Compared to other rodent species, they are mild-mannered creatures, Otterbein said.

Woodrats play an ecological role in caching forest seeds, thus spreading them around. They are a vital part of the food chain as prey for owls, black rat snakes, raccoons and coyotes.

"The species is facing hard times," Otterbein said. "Our goal is to prevent them from becoming federally protected or extinct."

In an emergency action, the commission is feeding some of the remaining small pockets of the woodrats.

From December 2023 to February 2024, teams of Game Commission biologists, foresters, employees and others have been lugging 25-pound backpacks to spread 6,000 pounds of chestnuts in the forests, Otterbein said.

The chestnuts are deposited in deep crevices of rocks where the food will go specifically to woodrats and not other species, Otterbein said.

They are feeding woodrats at four sites in Fayette County, among about a dozen total sites in the state. The feeding program is in its sixth year.

And it's helping, Otterbein said. "The rats at the very least are not disappearing where we're feeding them," she said.

However, there are places in the state where they have just disappeared within one year.

Their plight and current status illustrate the myriad of problems faced by other species struggling with survival issues.

...continued

(c)2024 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.