Ord's Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys ordii, is a kangaroo rat that is native to Western North America, specifically the Great Plains and the Great Basin with its range extending from extreme southern Canada to central Mexico.Ord's Kangaroo Rat has a 5th toe on its hind foot which distinguishes it from Dipodomys elator. It is bicolored with gold-brown dorsal hair and a white stomach. It has a long tail with a bushy tip, and is dark dorsally and ventrally with a white lateral stripe.
Ten Facts about Ord's Kangaroo Rat
- Its hind foot is modified for jumping and exceeds 35 mm in length.
- its total length exceeds 240 mm. Its tail is usually less than 160 mm.
- Ord's kangaroo rat ranges from southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan to southern Hidalgo, Mexico, and from central Oregon and eastern California east to central Kansas and Oklahoma.
- Ord's kangaroo rats are nocturnal. They spend the day in deep burrows.
- Gestation lasts 28 to 32 days.
- In captivity the maximum litter size was six young.
- The longest-lived Ord's kangaroo rat in captivity was 7 years 5 months.
- Ord's kangaroo rats are primarily granivorous and herbivorous. They consume a variety of foods but most commonly the seeds of grasses and forbs, green vegetation, and dry vegetation.
- Predators includes snakes, dogs, wild cats, birds, owls, foxes.
- Ord's kangaroo rat burrows have 3-inch (7.6 cm) diameter openings.
