When spring comes to Elkhorn Plain, giant kangaroo rats emerge from burrows after dark for an hour or two to collect ripening seed heads from peppergrass, filaree, and other grasses and forbs. They stack the seed heads on their precincts to dry in the sun and later store them underground to eat throughout winter or even longer. Loose seeds encountered during the nocturnal forays are also scooped up and placed in inch-deep pits beside the burrow entrance. Though the giant is somewhat social, by kangaroo rat standards, it's hardly gregarious and can be aggressive to others of its kind or other rodents. The sexes remain apart except for the few hours when females are able to mate.
Females seem to prefer a familiar neighbor as a mate.
Males appear especially attracted to a female if her precinct has an abundance of stored seeds. The giant kangaroo rat inadvertently provides shelter or food to several other animals. A change in season at Elkhorn Plain may bring new visitors into a kangaroo rat burrow. Insects attracted to a precinct by the tilling of a kangaroo rat may keep the lizards fed. And they generally overstay their welcome, spending all their underground time in the rat's burrow and snacking on the fruits, or seeds, of its host's labor.