Kangaroo Rat

(Dipodomys californicus)

Like gophers and squirrels, kangaroo rats have conspicuous food-storing cheek pouches but their most notable feature is their hind legs which enable them to jump many times their body length??up to 8 feet. Kangaroo rats move bipedally and may use a move-freeze maneuver as a stealth tactic. They prefer to eat seeds and hoard their food like gophers, using their cheeks for transport.

Where: Though kangaroo rats live in communal burrows, they tend to be solitary and have little to no social organization.