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Species Description

• Adult total length: 14 - 17 in. (350 - 425 mm)

• Tail: 6 - 8 in. (150 - 200 mm)

• Hind foot: 1 3/8 - 1 5/8 in. (35 - 40 mm)

• Weight: 7 - 12 3/4 oz. (200 - 365 g)

• Adult total length: 14 - 17 in. (350 - 425 mm)

• Tail: 6 - 8 in. (150 - 200 mm)

• Hind foot: 1 3/8 - 1 5/8 in. (35 - 40 mm)

• Weight: 7 - 12 3/4 oz. (200 - 365 g)

• Physical Characteristics: The fur of the Allegheny woodrat is brownish-gray with black-tipped hairs. The throat, belly, and feet are whitish. The eyes are large, the ears are large and sparsely haired, and the vibrissae are long.

left lateral view of skull and mandible	dorsal view of skull	ventral view of skull

Allegheny woodrats range from southeastern New York southwest through much of Pennsylvania, extreme southern Ohio and Indiana, through western Maryland, all of West Virginia, most of Kentucky, and the western reaches of Virginia and North Carolina south through much of Tennessee, and into northern Alabama and most of northwestern Georgia (Whitaker and Hamilton, 1998).

• Range Maps

  North America	Great Smokies

• Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Several woodrats have been found living in the rocky cliffs and fissures near The Sinks on the Little River. Many individuals and their nests have also been discovered in and around old buildings in the park. This species occurs from the lowest elevations up to 2500 feet.
  • Blount Co.: Abrams Creek Ranger Station (900 feet); Cades Cove; Happy Valley Ranger Station; Little River between The Sinks and the park boundary; Tremont CCC Camp (1,925 feet).

  • Sevier Co.: Vicinity of The Sinks bridge (1,450 feet, 1,565 feet); Sugarlands (1,800 feet, 2,000 feet).

  • Haywood Co.: Big Creek (1,600 - 1,750 feet); Cataloochee (2,500 feet).

  • Swain Co.: Chambers Creek, 1.5 miles above Fontana Reservoir; Twentymile Creek.

Index

Natural History

• Reproduction
  Woodrats construct a football-sized nest of shredded bark and grasses which is covered and surrounded by a pile of sticks and twigs that may be up to nine feet in diameter and four to five feet high. The debris heap may consist of eight to ten bushels or more of material. Most nests are on the ground, but near Chambers Creek a woodrat was frightened from a nest located 10 feet above ground in a dense growth of privet (Stupka, 1961 ). A nest found at Abrams Creek Ranger Station on September 13 contained a nursing female and two young approximately 10 days old. Nursing females have also been taken on April 24 and on August 14. A half-grown individual and two very small immature specimens were collected at Big Creek between October 1 - 4 1950.

  Several litters consisting of two to four young are produced from spring to fall. Following a gestation of about 35 days, a litter averaging two young ( range 1-4 ) is born. Females may produce several litters annually. Newborn young have their eyes and ears closed and are sparsely covered with hair. The eyes open during the third week. Weaning usually occurs between three and four weeks of age. Females probably do not breed until they are one year old.

• Longevity
  Woodrats have survived at least 45 months in the wild ( Mengak, 1997).

• Terrestrial Ecology
  Woodrats are primarily nocturnal and are active all year. Their senses of smell, sight, hearing, and touch are well developed. "Drumming" has been observed in this species and serves as a warning or alarm note.

  Food consists primarily of fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, bark, and grasses. Individuals taken in October in the park were found to have fed on pokeweed berries (Phytolacca sp.). A dead woodrat found along the Little River Road in October had a 2-inch sprig of poison ivy (Rhus radicans) with berries in its mouth (Linzey, 1995b).

• Predators and Defense
  Owls, bobcats, foxes, and weasels are probably the most important predators.

• Parasites
  Eight woodrats examined in the park during October 1950, were infested with fleas. Fleas have also been found in several nests (Linzey, 1995b).

Index

Acknowledgements

• Text
  • Dr. Donald W. Linzey, Wytheville Community College - wclinzd@wcc.vccs.edu
  • Christy Brecht, Wytheville Community College - wcbrecc@wcc.vccs.edu

• Photographs
  • Roger Barbour

• Map development
  • Richard Schulz, Great Smoky Mountains National Park - richard_schulz@nps.gov

• Web page design & coding
  • Denise Lim, University of Georgia, Athens
  • John Pickering, University of Georgia, Athens

• Hayes, J.P. 1999. Allegheny woodrat. Pages 607 - 608. In: D.E. Wilson, and S. Ruff (eds.). The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals. Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.

• Linzey, D. W. 1995a. Mammals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Blacksburg, Virginia: The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, Inc.

• Linzey, D. W. 1995b. Mammals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park-1995 Update. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 111(1):1-81.

• Linzey, D. W. 1998. The Mammals of Virginia. Blacksburg, Virginia: The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, Inc.

• Mengak, M.T. 1997. New field records for longevity in Allegheny woodrats (Neotoma magister). Banisteria 10: 27-28.

• Stupka, A. 1935 - 63. Nature Journal, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 28 vols. (years) each with index. (Typewritten copy in files of Great Smoky Mountains National Park library).

• Whitaker, J.O., Jr. and W.J. Hamilton Jr. 1998. Mammals of the Eastern United States. Ithaca, New York: Comstock Publishing Associates.

• Wiley, R.W. 1980. Neotoma floridana. Mammalian Species No. 139: 1-7. American Society of Mammalogists.