Naturalists Notebook

Rats of North Central Texas

The following list of rats represents all possible rats that might occur in the wild in our area. While the Norway & roof rats are common, they are listed as remote possibilities because they are not often found in the wild.

Field Identification Notes for Rats of North Central Texas

Common Inhabitants

Eastern Woodrat (Neotoma floridana) - Habitat: Very wide range of habitats: Woods, creeks, swamps, rocky outcrops. Den: Wide variety: From rock crevices to underground abodes - often utilizing abandoned burrows of other animals. Nests often include small sticks, along with grasses. Most mice avoid using sticks. Food: Vegetable matter which provides both food and water. Leaves of various trees are common fare. Also Acorns, berries, seeds. Comments: Most of their foraging is conducted in the crowns of trees. Very sociable-almost colonial.

Hispid Cotton Rat (Sigmodon hispidus) - Habitat: Prefers tall vegetation especially tall grass prairie. Den: Above ground in dense clumps of grass or in chambers underground. Nest are globular ~12cm in dia. Holes leading underground are ~3-5cm dia. Runs: Myriad, connecting trailways ~ 5-8cm wide. Food: vegetation, occasional eggs of ground nesting birds. A distinctive clue for identification are piles of grass & forbs cut into 5-8cm wide lengths & piled at feeding stations along runways. Comments: These rats are subject to violent changes in population. Population booms are quickly brought under control by a rapid increase in disease.

Remote Possibilities

Southern Plains Woodrat (Neotoma micropus) - Habitat: Brushland in semi-arid regions. Usually found associated with cactus, desert brush or mesquite thickets. Den: Builds extensive houses as much as a meter high from sticks, cactus joints and thorns from trees. Look for collected items - shiny feathers, bottle caps, cans - this is one of the proverbial ‘packrats’. Likes to add underground burrows under and near the house. Runs: Well worn trails near entrance. Food: Cactus fruit and stems, mesquite pods, Acorns, seeds.

Comments: Mainly occurs at Western edge of our range. Near the house is the toilet, with a mass accumulation of tarry feces merged together. Urine is deposited nearby and tends to stain rocks white. Woodrats often drum the ground with their hind feet in response to intrusion.

Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) - Habitat: Mainly commensal with humans, but sometimes in the feral state in tall vegetation where food supplies are abundant. Den: In the feral state the Norway rat is known to burrow. Dia. of hole is ~ 5-6cm. Food: Omnivores. Fond of meat - able to kill small animals. Comments: These rats are noxious imports to North America. They arrived with the European settlers and remain a constant menace to public health. Fleas living with them bite humans and transmit bubonic plague, typhus fever, ratbite fever and other dreaded diseases.

Roof Rat (Rattus rattus) - Habitat: Mainly commensal with humans. Food: Omnivores. N/D Largely nocturnal, as is the Norway rat. Comments: While common around habitations, roof rats are less likely to become feral than the Norway rat.

Reference:

Clay, Marcus. (Currently writing a booklet on mammals for Cedar Hill State Park) Interview, March 21, 1996

Davis, William B. & Schmidly, David J. The Mammals of Texas. Austin, Texas: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department - Nongame And Urban Program, 1994

Dunlap, Jim. (Author, Animal Rehabilitator, Director of Plano I.S.D. Living Materials Center) Telephone interview, April 24, 1996

Griffith, Corey. (Interpretive Director - Cedar Hill State Park) Interview, November 7, 1995.

Meeks, Steven. (Animal Damage Control) Telephone interview, April 5, 1996

Murie, O.J. A Field Guide to Animal Tracks. Peterson Field Guide Series No. 9. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1954.

Stall, Chris. Animal Tracks of Texas. Seattle, Washington: The Mountaineers, 1990.

Natural History of North Central Texas Index
 

Royce & LuCretia Milam Copyright © May 1996 Wild Vision. All rights reserved.