Arizona \ 
Exp. Sta. J 
LIFE HISTORY OF THE KANGAROO RAT. 
9 
protection than mesquite — since cattle more often seek shade under 
the latter, and in so doing frequently trample the mounds severely — 
it appears that the general protection of a tree or shrub of some sort 
is sought by kangaroo rats, rather than the specific protection of the 
thickest or thorniest species. 
The following records indicate particular habitat preferences of 
spectabilis as noted at different points in its range : 
Occurs on open bare knolls exposed to winds, also on gravelly places at 
lower edge of foothills (Franklin Mountains. Tex.. Gaut) ; here and there 
over the barest and hardest of the gravelly mesas (Bailey, Tex., 1905, 147) ; 
on open creosote-bush and giant-cactus desert (Tucson, Ariz., Vorhies and 
Taylor) ; on firm, gravelly, or even rocky soil on the grassy bajada land along 
the northwest base of the mountains, either in the open or under Celtic, Pro- 
sopis, Lyaium, Acacia greggif, or other brush (Santa Rita Mountains, Ariz., 
Vorhies and Taylor) : mounds usually thrown up around a bunch of cactus or 
mesquite brush (Magdalena, Sonora, Bailey) ; in heavy soil (Ajo, Ariz., A. B. 
Howell) ; loamy soil (Gunsight, Ariz., A. B. Howell) ; in mesa where not too 
stony (Magdalena, Sonora, Bailey) ; grassy plain (Gallego, Chihuahua, Nelson) ; 
in open valley and high open plains (Santa Bosa, N. Mex., Bailey) ; in grassl- 
and weed-grown parks among the larger junipers, pinyons, and scattering 
yellow pines (Bear Spring Mountains, X. Mex., Hollister) ; on sand-dune strip 
(east side of Pecos River. 15 miles northeast of Roswell, N. Mex., Bailey) ; 
among Ephedra patches (San Juan Valley. X. Mex., Birdseye) ; in open sandy 
soil along dry wash (Rio Alamosa, N. Mex., Goldman) ; on sides and crests 
of bare, stony hills (Mesa Jumanes, N. Mex.. Gaut) ; in open, arid part of the 
valley and stony mesas (Carlsbad and Pecos Valley, X. Mex.. Bailey) ; about 
the edges of the plains of San Augustine and the foothills of the Datil and 
Gallina Mountains, and in the Transition Zone yellow-pine forest of the Gallina 
Mountains (Datil region, X. Mex., Hollister) ; on hard limy ridges (Monahans, 
Tex.. Cary). 
A. Brazier Howell notes that spectabilis occurs in harder soil than 
does deserti. This observation is confirmed by others, and seems to 
afford a conspicuous habitat difference between the two. for desert/ 
is typically an animal of the shifting aeolian sands. 
Usually, as on the Range Reserve, the rodents are widely distributed 
over a considerable area. Occasionally, as in the vicinity of Rio 
Alamosa, X. Mex., as reported by Goldman, they occur only in small 
colonies. 
HABITS. 
EVIDENCE OF PRESENCE. 
Mounds. 
One traveling over territory thickly occupied by the banner-tailed 
kangaroo rat is certain to note the numerous and conspicuous mounds 
so characteristic of the species, particularly if the region is of the 
savannah type, grassy rather than brushy. These low, rounded 
mounds occupy an area of several feet in diameter, and rise to vary- 
