Short fox catches rodent in bed (7)
I believe the answer is:
stratum
'bed' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'short fox catches rodent in' is the wordplay.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'fox' becomes 'stump' (I've seen this before).
'catches rodent' becomes 'rat' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'stump' with its final letter removed is 'stum'.
'stum' going around 'rat' is 'STRATUM'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stratum that I've seen before include "rock band" , "(Geological) layer" , "Bed of sedimentary rock" , "Social class - level" , "Layer (of rock)" .)