The Allegheny Woodrat PDF Download

The Allegheny woodrat (Neotoma magister), native to the eastern United States, was historically distributed throughout the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Alabama. Many northern populations have suffered dramatic declines in the past two decades. Although Kentucky is considered to have stable populations, woodrats have never been monitored in this state. The goal of this investigation was to establish baseline population parameters for monitoring N. magister in Kentucky. I conducted a 1-year mark and recapture study from May 1997 to April 1998 of two woodrat colonies (Murder Branch and Ratliff) in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Menifee County, Kentucky, Annual trap success for 880 trapnights was 22% at the Murder Branch site and 16 % at the Ratliff site. Male:female sex ratios for every marked individual were 1:1.47 and 1.45:1 at Murder Branch and Ratliff, respectively. At both sites, adult males tended to be larger than females. Juveniles grew at an average rate of 1.0 g/day (n = 12 individuals), and subadults grew at an average rate of 0.6 g/day (n = 11 individuals). Juveniles were present only in late spring and early summer at Murder Branch, but were present from early summer to mid-winter at Ratliff. It appeared the Allegheny woodrat was capable of breeding throughout the year, even during winter months, and may reach sexual maturity as early as six or seven months of age.