I lO 
The Mammals of Colorado 
pieces of cactus, bones, "cow-chips," everything in fact that 
they can carry or drag to the nest will be found there. Bailey 
says that in Texas this species builds these piles about cactus 
and thorn bushes, the nest itself being placed in the middle 
of the pile. The cactus leaves and spines which so often form 
much of the nest are a great protection against many of their 
enemies, which are deterred from tearing them open by the 
presence of these prickly things. But it seems at times almost 
impossible for the rats themselves to run through this stuff 
without getting their own feet full of thorns, yet they do 
it. 
Their food consists of any kind of nuts or berries which 
may be had, of prickly pear and other cactus fruits, and seeds 
of various kinds. 
While mainly of nocturnal habits yet they do move about in 
the daytime to a certain extent. 
They have many enemies, hawks and owls, coyotes, foxes 
and wildcats, and various species of snakes all prey upon 
them. Their flesh is white and tender, and Bailey says that it 
is very good eating, in fact some of the California and 
Arizona Indians used to catch and eat various species of 
wood -rats, and they were a favorite article of food with 
them. 
All the wood-rats have a more or less pronounced musky 
odor, which however does not impregnate their flesh at all 
but seems to be entirely external. This odor is usually very 
noticeable about the nests. 
The animals have the habit of carrying any portable 
articles they may find to their nests, and this renders them 
nuisances about a camp or house. 
In Baca County this rat was breeding the last of April and 
first of May, and the number of young seemed to be three, this 
being the number of embryos found in three or four 
cases. 
