Merriam's Kangaroo Rat - Behavior

Behavior

Merriam's kangaroo rats live individually within a maze of underground burrows. Males and females each establish individual territories. They defend their territories against other male and female merriami, primarily to protect often scarce food resources. It is typical that they locate multiple entrances to their burrow complex at the base of shrubs near the middle of their territory. This allows more opportunities for them to escape from predators.

Most Kangaroo rats are exclusively nocturnal. Even so, they tend to avoid being outside their burrows when the moon is full. The greater the amounts of moonlight the less time they spend collecting food, defending their territory, or searching for mates. When the amount of moonlight is great they retreat underground in order to avoid predation. In some areas, above ground activity is limited to two hours or less. During the day, they remain in their cool burrows. They often seal entranceways to their burrows with soil to prevent exposure to heat. When they are active above ground they move about within their territory and attempt to fill their cheek pouches with seeds and plant material. When their cheek pouches are full they retreat to their burrows where they disgorge the seeds they have collected. Some of the food is eaten immediately while the remainder is stored (often building a seed cache of considerable size) in several chambers within the burrow system.

Kangaroo rats lose water mainly by evaporation during gas exchange, and so have developed a behavioural adaptation to prevent this loss. As they spend a lot of time within their burrows to escape the heat of the day, the burrows become much more humid than the air outside (due to evaporative loss). When collecting seeds, they store them in the burrows rather than eating them straight away. This causes the moisture in the air to be absorbed by the seeds, and the kangaroo rat regains the water it has previously lost when it then consumes them.

Read more about this topic:  Merriam's Kangaroo Rat

Famous quotes containing the word behavior:

    The civilizing process has increased the distance between behavior and the impulse life of the animal body.
    Shoshana Zuboff (b. 1951)

    Temperament is the natural, inborn style of behavior of each individual. It’s the how of behavior, not the why.... The question is not, “Why does he behave a certain way if he doesn’t get a cookie?” but rather, “When he doesn’t get a cookie, how does he express his displeasure...?” The environment—and your behavior as a parent—can influence temperament and interplay with it, but it is not the cause of temperamental characteristics.
    Stanley Turecki (20th century)

    To be told that our child’s behavior is “normal” offers little solace when our feelings are badly hurt, or when we worry that his actions are harmful at the moment or may be injurious to his future. It does not help me as a parent nor lessen my worries when my child drives carelessly, even dangerously, if I am told that this is “normal” behavior for children of his age. I’d much prefer him to deviate from the norm and be a cautious driver!
    Bruno Bettelheim (20th century)