A captive breeding program was started to augment the endangered woodrat population and help it recover more quickly. The Key Largo Woodrat forages for food mostly at night and in tree tops. Though fallen fruit can easily found on the forest floor, that is also where the rat is most vulnerable to its predators. During the day, Key Largo woodrats shelter in crevices and fissures in the island's limestone substrate, and under dense tangles of tree roots. The normal diet of the woodrats consists of green leaves, flowers, buds and fruit from the trees they reside in and under. Woodrats are seldom found near human habitation and, unlike introduced rat species that came to America from Europe and Asia, woodrats are not attracted to or known to consume garbage.