Changes in cache contents over winter in artificial dens of the eastern woodrat (Neotoma Floridana)

Abstract

Artificial dens constructed for eastern woodrats (Neotoma floridana) were occupied readily by animals, and thus, their caches were available for repeated sampling over winter. Caches contained significantly fewer kilocalories in spring than in winter (X̄ ± SE, winter = 6,808.6 ± 637.08 kcal, spring = 2,556.8 ± 319.12 kcal). Male and female woodrats using artificial dens did not differ significantly in weight or in the kilocalories available in their caches in winter or spring. Additionally, woodrats did not change significantly in weight from autumn to spring, and the weights of individual woodrats were not correlated with the kilocalories available in their caches. Of the 17 different types of food found in the caches in artificial dens, seven (dicot leaves, Osage-orange seed, honey locust seed, bark on stored twigs and sticks, herbaceous plant material, red cedar leaves, and grass) were in five or more of the 12 dens. A few food items, such as Osage-orange seeds, were cached by all woodrats, but the variety of other items appeared to depend on availability of food sources within foraging ranges of individuals.