In Texas, animal or plant species of conservation concern may be listed as threatened or endangered under the authority of state law and/or under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Species may be listed as state threatened or endangered and not federally listed. The state list deals only with the status of the species within Texas. A federal listing means that an animal is in decline throughout its entire range which may encompass several other states or nations. This series includes wildlife which may be close to extinction and is comprised of birds, fish, invertebrates, mammals, plants, amphibians and reptiles.
Texas Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys elator)
Texas Status: Threatened
Description: A fairly large, four-toed kangaroo rat with a conspicuous white tuft on the tip of its long tail. It has buff-colored fur and is white underneath.
Life History: The Texas Kangaroo Rat is rare and is listed as a threatened species by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. They live in underground dens with the entrance at the base or roots of a small mesquite tree. They make trails to their burrows. Texas Kangaroo Rats are highly nocturnal, only coming out when it is completely dark.
The diet of the Texas Kangaroo Rat consists of seeds, stems, and leaves of grasses, forbs, and some perennials. Domestic crops such as oats and introduced grasses like Johnson grass are the most important plants in their diet. Texas Kangaroo Rats store food to get them through periods of scarcity.
The kangaroo rat appears to breed year round, with peaks early spring and late summer. Their average litter size is three. Young kangaroo rats develop rapidly and immature females are often found to be pregnant within a few months of leaving their nest.
Habitat: This species lives in areas with clay soils and sparse, short grasses and small, scattered mesquite bushes.
Distribution: Texas Kangaroo Rats occur in north-central Texas from Cottle and Motley counties in the west to Montague County in the east.
Other: The Texas Kangaroo Rat is listed as "threatened" by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The primary threat is the clearing of the mesquite brush to which it is restricted.
Because this series is quite a distance from my house, maintenance is rather difficult. Log's get wet, containers break, and sometimes caches just flat go missing. If you dont find the cache, and believe it to be gone, or it needs maintenance, please feel free to make it whole again. As a thank you, you may add a second log to any that you do maintenance on. And thanks for the help.