Behavior
Nocturnal, Allegheny woodrats spend their nights foraging, collecting food and nesting materials. They are most active during the earlier part of the night, from about a half hour after sunset, and again shortly before dawn. During the summer, males have home ranges of about 6.5 hectares (16 acres), and females of about 2.5 hectares (6.2 acres). However, these contract dramatically in the late fall and winter, when little fresh food is available, and they rely instead on their caches to survive. At such times, home ranges may shrink to as little as 0.65 hectares (1.6 acres).
Individuals are generally aggressive towards each other, especially when competing for nest sites, and, while home ranges may overlap, each actively defends its own den. They are generally quiet animals, but have been reported to make "squeaking" and "whimpering" noises in captivity.
They very rarely travel more than 150 feet from their home range.
They also collect and store various non-food items such as bottle caps, snail shells, coins, gun cartridges, feathers and bones. This trait is responsible for the nickname "trade" or "pack rat". These rats form small colonies in which their nesting areas consist of a network of underground runways and many conspicuous latrines. Latrines are large fecal piles the rats deposit on protected flat rocks. In some cases, researchers have found dried leaves placed around the nesting area which appear to act as alarms to warn the rats of approaching danger.
In addition to the latrines, Alleghany woodrats of both sexes also scent mark various objects around their home range, using a scent gland on their underside. The gland becomes particularly prominent around the breeding season, and is said to produce a strong odor.
Read more about this topic: Allegheny Woodrat
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