Desert Woodrats seem to prefer to nest in cracks and caves (such as this little hole) where predators can't dig them out. |
They do, however, still armor the entrance, perhaps to discourage snakes from crawling in after them. |
Nest in a crack in a rock wall |
Plant material and woodrat scat at nest entrance |
Nest in a hole in a rock wall |
Nest in a hole in a rock wall |
Rocks and sticks piled up around and on a boulder |
Nest in the engine of a crashed jet fighter (F-100D) |
When nothing else is available ... stones piled under a bush |
When nothing else is available ... stones piled under a bush |
Desert Woodrat nest in an old mine building |
Desert Woodrat nest in an old mine building |
Desert Woodrat nest in an old mine building |
Desert Woodrat nest: details of Joshua tree leaves piled on the nest |
Desert Woodrat nest in old building debris |
This woodrat has been collecting vegetation |
Small woodrat nest beneath a Joshua Tree |
With only rock and gravel, pile up the gravel! |
In places without caves or cracks, woodrats will pile up stuff to make a fortified nest. In this case, the woodrats used cholla cactus spines. |
Close-up of cactus spines. I suspect that this would deter most predators from trying to dig out the woodrat. |
Woodrats build this nest in a pile of stones left along a highway after construction. |
With all the big stones at the base, this nest looks fairly safe, but there are not cactus spines here. |
Woodrats built this nest around the base of a Banana Yucca. They mostly piled sticks around the base of the plant. |
Without lots of cactus spines for defense, this woodrat nest was dug up by predators, probably coyotes or kit foxes. |
In an unusual example, woodrats built a nest inside the carcass of a cow. I imagine the hide makes for a dry roof and some degree of protection from predators. |
Woodrats are nothing if not ingenious. Here a woodrat filled an old tire with sticks and cactus spines. It doesn't like anyone wants to
dig into that!
|
Close-up of rocks, sticks, and cactus on a nest |
Nest of dead sticks and cactus spines |
Nest in fork of tree trunks |
Close-up of nest in fork of tree trunks |