Ord's Kangaroo Rat

Fascinating facts about the Ord's Kangaroo Rat

• Ord's kangaroo rat hind feet that exceed 35 mm. Its hind feet are modified for jumping, and exceed 35 mm in length, and its total length exceeds 240 mm. The long tail with a bushy tip. This extreme locomotion lets the rat escape predators such as hawks and rattlesnakes, and colonize shifting sand dunes where few mammals can survive.
• A single Ord's kangaroo rat may make tens to hundreds of caches, each with tens to hundreds of seeds. Harvested seeds are transported in cheek pouches to burrows and consumed or cached there. This behavior not only fuels the rat's water-conserving diet but also promotes plant germination.
• In the Great Basin, Ord's kangaroo rats can reach densities of 113 individuals per 10 ha. In intermountain salt-desert shrublands, the population density averaged 28 individuals per 10 ha in shadscale communities and 135 individuals per 10 ha in black greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) communities.
• Ord's kangaroo rats travel surprisingly little: most are recaptured within 50 m of their original burrow, and lifetime movements rarely exceed 100 m, underscoring their strong site fidelity. Recapture data for Ord's kangaroo rats in Arizona indicated they do not travel far from the home range; most Ord's kangaroo rats were recaptured within 165 ft (50 m) of the original capture site. Data on the lifetime movements of individuals indicated most were recaptured within 330 feet (100 m) of the original capture site.
• Breeding can happen year-round in Texas, but in colder parts the rats disappear above ground in winter, showing how temperature drives their reproductive calendar. The average length of the breeding period is 6.8 months. In Texas, males are fertile all year, with peak reproductive activity occurring between August and March. Higher reproductive rates are associated with increased precipitation and food supply and decreased population density.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Ord's Kangaroo Rat

In the arid expanse of the North American grasslands, the Ord's Kangaroo Rat embarks on its nocturnal ballet, its oversized hind legs propelling it in graceful, bounding arcs across the moonlit landscape. With each leap, it covers vast distances, its keen senses alert to the subtlest whispers of potential predators, as it navigates a world of creosote bushes and sandy dunes with an effortless, almost ethereal, ease. As it pauses to sniff the night air, its large, round eyes shine like dark jewels, drinking in the secrets of its desert realm.

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