Pack rats may nest within their midden, however they often nest in nearby separate location. And the debris items have been studied, finding some of them to date back as much as 50,000 years, allowing scientists to study changes in vegetation and climate. So they definitely have a penchant for hoarding items and “packing” them back to their “midden.” Their midden is a pile of debris that can be taken over by other pack rats over many years. Pack rats are infamous for steeling camping gear, tools, and anything “interesting” that is man-made. This is where the name “trade rat” comes from-they will trade one thing they are carrying for anything more delightful along the way. In fact, they’ll immediately drop whatever they’re carrying should they find something shiny, like a coin or a piece of dinnerware. They want your stuff! Pack rats are known for gathering much more than pinecones and sticks. So they’re rather pretty, even cute, but don’t let that fool you. ![]() ![]() It is mostly nocturnal and does not hibernate. Our local pack rat has a busy tail and looks a bit like a chinchilla. Pack-rats are, also known as “trade rats” and “wood rats,” don’t have a naked tail as our all too friendly Brown rats and Roof rats that so often live in or next to our houses, given the chance. The predominant species in Washington is the Bushy-tailed Pack Rat and it is not a rat in the common sense we normally think of. “Pack rat” is a name given to a subfamily of rodents known for gathering items in their nest. Pack rats really exist, and they do quite well in Washington state. Author: Kurt Treftz, Cascade Pest Control Are Pack Rats Really Rats?Īs a kid my dad would look in my bedroom and jokingly call me a “pack rat.” It’s a phrase we often attribute to an accumulation of stuff, especially when it tends toward outright ‘hoarding.’ But where does that phrase and its associating come from?
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