July 2, 1805, at Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana.
Often brownish peppered with black hairs above, but varies from pale grayish to blackish; whitish below. Tail squirrel-like, bushy, and flattened from base to tip.
Rocky situations; coniferous forests.
Southeastern Yukon and extreme southwestern Northwest Territories south into northwestern U.S. to northern California and northwestern New Mexico, and east to southwestern North Dakota and western Nebraska.
The bushy-tailed woodrat is the original "pack rat," the species in which the trading habit is most pronounced. It has a strong preference for shiny objects and will drop whatever it may be carrying in favor of a coin or a spoon.
