Common Name: Allegheny Woodrat or Pack Rat
Scientific Name: Neotoma floridana
Habitat: Rockslides, cliffs, rocky ledges, and caves at high elevations.
Diet: Herbivorous—including fruits, especially berries of dogwood, blackberry, cherry, and mountain ash, as well as fungi, fern, and other vegetation that it encounters.
Interesting Facts:
The mysterious decline of Allegheny woodrat populations throughout eastern North America has been the focus of much research in recent years. In Pennsylvania, there are only a few known sites where woodrat dens persist. As yet, none of the theories explaining this native rat’s diminished populations has been proven.