Size Preference for Novel Objects by the Eastern Woodrat (Neotoma floridana) Under Field Conditions1

Natural objects such as branches, leaves, bones and rocks are used in the construction and maintenance of houses by eastern woodrats (Neotomafloridana; Wiley, 1980). Woodrats also use novel items, e.g., pieces of metal, introduced into their home ranges. Ireland and Hays (1969) took advantage of this tendency and examined home range size from observations of the use of numbered tinfoil balls by woodrats. We examined use of novel items, aluminum foil balls, placed in areas used by woodrats under field conditions to answer two general questions: (1) Do woodrats exhibit a size preference for novel items? (2) Does preference vary with distance between the house or burrow and the available items? All experiments were conducted on the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area (KPRNA) about 10 km south of Manhattan, Kansas. In Experiment I, foil balls were placed at 10 stations arranged as five pairs along a limestone outcrop. Each pair consisted of one station on the bare top of the outcrop and one at the base of the outcrop. The two stations in each pair were within 2 m of each other and at least 4 m from the nearest woodrat house or burrow. The five pairs were placed at 30 m intervals along the outcrop. Four sizes