Short-tailed Nesokia

Habitat. Tropical and subtropical dry deciduous forests, scrublands, grasslands, arable land, pastures, and plantations from sea level to elevations of ¢. 1600 m. Short-tailed Bandicoot Rats prefer areas with moist soil near permanent water sources. They are found in more mountainous regions in China. Food and Feeding. The Short-tailed Bandicoot Rat is herbivorous, subsisting on foods found while digging burrows and plants around their burrow. Diets contain roots, grasses, grains, vegetables, and fruits from cultivated fields. On occasion, large quantities of food is stored, probably as a result of diminishing food resources or seasonal change. In a date palm (Phoenix dactylifera, Arecaceae) orchard in Balochistan, diet consisted of 37 - 6 % date palm fruit and 18 % date palm stems; grasses and other unidentified leaves and roots made up the rest of the diet. Breeding. Short-tailed Bandicoot Rats seem to reproduce year-round, although activity peaks in monsoon season. Litters have 1 - 10 young; gestationslast c. 17 days. Females can breed multiple times a year, usually c. 3 times. Activity patterns. The Short-tailed Bandicoot Rat is nocturnal; foraging, general movements on the ground’s surface, and probably breeding occur at night. It is terrestrial but primarily fossorial, creating burrow systems in moist soils, consisting of a few to many tunnels, storage chambers, and nesting chamber. Movements, Home range and Social organization. Storage chambers are not lined with vegetation and are expansive; nesting chambers are lined with finely chewed vegetation and are smaller (c. 30 cm wide). Burrows are usually 15 - 60 cm underground and found around permanent bodies of water and have been found in canals. Burrows can be as long as 23 m, although smaller burrows are more common. Runways over the surface connect burrows. Usually, only a single individual or a female with young / juveniles occupies a burrow.