Dipodomys ordii
(Ord's Kangaroo Rat)

Description:
The Ord’s Kangaroo Rat is one of the most widely distributed of all the kangaroo rats, but it is usually found in sandy soils. It is yellowish buff with some black mixed in on top and white below. It has stripes on its tail that are dark on top and bottom and white on the sides. The bottom tail stripe tapers to a point at the tip. It has 5 toes on its hind feet, other kangaroo rats can have 4 toes. It has distinct white spots at the base of its ears and above the eyes. Total body length is about 8 to 11 inches (200-275 mm), the tail is 4 to 6.5 inches (100-165 mm).

Range:
From southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, south to portions of Mexico, west to southern Washington, Oregon, northeastern California and Arizona, and east to Oklahoma, western Texas, and portions of Midwest.

Habitat:
This kangaroo rat prefers open, bare, sandy soil in grasslands, shrub steppe, or woodlands (e.g. sagebrush, rabbitbrush, greasewood, shadscale, pinyon/juniper, oak, mesquite). In Idaho, can be found in habitats dominated by sagebrush, shadscale, crested wheatgrass, kochia, greasewood, and halogeton. The key factor determining its distribution seems to be sandy soils.

Diet:
Feeds on seeds (mainly grasses and forbs). May also eat green vegetation, some insects, and other arthropods. In Idaho, diet includes seeds and leaves of halogeton, shadscale, Russian thistle, and several mustards.

Ecology:
Ord’s kangaroo rats are active most of the year but are dormant below ground in the winter in their northern range. They are strictly nocturnal and individuals are active only a maximum of 2 hours per night. In Utah, spring activity peaks shortly after sunset with a secondary peak occurring shortly before dawn. In Nevada, activity occurs only after midnight in winter, and mainly after midnight in summer. Activity increases under cloud cover, especially in winter, and decreases in inclement weather, on clear nights, and under bright moonlight, and ceases when temperatures are less than -11° C, or when snow cover is greater than 40%. This species often burrows at the base of shrubs or grasses. It stores food in the burrow. It is solitary except during the breeding season. Recorded population densities were 1 to 5 per 6.8 acres (2.7 ha) in Nevada, 10 to 27 per 2.5 acres (1ha) in Texas, and up to 53 per 2.5 acres (1 ha) in other areas. Their annual home range is about 2.5 acres (1 ha) or less. Individuals may live at least 2 years. As mentioned above, they prefer sandy soils. Kangaroo rats regularly dust bathe, or wallow, in the sandy soils, probably to protect against ectoparasites and to condition their fur which is quite oily.

Reproduction:
Females breed more than once in a year, but their reproductive patterns vary geographically: February to June in New Mexico; August to February in Texas; spring in Canada. Gestation lasts 29 to 30 days, their average litter size is 3. Young reach adult size in about 35 to 40 days, but reach sexual maturity in about 83 days. In Oklahoma, females may produce 2 litters per year in favorable years, and females born early in season may produce a litter before the end of the same season. Drought may inhibit reproduction.

Conservation:

Status:	Unprotected nongame species
Global Rank:	G5
State Rank:	S5

Important State References:
Larrison, E.J. and D.R. Johnson. 1973. Density changes and habitat affinities of rodents of shadscale and sagebrush.