Wood-rat (Noun)
Meaning
Any of various small short-tailed rodents of the northern hemisphere having soft fur grey above and white below with furred tails and large ears; some are hosts for Ixodes pacificus and Ixodes scapularis (Lyme disease ticks).
Classification
Nouns denoting animals.
Examples
- The biologists carefully tracked the movements of the wood-rat population in the forest to study their behavior.
- During the night, the wood-rat scavenged for seeds and berries in the underbrush of the forest floor.
- A wood-rat was found dead in the trap set by a park ranger to control the rodent population.
- Researchers have identified the wood-rat as a primary host for the ticks that transmit Lyme disease in some regions.
- As the hikers walked through the woods, they heard a rustling in the bushes and caught a glimpse of a quick-moving wood-rat.