How to Draw a Rock Rat

In this quick tutorial you'll learn how to draw a Rock Rat in 6 easy steps - great for kids and novice artists.

The images above represent how your finished drawing is going to look and the steps involved.

Below are the individual steps - you can click on each one for a High Resolution printable PDF version.

At the bottom you can read some interesting facts about the Rock Rat.

Make sure you also check out any of the hundreds of drawing tutorials grouped by category.

How to Draw a Rock Rat - Step-by-Step Tutorial

Step 1: Begin with a slightly squared oval, and a dot for the eye

Step 3: Continue with a long, squiggled, thin tail

Interesting Facts about the Rock Rat

This species of rodent is endemic only to Australia, and favors rocky areas of woodlands, grasslands and open forests. They especially like to live on cliff slopes. These environments offer many dark and cool hiding places for the rockrat, a nocturnal animal who is very prone to heat stroke if exposed to too much sunlight for too prolonged a time. Their fur is a golden-brown in color, with a white belly and a tail that doubles their body length in total. The tail is perhaps the most interesting thing about the rockrat, as it contains fat deposits that help to sustain it. This appendage can also be pulled off in some circumstances, which can help this ingenious rodent to escape some predators that it might come across. It is covered in very coarse, sparse hair and overlapping scales. It is not only hostile predators that can cause the tail to become separated from the rockrat’s body. Parasites, namely mites, are the most common culprit of tail loss in this species.

Did you know?

• Female rockrats may have numerous litters per year, with as few as two months between them.
• One of the most perplexing things about this rodent is the total lack of genetic variation in the species.
• Other names for the rockrat include the white-tailed rat, and the silver-tailed rockrat.
• Their feet are very wide and padded so that they can move from rock to rock very easily.
• A fat tail on a rockrat is an indicator of good health.
• They will also live inside buildings and dune ridges when their preferred habitat is not available for any reason.

The rockrat is an animal that is visibly impacted by stress. After the wet season ends in April, it is believed that the decreasing amount of available food supply, combined with the stress of the food supply loss, is the cause for dwindling populations in the months following April. This month is also when the majority of breeding occurs for the rockrat, because there are additional seeds available for them to feast on. When there are no seeds available, the rockrat will also eat grasses, fungi and insects. They live an average lifespan of 4.2 years, and are weaned off of their mothers by four weeks of age. When the young rockrats are still juvenile, their mother will carry them around with her as they hang from her belly.