Dusky-Footed Woodrats: A Home for the Holidays

As the holiday season arrives, many of us find comfort in gathering with loved ones, sharing meals, and creating warm, inviting spaces to call home. We light candles, set our tables with care, and transform our apartments and houses into cozy havens. But humans aren’t the only ones who take pride in crafting a safe, welcoming environment. In the quiet corners of Bay Area forests, dusky-footed woodrats are busy building their own intricate homes known as middens—complete with nurseries, food storage, and even pest control.

How to Spot a Midden

When people run into chaos — a ball of tangled cables, a junk drawer clogged with random items, or a child’s zany bedhead — they often compare it to a rat’s nest. But here’s the thing: that metaphor isn’t exactly fair. While a woodrat’s midden might look like a haphazard mound of debris, it’s anything but random. These dens are architectural marvels — elaborate, functional, and surprisingly tidy. And if you’ve ever hiked along a shaded trail at San Vicente Redwoods, chances are you’ve seen one.

From the outside, a midden presents as a large, rounded pile of sticks, roughly the size of a dome tent or hot tub. But beneath this no-frills exterior lies a palace created by the dusky-footed woodrat, a native rodent with a flair for construction and interior design. These nests boast multiple stories, terraces, hallways, and rooms, each with a specific purpose: nurseries for raising young, pantries for food storage, common areas for resting,  and even bathrooms. A single woodrat may maintain multiple homes — not for status or show, but to widen their foraging territory.

Meet the Architects

Before we take a peek inside, let’s get to know the residents. Dusky-footed woodrats are small, nocturnal creatures with a cinnamon-gray coat, long whiskers, and dark feet. They’re about the length of a rolling pin, half of that being their furry tail. Though they’re common in our region, you may never have seen one. As late-night foragers, they seldomly venture out after dark.

These clever rodents live in female-led colonies where birthing parents call the shots. Though they frequently pair with the same male year after year, once pregnant, females often grow intolerant of their mates. The males retreat to tree nests while females return to their mansion-like middens to raise their one to four pups. Senior females call dibs on the best houses, which, in my opinion, is how it should be!

When you see multiple middens near one another, you are looking at neighborhoods of extended, multigenerational dusky-footed woodrat families. When they’re ready to strike out on their own, female woodrats usually build or take over nests near the one they were born in. With family members moving in and out, middens remain standing and active for as long as 60 years! Often, passageways link these stick houses, leading to large common chambers underground.

What Makes a Midden Marvelous?

A well-built midden is more than a place to chow down and lounge.

It keeps dusky-footed woodrats safe from predators, shields them from harsh weather, and helps them stay warm or cool. It creates a cozy space where they and their pups can live apart from the dangers of the outside world.

An especially fascinating fact: they cohabitate across species, rooming alongside an array of creatures like salamanders,  lizards, mice, frogs, crickets, beetles, and millipedes.

Take a Tour!

Have a minute to spare? Learn more about dusky-footed woodrat middens from former POST staffer, Matt Dolkas.

Sleeping quarters:

These rooms aren’t just for catching Z’s — they’re nurseries where woodrats raise several litters over their lifetimes. Woodrats construct their sleeping quarters under large rocks or logs for increased safety. They line their dens with shredded bark for warmth and scatter California bay laurel leaves around the perimeter. Nibbling on these leaves releases powerful oil that wipes out flea larvae and other parasites. To keep things fresh, they replace the bay laurel every few days. 

Pantries:

Woodrats are hearty eaters, filling up on fungi, seeds, fruits, inner bark, and the occasional mealworm. When it comes to spacious, well-organized pantries, woodrats know the drill. They often build three food storage spaces for fungi, leaves, and acorns, respectively. Some scientists theorize that these pantries are climate-controlled, each optimized for a food source’s drying needs. Fun fact: one of their favorite foods is poison oak!  

Outhouse:

Woodrats typically place their outhouses just outside their midden’s back door, conveniently located for when nature calls. Given that they poop over 100 pellets a day, dusky-footed woodrats are fortunately not slouches when it comes to housekeeping. When the time comes to tidy up the outhouse, they shove pellets through their rear entrance and into the open air, where they benefit the ecosystem by fertilizing the soil.

With so many tiny bladders emptying in the outhouse, crystallized urine builds up in piles. Once you get past the ick factor, you might be surprised to learn that these well-preserved urine piles have led to some startling scientific discoveries. Using radiocarbon dating, scientists have found materials like bone fragments and plant matter within them that are more than forty thousand years old!

Interior Design:

It’s only fitting that we show some appreciation for the eclectic decor. Like burrowing owls and many humans, woodrats tend to collect shiny objects. When they come across a new treasure, they’ll abandon whatever they’re carrying to claim the new item. Swapping one load for another has earned them the nickname trade rats. These resourceful rodents are reported to have made off with lighters, pens, shoes, lace curtains, crackers, soap, wallpaper, and gum wrappers. They use their hauls to doll up their quarters.

Wrapping Up

And that brings our tour to a close! We hope you’ve developed a greater appreciation for dusky-footed woodrats and their remarkable homes. As you gather with loved ones in your own cozy, well-decorated “nest” this holiday season, take a moment to think about these fascinating rodents. After all, we share a common goal: to create a safe, functional space filled with personal touches.