Family: Muridae, Mice and Rats view all from this family

Description Buff-gray above; grayish below, often washed with buff. Tail similarly bicolored. Hindfeet white. All hairs gray at base. L 8 7/8–15 1/8" (225–383 mm); T 3 3/4–7 3/8" (95–188 mm); HF 1 1/8–1 5/8" (28–41 mm); E 1–1 1/4" (25–32 mm); Wt 3 7/8 –4 3/4 oz (109–136 g).

Similar Species White-throated Woodrat’s throat hair is white at base. Mexican Woodrat’s tail is more whitish below. Dusky-footed Woodrat is larger, with dusky ankles. Very similar Arizona Woodrat is found only in w Arizona south of the Colorado River.

Habitat Desert; pinyon-juniper areas.

Range Southeastern Oregon, sw Idaho, and extreme ne California south through Nevada, Utah, and n Arizona, and east to w Colorado.

Discussion The Desert Woodrat is adept at moving about among spiny cacti without injuring itself. Its diet is composed of spiny cacti along with yucca pods, pinyon nuts, bark, berries, seeds, and any available green vegetation. This rodent uses the house it constructs at the entrance of a burrow, often appropriated from a long-gone ground squirrel or kangaroo rat, both for protection and for food storage. The nest is placed underground in a deep, cool chamber. The Desert Woodrat produces a rattling sound when alarmed by vibrating its tail against dry vegetation.