I’m finding them in my storage sheds. Well, I’ve found two or three. There is one large one in my hay shed up on the top shelf of a shelf unit. It’s impressive. It’s also sort of scary, and it is very messy, since sticks will drop down into the lower shelves.
I’m trying to decide if I want to destroy it. IMO, wood rats/pack rats are sort of neat critters.
Should I or shouldn’t I?
I loved my pack rat! I was so sad when we found him dead when we cleaned out our hay before the new load came in. We found his pack midden in a cupboard: A mound of assorted grains from horse and chicken, with a nest of horse hair and chicken feathers atop it like a very warm throne. I wondered where all the molted feathers were going.
I vote to leave it. They are so territorial that you only get one at a time.
I saw one in my barn about six weeks ago. I wasn’t sure what it was, as I’d never seen one before. They are so cute! I haven’t seen it since, so I don’t know if it left (would it leave, or would it hide under/between the hay bales?). I have a barn cat but I find no evidence of him actually hunting…
I had to destroy the midden because it was built around something that I needed. I’m not sure that a pack rat was living there, but I did scare out a very big, blue- gray rat who looked incredibly healthy. There are a huge number of pecan shells in the debris, along with large sticks, pieces of wood and hay. It will take me another whole half day to clean completely.
Middens are fascinating - I’ve heard stories of people finding things like non-native bones, jewelry, odds and ends in middens. I’m jealous you have a packrat… I’d love one to be picking up the chicken feathers around here :winkgrin:
How big is a pack rat? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in person.
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