The most popular occurrences of pack rats are located in the regions of Southern and Western America. However, you may also find them in some regions of the eastern United States and Western Canada. In comparison to typical rats, pack rats are little smaller in size and have a long, sometimes bushy tails. Their entire body is well furred and has large protruding ears. If described physically, they may reach a length of 18 inches including tail. These rats are pale buff, gray or reddish brown, typically with white undersides and feet. Pack rats of the genus Neotoma, of North and Central America, are known for their tendency of collecting clear, shiny objects and leaving other objects, like nuts or pebbles, in their place. In fact, because of their ability, they are also termed as trade rat or wood rat. They also have the affinity towards new startling objects and do drop their bearings, if they encounter anything more captivating and interesting. Basically these rats collect all such materials in order to decorate their nests. Pack rats come from the classification of phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, and class Mammalia, and order Rodentia, family Cricetidae. On talking about their habitat, it would be interesting to read that they prefer surrounding such as gravel desert lowlands, dry plains, brush lands and pinyon-juniper forests, from below sea level to 8,000 feet. In total, there are about 22 known species of Pack rats, 8 out of which are present in deserts of North America. These rats come from the family of Cricetidae (order Rodentia).

Life style and Behavior

The nests of desert-dwelling pack rats are often built in or around cactus; specifically cholla and beavertail. Their nests provide complete shielding from extreme desert temperatures and protection from predators by making use of cactus pads and cactus spines in the structuring. Such construction methods allow the nests to stay cooler than the surrounding desert floor in summer and in winters, it helps retaining the animals’ body heat. The pack rats are pretty unassailable to predators, except for the badger. The pack rat is most susceptible when out foraging for food, in fact, mostly get trapped by coyote, fox, snake or owl.

Mostly nocturnal and vegetarian, desert pack rats survive on a food stuffs comprising spiny cactus, yucca pods, bark, berries, pinyon nuts, seeds and any accessible green vegetation. For water requirements of the body, they totally rely on juicy plants since they do not have the developed metabolic and water conservation capabilities like Pocket Mice and Kangaroo Rats. Pack rats are counted among few animals that can steer away with impunity between cactus spines to feed on the juicy pads. Pack rats usually make their nest with stuff from plants such as branches, twigs, sticks and other debris. Those, who love to give them shelter in their homes, must have encountered their basic nature of creating nuisance, hopping onto everything from attics to car machine, prowling their treasures, damaging electrical wiring and wreaking general, noisy havoc. However, if talked practically, pack rat is hoarding of items which no longer carry any value or that are nothing more messy clutter.

Pack rats are relentless travelers. They habitually spend their nights bustling about on limbs of shrubs or taking probing excursions over trails they visited previously. During nights, what they all do is pick up insects, seeds, small berries either to eat immediately or store. It goes without saying that along with seeds, they also bring home a good number of sticks, cactus joints, and other objects for making or protecting their homes. Moreover, they are intelligent enough to daunt their predator’s curiosity by placing pieces of prickly pear or cholla in front of the entrance to the nest.

Life Cycle

It may be interesting for many to know that the reproductive behavior of pack rats is exceptionally variable in the wild and significantly much more untamed when domesticated. A litter is born after a conception period of 33 to 39 days and holds from two to six young. They are born with almost no hair on their body and thereby, remain helpless and are cared for in nests. Amusingly, some desert female pack rats have been identified to deliver up to 5 litters per year with as many as 5 young per litter. It is believed that new born babies, open their eyes after 10-12 days and are normally weaned between 14 and 42 days. As far as their sexual activities are concerned, they get mature after 60 days. Moreover, in case of exceptionally large litter, the mother packrat usually dies after weaning. Generally, all packrats are polygamous and some mate for the time of a single breeding season.

Protection and prevention

Pack rats can bring a great deal of trouble if allowed to make entries to your home, office or any other building. They are superb climbers and can willingly climb brick, stucco or wood sided homes. Secondly, Pack Rats are allied with a number of diseases that infect humans counting plague and Lyme disease. Hence, prevention from their presence inside your house can be quite imperious for you and especially for your kids. You can usually, keep them away from your home by using traps, Rat snap trap, live trap, burrow-entrance traps, or glue boards or poison. Moreover, you can use enticing baits such as butter & oatmeal, nuts, bacon rind, raisins, or dried fruit. Pack rats are not very scared of new objects or manmade things within their territory, in fact, it actually attracts them sometimes. Unfortunately, this makes them fairly easy to trap. Most rat poisons, while being effectual, are hazardous and unsafe, and must be used only under professional regulation. Also, most “poisoned” pellet baits should be totally avoided as rats may carry the pellets to store in their nest.

Pack rat middens or mounds

No article about pack rats can come to an end without the discussion of pack rat middens. Vernacularly, the structures that pack rats build are called “Middens”. Fossil packrat (or woodrat) middens offer substantial information on precedent environments as they are a great source of debris collected by packrats in the past.

To preserve water in an arid environment, packrat produces sticky urine and often urinates on its garbage pile, blotting its territory and building the midden. Furthermore, when the urine crystallizes, it works like glue and compose the entire garbage pile together. This way, fossil debris held together within the midden shrinks, preserving it for an indefinite period. Till the time, midden is shielded from water, by getting positioned as under a rock ledge, it will continue to persist. Packrat middens are matured using radiocarbon dating. Ongoing researches and studies have shown fossil older than 50,000 years, which is basically the practical limit of radiocarbon dating.

Summary: In a residential setting, packrats have the tendency of collecting decomposing trash, pet waste, kid’s toys and landscaping trimmings. They are profoundly described as curious animals who like to collect shiny objects such as jewelry and eating utensils.