Scientific Name:  Neotoma albigula

Temporal Activity:  Nocturnal.  At night they will forage, eat, and bring mesquite beans or cactus parts back to their home.  They will use cactus parts to provide structure in their homes.

Diet:  They eat prickly pear, cholla, mesquite beans, palo verde seeds, green plants, and occasionally insects or other meat.

Predators:  Coyotes, snakes, bobcats, hawks and other birds.

Breeding:  Wodrats live alone unless a female has young. 

Notes:  These animals, also known as the packrat, can weigh up to 1 pound.  It gets its name from the white hair on their throats.  Their teeth continue to grow, making it necessary for them to constantly gnaw.  They are found throughout most of Arizona.  Their houses are made of animal dung and debris, cactus parts, and sticks and are usually found around a prickly pear cactus, under a mesquite tree, a hackberry bush, or around boulders.  The house covers the nest and helps with insulation.  Each nest has several entrance holes which allow them to escape quickly from predators.

Photo: To be added.

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