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Packrats, Nature’s Up-cyclers
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2016/07 - July
On a recent green salamander expedition with North Carolina Wildlife Biologist Lori Williams, we uncovered a pack rat nest in a rocky outcropping. Lori admitted a fondness for packrats, a.k.a. wood rats. They’re docile little mountain critters that live in nests lined with leaves, grasses, twigs, and collected treasure and loot.
“I was working with another biologist when we found a woodrat nest lined with a shredded paperback that someone was probably reading while sunning on a secluded rock,” says Lori. “The reader forgot the book and a packrat made off with the booty.”
Apparently this particular rat had a fascination for Tolkien.
Packrats, as their name implies, are accumulators of everything from abandoned books to shiny objects. They often leave a nut or pebble in exchange for pilfered items.
The biologists were doing research on the critters, catching them in traps for a quick study/release. To snag this little guy, guess how they baited the trap. Cheese? Nah. Peanut butter? Nah. They lured it with another paperback, and Paco the Packrat couldn’t resist.
North Carolina Wildlife Commission biologists study the habits of all wild critters, often detaining them temporarily, checking them for parasites, disease, etc, and then releasing them back into the wild having collected data to assist in preserving habitat, tracking species movement, and documenting populations.
On this little guy’s release, in exchange for his inconvenience, he was given a “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Kidding!
To learn more about wood rats and other small mammals living in your own back yard, visit ncwildlife.org. And if you abandon a library book or drop your gold watch in the woods, Paco says, “Thank you!”
