HARPEK — FLORIDA WATER-RAT IN GEORGIA 
65 
THE FLORIDA WATER-RAT (NEOFIBER ALLENI) IN 
OKEFINOKEE SWAMP, GEORGIA 
By Francis Harper 
[Plate 5] 
At the present time, while energetic efforts are being made by the 
Okefinokee Society to save this paradise of woods and waters from 
complete destruction by lumbering and other commercial operations, 
it seems worth while to call attention to one of its most recently dis- 
covered features of zoological interest. 
In 1912, during the course of reconnaissance work by Dr. A. H. Wright 
and others of the Cornell expedition,^ as well as by the writer, some 
curious grass nests, of mammalian manufacture, were noticed on 
Floyd’s Island Prairie. Nothing more than conjectures could be made 
at that time regarding the identity of the nest-makers, since no specimens 
were obtained, and since there were no published records of Neofiher 
from farther north than Gainesville, Florida. The mystery was solved 
in early January, 1917, when, with the help of Jackson Lee, a resident 
of the swamp, I trapped here several specimens of Neofiher alleni. 
The surface of Floyd’s Island Prairie is largely occupied by sphagnum. 
Among the other plants growing here are ‘Tittle-bladed saw-grass”^ 
(Scleria trichopodaf) , maiden-cane {Panicum hemitomon) , ‘^cat-tail” 
(Erianthus saccharoides) , fern {Anchistea virginica), pitcher plant 
(Sarracenia minor) ^ ^‘hardhead” (Xyris fimbriata), a sedge {Dulichium 
arundinaceum) , marsh St. John’s-wort {Triadenum virginicum), and a 
bog herb (Syngonanthus flavidulus). In the more open parts of the 
prairie, such as the ‘Tuns” and the “’gator-holes,” “bonnets” {Nymphaea 
macrophylla) and “never- wets” {Orontium aquaticum) are common. 
“ Little-bladed saw-grass” seems to enter chiefly into the construction 
of the upper part of the nest, and maiden-cane also is used. One fresh 
nest was made largely of fibrous roots, with a covering of maiden-cane. 
The foundation of another consisted of roots and coarse, matted 
vegetation. One of the homes was situated in a clump or tuft of 
“cat-tail” {Erianthus), and another among broom-sedge and maiden- 
cane. The foundations rested on top of the sphagnum rather than in 
the water. The water-level on the prairie at this time, however, was 
1 C/. Wright and Harper, A Biological Reconnaissance of Okefinokee Swamp : 
The Birds. The Auk, XXX, October, 1913, pp. 477-505. 
2 Names in quotes are those in local use in the swamp. 
