A rare and elusive rodent known as the Allegheny woodrat has been spotted on a trail in the Allegheny mountains in West Virginia. The Monongahela National Forest posted a video of the creature on Facebook, noting that the woodrat is considered a “sensitive species” and is on the Regional Forester’s Sensitive Species list. The woodrat, which was captured on a trail camera, is about 17 inches long and primarily inhabits hardwood forests with rocks and boulders.
Although the name may suggest a rat, the woodrat is actually more closely related to mice. The population of Allegheny woodrats in the U.S. is slowly declining, with an estimated population of 100,000 in the wild. Scientists believe that the decline may be due to factors such as the gypsy moth, which harms acorn-bearing oak trees, an important food source for the woodrats, and habitat degradation. In some states, including Pennsylvania, the woodrat is listed as “threatened and protected.”
Common predators of the Allegheny woodrat include raccoons, coyotes, weasels, great horned owls, and black rat snakes. The rodent’s range once extended from southwestern Connecticut west to Indiana and south to northern Alabama, but its population has significantly decreased in recent years. In 2022, both adult and young woodrats were discovered in West Virginia’s Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, marking the first time the animal had been seen in the area in 20 years.
Prior to this discovery, officials believed that the Allegheny woodrat had gone extinct in West Virginia and other parts along the Appalachian region. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated the woodrat as a “species of concern,” highlighting the need for conservation efforts to protect this elusive creature. The U.S. Forest Service noted that the population of Allegheny woodrats is declining, and more research is needed to understand the factors contributing to their decline.
