Smyrna times., 1953-05-07
Kangaroo Rot
cI9sa NoiionoI wildIifs Federation

Slp5z kofionol Wildlife Federation
The naturalist Ernest Thompson
Seton in his book, Lives of the
Hunted" wrote a delightful story
on the kangaroo rat. 1t may have
conditioned many people in their
subsequent understanding of this
animal. Unfortunately it unjustly
conditions people to believe that
kangaroo rats can suffer at the
hands of such a harmless creature
as spotted salamander. Somehow
as the years go by and we have ex-
periences both with kangaroo rats
and with spotted salamanders, we
come to believe that we should de-
pend to a considerable extent on
what we see for ourselves.
If you have had the opportunity
of keeping some of these delight
full animals in captivity for some
time, you come to feel that some
how the name rat" should not be
applied to the kangaroo rat. A rat
is despicable critter, and it is
difficult to apply that term to this
animal of our Southwest desert
lands.
The kangaroo rat comes in
variety of species. In fact there
are approximately hundred kinds
and in suitable territory there may
be a population as high as 1000
animals to the square mile. Be
cause of the different kinds it is
difficult to limit the territory oc-
cupied, but they seek hot. dry
lands where GOODNESS may be
reached by burrowing a short dis
tance underground. Some species
are to be found in damp lands and
some in forested areas but usually
the ground is of loose type, such
as sand or clay, in which excavat-
ing is relatively easy.
One of the commoner kangaroo
rats has length of 13 inches of
which 71s inches is tail. They have
long hind legs and the hind feet
with their four toes may be two
inches long. The eyes are large
and amazingly beautiful as is so
often the case with nocturnal an
imals. They have conspicuous long
whiskers and capacious, external,
fur-lined cheek pouches in which
they can pack food that they carry
underground for storage or con-
sumption. Kangaroo rats do not
normally drink water but may get
their supply from their food.
A kangaroo rat may make an
8-foot leap and this is necessary
for an animal that roams in the
open. The animals do not hiber-
nate or migrate and must keer
active the year round. The larger
bannertails store food regularly
but this is not the practice with
the smaller species.
A nest den about 8 by 10 by 5
inches is built some 8 feet under
ground and lined with fine plant
material. 1t is kept free of dung
and waste food and there the two
to four young of a litter are born.
The rats are social but the families
live in separate tunnels. However
if the animals are confined in a
cage they will fight to the death
and, while one may survive out of
a group, even the survivor may
become so wounded in the process
of proving his superiority that he
too does not live out his normal
life span.
Kangaroo rats serve as food for
coyotes which might otherwise
prey on domestic animals. They
have an interesting series of night
songs which are intriguing to the
camper who stops in their midst.
The National Wildlife Fedora
tion is interested in an understand
ing of the true role of these an
imals in the general economy of
nature. Notes based on careful
observation of young, of enemies
and of food are always welcome.
e. Laurence Palmer