 
pointed leaves of this plant are a great protection against 
the pursuit of such an enemy as a coyote which might other- 
wise seize a rat just as it was about to dive into the hole. 
The holes have usually two or more entrances, and there may 
be an entrance at each end of a burrow. One often finds 
several holes under a yucca or sage-brush, and these seem to 
belong to one burrow. In a locality where the animals are 
plentiful there will be seen trails or roads as one may well 
call them, so well beaten are they at times, leading from 
one hole to another, and about the neighborhood. In these 
trails can be seen the tracks of the makers, not only the foot- 
marks but a long streak in the sand which shows where the 
tail has been dragging on the ground. They progress by 
leaps, as one would infer from the long hind legs, but one 
which two of us caught at San Luis Lake ran on all fours 
without leaping. 
Kangaroo Rats are nocturnal in their habits, though 
occasionally seen in the daytime. Their food is seeds of 
various kinds, and they do not refuse grain when they can 
get it, but it is doubtful if they are injurious to the farmer, 
except in an occasional instance when they have access to a 
grain stack, when they may possibly carry a considerable 
amount to their storerooms. But this in most cases would be 
counterbalanced by the large number of weed seeds eaten by 
the animals, for these constitute the greater part of their food. 
