The Original Hoarders

Pack Rats - the Original Hoarders

I am often asked, "Do you ever find something valuable in a pack rat nest?

My answer, not really, but occasionally we do find something interesting. Pack rats are fascinating creatures and I never cease to be amazed at some of the things they decide to "collect".

Above is a sample of some recent finds.  

A. Plug - no cord, just the plug. Pack rats are notorious for their love of chewing wires. In this case the rat neatly severed the plug from the cord and took it home as a souvenir. 

B. Rubber Ducky - who does not love a rubber ducky? Pack rats do! The size of this rubber ducky is about the size of a pack rat's body. Why would the rat grab it and drag it all the way home? One of life's great mysteries. 

C. Walking Wind-up Teeth - never let it be said pack rats do not have a sense of humor.

D. Balls - in this case three University of Arizona play golf balls, all nibbled upon.  More than any other man-made object pack rats love and collect balls.  Balls, balls, balls - golf balls, tennis balls, wiffle balls, even a soccer ball once. Pack rats love balls! 

E. Toy Fire engine - this is not some match box toy. This is an old die-cast toy from the fifties. 

F. Jesus - when everything in the world wants to eat you, it never hurts to have a little religion.

G. Bow Tie - adult pack rats live alone, but they are social and do interact with other rats. Sometimes maybe formally. 

H. Squeaky Toy Poodle - the best pack rat finds come from nests near homes with small children or dogs.  The rats love to "borrow" toys of all types.

I. Flip Flop - Do you ever leave your flip flops outside by the patio door and find one missing? Somebody did. It is incredible that a rat could carry something as big and heavy as a flip flop off. Note that the fabric "upper" has been completely chewed off.  

J. HO Train track - I have to ask myself - where do the rats find this stuff? 

H. Pack of Cigarettes - these were were found in a nest about forty feet away from a patio table where they were left. The owner was not happy to find them missing. 

L. Silver Spoon - A personal favorite of mine because there is a wonderful children's book called Desert Night Shift, by Conrad J. Storad, that I read to my grandchildren. The main character of the book, Penny Pack Rat, experiences many perils searching for a silver spoon as a gift for her Nana. A great book for kids, and yes indeed pack rats do seek out silver spoons. 

M. Sheriff's Badge - another toy. Finding a toy in a rat nest never get old and always makes my day.

N. Champagne Cork (slightly chewed) - Champagne, black ties - who knows what goes on while we are asleep and the pack rats roam.

99% of what pack rats collect is natural- sticks, stones, cactus. They also collect dead small animal carcasses, animal dung of all types, snake skins and bones. Most of the rest is trash. The items pictured were found in the process of removing hundreds of pack rat nests over a period of months.  

Peppers for Pack Rats

I recently was called out by a client who had seen pack rat droppings on her back patio. She had put out poison, but the droppings continued. I saw she had a small bar type cabinet on the patio.

When I pulled the cabinet away I could see chewing, wood chips and immediately knew the source of the problem.

The cabinet had two sliding doors in the back that were closed , but there was a hole above that the rats had nicely enlarged to gain access to the space below.

I opened one of the doors to below to see where the rats where going and said to the customer, "you must have a string of peppers somewhere". She  said she did and pointed to the wall over her shoulder and we both saw this:

What had been a full string of chili peppers was now just a string. The pack rat had climbed the wall and removed the peppers one by one and stored them inside the cabinet.  

Underneath the peppers was a thick layer of acorns. Looking inside on the far left was a few more peppers and a nice nest.

I trapped a nice big pack rat that night and the next day began to clean out the debris and the nest. Under the peppers and mixed in with the acorns was some of the poison the customer had put out.

Poison bait (green pellets) in food store.

I also found the body of a dead, now mummified, poison rat in the lower corner of the cabinet.

I filled a large trash bag with all of acorns and peppers in the nest and it weighed over 40 lbs!

Lessons learned:

• Pack rats are adept climbers and can go right up a brick wall
• Pack rats can easily chew though wood
• Pack rats love enclosed spaces
• Pack rats store far more food, including poison, than they consume
• If one rat is poisoned another just moves in and takes over

In the end the cabinet was cleaned, disinfected and rat-proofed.  I told the customer to keep the cabinet at least 12 inches away from the wall to discourage other rats from investigating.

Cool Nest - Attic

Rats in an Attic

Pack rats often nest in attics, but seldom is the actual nest visible, because the rats prefer to nest under the insulation where the temperatures are lower.  This nest is above a free standing garage where there was no insulation and the full extent of the nest is visible.

The rat gained entry into the attic through a torn bird screen.

Pack rats like to always have an alternative escape route whenever possible.  Since there was no  insulation, I could clearly see where the rat probed a gap in the sheet rock.

The rat settled on chewing a hole through a solid  2x6 as you can see in the picture below.

The pack rat in this attic did a significant amount of damage to the wiring in the attic.  Mostly by striping off the outer insulation. You can see pieces of the insulation below with the teeth marks clearly viable.

Needless to say.  You do not want pack rats in your attic. 

Cool Nest - Outside Diorama

Outside Diorama 

What makes this pack rat nest so cool is not the nest, but the location.  The person who owned the home where this was located was a wood carver.  The figures you see above, are life size wood carvings.  To create a genuine southwestern them, he added an old mine cart and built fake mine shaft.

The wall of mine shaft is where the pack rat built its home.  You can see a hole leading to the nest at the base of the wall with some cholla protecting it.

A few feet away another pack rat built a home under an old wooden barrel.

 The lesson to be learned is that a pack rat will build a home anyplace they can find shelter.

Cool Nest -- Evaporative Cooler

Evaporative Cooler

The cool nest this week is actually in a evaporative cooler.  The picture above is with the front cover and part of the pad removed. Below are closeups with the entire pad removed.

There was a rusted out hole on the side of the cooler that allowed the rat to enter.  You can see the hole on the lower right corner of the picture below.

The owners of the home had a dog and the rat had carried in a fair amount of dog poop into the nest. Some is visible if you look closely.  Collecting dog droppings is an interesting behavior common with pack rats that seems to make no sense.  My personal theory is the rats do it to discourage bobcats.

Fortunately the owners had a damper in place that blocked the rats from entering the duct work of the house.  I have seen other nests on duct work and just imagine breathing the dust and other matter from a nest like this one.  You really don't want pack rats in your duct system.

This cooler was totally shot from the rust and rats and had to be hauled off after trapping the resident rat.

Cool Nest - Propane Tank

On Top a Propane Tank

"Give me shelter and I will nest" - could be the pack rat motto.  In fact a pack rat must have some level of shelter before it will even consider building a nest.  Anything with some level of enclosure/protection will do, as illustrated by this week's Cool Nest - a large (4 ft tall) propane tank.

The actual sleeping area of the pack rat nest was under the tank which sits on a two inch raised lip.  The tank was too heavy to move, so I could not get a picture of it.  What you are seeing is the food store, primarily mesquite beans and pieces of quail bird block on top of the tank.

The tank is tall and too smooth for even a pack rat to climb up, but notice the convenient branch above the tank.  One rat carefully climbed the tree carrying a single piece of food; lowered itself on the branch; dropped onto the tank; carefully hid the morsel under the tank cover; and then did the same thing a few more hundred times!  If anything pack rats are resourceful.

We trapped the pack rat, screened off the bottom of the tank, cleaned up the food store and trimmed the tree - problem 100% solved - no poison bait needed, no reoccurring problem.

Cool Nest - Hose Reel

Hose Reel

Looks innocent enough.  Just a typical hose reel until you look inside.

The rat is living underneath and has carefully stuffed hundred of mesquite beans inside.

These enclosed hose reels have become very popular with homeowners and pack rats.  Here is another with a rat nest inside:

Cool Nest - In a Couch

In a Couch

A nice comfortable sofa under a covered patio. The pack rats sure thought so and in short order destroyed the couch. The customer noticed some rat droppings by the sofa, but had no idea what was going on underneath. 

What makes this nest extra cool are the number of oranges the rats cut of a near by tree and carefully rolled and stored under the sofa. A pack rat itself is not much bigger than an orange. Lesson - never put upholstered furniture outside.

Cool Nest - High Voltage Panel

 High Voltage Panel

High voltage power breaker switch box for the main spa building at Canyon Ranch Resort. 

The chewed wire in the picture if as thick as your thumb and carries 480V. This was a fire waiting to happen. 

We trapped the rat, had the power shut down and cleaned out about 50lbs for cactus, sticks and pack rat poop. We then screened a small gap that was letting the rats inside. 

Cool Nest - BBQ

BBQ

In the mood to grill? Surprise, pack rats love grills! This was a brand new grill. The customer had a cover over the grill. They noticed some pack rat droppings under the grill and some chewing on the cover. They were afraid to open it. I removed the cover, opened the grill and this is what was inside. Even though the grill could be cleaned, the customer requested we take it away - never used, except as a nice pack rat house.

Below are a few more nests in grills for your enjoyment.

Cool Nest - Coke Machine

Coke Machine

Diet Coke anyone? 

This Coke machine had stopped working and pack rats were to blame. After catching the rat, we laid the machine on its side for better access. 

What is most impressive about this nest is the amount of material the rat had stuffed into the small mechanical area of the machine.

 Coke machines are rare, but we see this problem frequently with refrigerators kept outside.

Cool Nest - In Table Drawers

In Table Drawers

What makes this nest cool is not that the rat built a nest in a drawer.

It is the thin tall legs of the table it had to climb. Then the rat had to navigate upside down and chew a larger gap to get into the drawer. Amazing pack rats!

Cool Nest - Under a Ramp

Under a Ramp

Pack rat home under a ramp(top removed) to a shed. A great example of the sleeping nest - cozy and well insulated.

Where did the pack rat get all of the soft cotton fiber to build the sleeping nest?  Here is what is left of a near by mop. . .