Spatial Utilization and Foraging Behavior of the Desert Woodrat, Neotoma lepida lepida

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Radiotelemetry and direct observations of feeding were used to determine the foraging patterns and foraging behavior of Neotoma lepida lepida. The majority of a 24-h period was spent at a diurnal den site; often this site was located near the edge of a home range. Each individual fed at several sites, each of which was characterized by overhead, side, and rear covering: only one side was open. These feeding sites were visited sequentially, always in the same order, several times a night; usually between sequences an animal returned to the diurnal den site. Travel between feeding sites, and between feeding sites and the diurnal den site, was usually rapid, suggesting that there was little exploratory behavior during those transits. Paths of transit between sites were limited to complex boulder microhabitat which allowed the rats to remain unexposed to visually orienting predators. Activities were thus concentrated at a few loci, and interconnecting pathways, around the periphery of the home range; there was little activity in the center of the home range. These woodrats displayed a highly stereotyped feeding behavior consisting of movement from a shelter to a food plant, removal of a twig and leaves, and retreat to shelter for consumption. It is suggested that these behaviors reflect a response to predation risk or risk of failure to obtain sufficient food when foraging.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: