When I was a bit younger, there were several books that crossed my path. They were Sally the Runaway Monkey, Pokey the Runaway Bear and Packy (after pachyderm) the Runaway Elephant. I enjoyed the second one the most. Now, we will look at Packy the runaway packrat.
Sometimes, some people would like Packy to just run away, especially when exploring possibilities of taking up residence in the attic or in one of the outbuildings. The chances of this happening are much greater in rural areas or around the edges of settlements, especially in these Kootenay mountains. Now, some of you may have never heard of one of these creatures much less seen one, or heard about their lifestyle. So one may not realize why some people don’t want them around and wish they would stay out there somewhere. But they are admittedly quite cute and curious furry little mammals.
Packrats have a strong scent that permeates their living quarters and places where they spend a lot of time. It is not as strong as a skunk scent, but much stronger than that of house mice and pet rats. Once at a domestic dwelling, the scent is hard to get rid of but will dissipate after time. Their odour will usually be quite prominent around overhanging rock bluffs containing crevices, entrances of abandoned mines, adits and buildings, caves, and deserted forest cabins. Most remote places that provide dry habitation are suitable.
Another aspect of their lives they are noted for is their large piles of “brash” one finds around the packrat’s haunts. They are quite industrious and usually appear like little busybodies when we see them scurrying about. They spend much of the summer season gathering clippings of tender twigs and leaves of various types of shrubs and plants to be used as winter food. They place the bounty of their harvests in piles in dry places around their haunts close to where they will have their nests. These piles can be two feet high and several feet in diameter. Over the summer and fall, the contents dry providing nutritious winter food for the residents. There certainly won’t be any dearth here.
Outside of their rocky hideouts they are generally nocturnal and have several characteristics like other nocturnal animals — large, bulging eyes, sensitive noses and large ears — as well as long whiskers, which enable them to see and hear and feel more acutely than most mammals. It’s at night when I have usually detected their presence. It seems that when their population numbers are high the new generation will come scratching on the cabin as they climb all over looking for an entrance and new territory. When the opportunity comes they will begin to take over. Once someone told me that friends checking in on a local bachelor, many, many years ago found him deceased on his bed in the cabin. Packrats had already stored an ample winter’s supply on top of the remains.
Compared to their “pantries”, their nests are very small and simple. I am not sure if they sleep in those piles of dried vegetation or not but they do pick sites protected from rain and snow and from predators. Dry crevices in cliffs make secure sites. Once, in January, while checking out a mine for wintering bats, I spotted a ball of grass on a ledge along the mine’s sides. It was made of finely woven grass and was about six inches in diameter. In the top was a neat, round hole through which I saw a furry coat. When contemplating touching the soft, thick fur, the creature quickly became aware of my presence, raised its head from somewhere out of the ball of fur, took one look at me with those bulgy eyes, hopped out, and ran away along the wall of the mine. I think he thought I smelled bad.
Earlier in the season, some of us hiked into an abandoned mine site. Packrats had completely taken over the premises. They had piles of winter tidbits piled up in dry spots in some of the derelict mine buildings and in the entrance to the mine. I have seen this before but this time I noticed something different. There must have been quite a population of packrats in this area because there were beaten paths between the buildings where their travels passed through open areas. It seems they didn’t waste any time going through these open areas, which would be exposed to predators, including owls. The paths were beaten down to bare earth indicating their movements were speedy and with much vigour. Packrat feet sometimes appear to be on the go before their bodies are moving. The beaten-down trails provide quick and easy access to the next protected destination.
Packrats are very curious and cute little animals. Their long bushy tails give them the name bushy-tailed woodrat. I can imagine they use the tail to help keep them warm. It may have other uses, too. There are probably many less obvious things about packrats, or woodrats, that we don’t know about that we would find interesting and even surprising. That gets up my curiosity. How about yours?
Ed McMackin is a biologist by profession but a naturalist and hiker by nature. He can be reached at 250-866-5747.
