Key+Largo+Woodrat+2010

By: Autumn P.



The Key Largo Woodrat is a subspecies of the Florida woodrat is a medium sized rat. It lives in Key Largo, Florida, in the United States. The Key Largo Woodrats diet is fruit, leaves and buds. Since the 1920s, it has lost almost half of its traditional habitat. A project called port Bougainville, with 15 hotels besides condos would add 45, 000 inhabitants to North Key Largo by the year 2, 000 adding to the pressure on the crocodile and other animals. The rat grows to 260 grams and it has a gray- brown back and white belly, chest, and throat, and a hairy tail. In heliotype, an adult male, total length is 368 mm (14.5 in), tail length 167 mm (6.6 in), hind foot length is 37 mm (1.5 in), ear length 26 mm (1.0), dimensions testis 14x8.5 mm (0.55x0.33 in), and mass is 7.3 oz. The Key Largo Woodrat builds its nest out of sticks; these nests can be as high as a man's shoulder. They are handed down from generation to generation, and some are possibly centuries old. They are endangered because they are building Botanical State Park now takes up 2, 421 acres and it’s also near a crocodile lake. We should save them by studying them so we can keep track of them and know where they are and where they disappeared from.