High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The family of rodents that include kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice and rock pocket mice is the Heteromyidae family. Most heteromyids live in complex burrows (as opposed to true rats that build nests) within the deserts and grasslands of western North America, though species within the Heteromys and Liomys genera are also found in forests and extend down as far as northern South America. They feed mostly on seeds and other plant parts, which they carry in their cheek pouches to their burrows.