Yesterday was cloudy for the dog walk, so I didn’t get any great pictures, but I thought this was kind of cool. It’s a packrat nest up in a tree (at least I assume they’re packrats–that’s what I call them, anyway.)
We see these nests all over, but usually they’re down where the dogs can get at them. The girl (who’s the most serious hunter) gets very excited about them; here she is checking one out. (As far as I know, she’s only ever caught one–but I don’t think she ever forgot it; I think that’s why she gets so excited about the nests.)
The adaptive value of nesting in a tree are obvious; I wonder why I don’t see more of them. The above is the first one I’ve seen in a tree; usually they’re down at the base, like this one.
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A packrat nest! I’ve never seen anything like that out of water.
Are packrats the same as ROUSs? 😉
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I don’t know–what’s a ROUS?
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A packrat nest! How funny. I never even thought about packrats having a nest. I pictured a hole in the ground. I’m afraid I’m with The Girl: absolutely fascinated by the idea. I’d be tearing it up myself.
ROFL about ROUS’s. It’s from the Princess Bride. “Rodents of Unusual Size.”
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Thanks for the info re: ROUS. I don’t think they’re particularly large; about the size of a rat you might see in a pet store. I also don’t know how many of them live in one of these nests; but I think they’re called packrats precisely because they keep bringing things back tot he nest and adding to it.
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In the movie, the ROUS were about the size of a timber wolf, maybe a coyote (but longer). But they were disgusting! Mangy and diseased-looking. Ewwww!
Are you ever tempted to tear them apart to see what the rat has collected?
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No, I have to say it had never occurred to me to dig into one of them. I suppose if I were sure it had been abandoned–but I wouldn’t want to destroy an occupied home. And how could I tell? Though I suppose I could use the girl as a rat-detector–if she’s really interested, someone’s home; a few sniffs and she’s bored, and it’s unoccupied.
But in any case, I suspect the interior is a lot like the exterior–sticks, sticks, and more sticks. There’s not all that much else out there for them to pick up. But now that you’ve got me wondering. . . maybe I’ll check one out someday.
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LOL. Well if you DO check, let me know.
I agree about not wanting to destroy someone’s home though. I wouldn’t do it unless I was sure.
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