General Distribution
Occurrences of this subspecies on the Los Padres National Forest have been recorded at Chew's Ridge,
China Camp, Limekiln Creek, and south Chalk Peak along the Santa Lucia Mountains (Hooper
1938). These are old museum records, and no additional information is available for this subspecies on
National Forest System lands. Monterey dusky-footed woodrat is common at the Hastings Reserve
(Williams and others 1992), just northeast of Los Padres National Forest. Woodrat studies have been
ongoing at the Hastings Reserve since the 1930s (Patton pers. comm.). Dr. Motocq (pers. comm.)
conducted her focused study of the Santa Lucia or Monterey woodrat Neotoma fuscipes luciana at the
Hastings Reservation, north of the Los Padres National Forest in the Carmel Valley. She had four
primary study sites, lower Carmel Valley, the Hastings Reservation, near Arroyo Seco campground on
the Los Padres National Forest and within Fort Hunter-Liggett.
Additional occurrences of Monterey dusky-footed woodrat on lands adjacent to the Los Padres National
Forest include Seaside, Monterey, and Fort Ord to the north; San Lucas and San Ardo to the east; and
the vicinity of Paso Robles between the northern and southern portions of Los Padres National Forest
(Hall 1981). Systematics
Hall (1981) recognized 11 subspecies of Neotoma fuscipes. The range of Monterey dusky-footed
woodrat is bordered by three other subspecies: N. f. perplexa, N. f. annectens, and N. f. macrotis. Where
these ranges adjoin, intergradations occur (Hooper 1938). These four subspecies can be distinguished
by cranial characters, glans penes and molecular characters. As reported by Patton (pers. comm.), recent
work by Matocq (2002a, 2002b in press) show that the two subspecies groups of Hooper (1938)
represent valid, distinct species, each well diagnosed by trenchant morphological (cranial and soft
anatomical) characters and gene sequences, that contact one another but do not hybridize along the
Estrella River in San Luis Obispo County (populations throughout the entire Santa Lucia Range, from
Monterey south to Morro Bay and all populations occurring on National Forest System lands, belong to
the subspecies N. f. Luciana). This contact is between the named taxa luciana and bullatior. Of
importance to this account, the Santa Lucia woodrat becomes Neotoma macrotis luciana, as true
Neotoma fuscipes (including bullatior) becomes restricted to populations in the central inner coast
ranges (Diablo, Gavilan, etc.), San Francisco Bay Area, and northern California (Patton pers. comm.). Habitat Requirements
Dusky-footed woodrats are generally found in dense chaparral, coastal sage-scrub, pinyon-juniper, oak
and riparian woodlands, and mixed conifer forest habitats that have a well-developed understory
(Carraway and Verts 1991). They seem to favor brushy habitat or woodland with a live oak component.
They are highly arboreal, and thick-leaved trees and shrubs are important habitat components (Williams
and others 1992). Populations at Hastings Reserve, a few miles north of historic locations on the Los
Padres National Forest, appear to prefer drier sites with a high percentage of live oaks and a mixed shrub
understory. Overhead branches and downed logs appear to be important structural habitat components
for this population (Williams and others 1992). Monterey dusky-footed woodrats at Fort Ord were
found in coast live oak woodland and savanna habitat (U.S. Army Corp of Engineers 1993).
Dusky-footed woodrats require an abundant supply of downed wood, sticks, bark, and miscellaneous
plant materials to build stick houses (nests) for protection, food storage, resting, rearing of young, and
social communications (Carraway and Verts 1991). Houses are generally constructed in areas that are
dark, moist, and cool, and that provide good cover. This species has been known to build stick houses
below rocky bluffs, in trees, on the ground, on north-facing hillsides, and on canyon slopes (Carraway
and Verts 1991). Reproduction
The breeding season of dusky-footed woodrats in the Berkeley Hills, California, extends from February
through November (Vestal 1938). At the Hastings Reserve, reproduction occurred year-round, with the
fewest pregnancies during December and the most during February. The number of juveniles appearing
outside the nest was highest in July and lowest in January and February. Females produced from 1–5
litters per year, with 1–4 young per litter (Williams and others 1992). Daily/Seasonal Activity
This species is primarily nocturnal and active year-round. Diet and Foraging
Information on the diet of dusky-footed woodrats was obtained from cached food materials (Carraway
and Verts 1991). These food materials consisted primarily of plants that were readily available in the
habitat surrounding the nest. Individual food caches in the Berkeley Hills, California, averaged 4.5
species of plants, with a range of 3–6 species (Vestal 1938). Most of the diet includes evergreen
sclerophyll vegetation high in fiber, tannins, and related polyphenolics (Carraway and Verts 1991). Territoriality/Home Range
In California, the density of stick houses ranged from 3–15 per acre (7.4–37.1 per hectare); however,
densities in the Berkeley Hills (Vestal 1938) were reported as high as 23 houses per acre (57 houses per
hectare). The average home range of individual dusky-footed woodrats supports approximately 1.8 stick
houses (Carraway and Verts 1991). Predator-Prey Relations
Common predators of dusky-footed woodrats include skunk (Mephitis mephitis), coyote (Canis latrans),
foxes, bobcat (Felis rufus), mountain lion (Felis concolor), spotted owl (Strix occidentalis), barn owl
(Tyto alba), great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), and red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). Literature Cited
Carraway L.N.; Verts, B.J. 1991. Neotoma fuscipes. Mammalian Species 386: 1-10. American Society
of Mammalogists.
Hall, E.R. 1981. The mammals of North America. 2d ed. 2: 601-1181. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Hooper, E.T. 1938. Geographical variation in woodrats of the species Neotoma fuscipes. University of
California Publications in Zoology, 42: 213-245.
Matocq, M.D. 2002a. Phylogeographical structure and regional history of the dusky-footed woodrat,
Neotoma fuscipes. Molecular Ecology 11(2): 229-242.
Matocq, M.D. 2002b. Morphological and molecular analysis of a contact zone in the Neotoma fuscipes
species complex. Journal of Mammalogy 83(3): 886-883.
U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. 1993. Fort Ord and reuse environmental impact statement. Final. June.?Sacramento District, Sacramento, CA. Technical assistance from Jones & Stokes Associates,
Inc., Sacramento, CA.
Vestal, E.H. 1938. Biotic relations of the woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes) in the Berkeley Hills. Journal of
Mammalogy 18: 364.
Williams, D.F.; Verner, J.; Sakai, H.F.; Waters, J.R. 1992. General biology of major prey species of the
California spotted owl. In: The California spotted owl: A technical assessment of its current status.
USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report PSW-133; 207-221.
Information gathered from California DFG - California Interagency Wildlife Task Group
