Desert Woodrat

About the Desert Woodrat

The desert woodrat (Neotoma lepida) is a species of pack rat native to desert regions of western North America. Desert woodrats are relatively small for pack rats, measuring 28 to 39 cm (11 to 15 in) in length, including a 12 to 20 cm (4.7 to 7.9 in) tail. They weigh from 122 to 350 g (4.3 to 12.3 oz), with males being larger than females. Their coloring varies between individuals, and can be anything from pale gray to cinnamon to near-black. Regardless of the color on the rest of the body, however, the animal's underparts and feet are always white, while the otherwise pale fur on the throat region is gray at its base. The tail is distinctly bicolored, and has more hair, and fewer visible scales, than the tails of brown rats. Desert woodrats have a narrow snout, long whiskers, and relatively long ears that are almost the length of the hind feet.

Desert woodrats range from southeastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho, south through Nevada and western Utah to California in the US, and Baja California and extreme northwestern Sonora in Mexico. They are generally found in sagebrush scrub areas, in chaparral, and in deserts and rocky slopes... Wikipedia →