Sunday, September 6, 2015

I sent him packing?


For the last month or more, I have noticed my rhubarb and lilacs being pruned and  haphazardly piled in the shed.  I had no idea what the culprit could be.  Asking others was no help.  I had responses ranging from opossums to not so brilliant beavers. When my raspberry patch was completely mowed down, action had to be taken.  We set a live trap.  The next day my husband called me at work to say he had no clue what we caught.  He described it as a guinea pig looking thing.  Research showed it was a packrat.  Actually, it was a three legged packrat.  Talking to many people and showing photos not many people around here have seen a packrat. 

My students thought he was too cute and made me promise not to kill him, so he was sent packing and released at an undisclosed location.  He seemed a little confused when I let him go.


I wish I could say that is the end of the story, but I'm afraid not.  I have caught two much smaller versions of this fella.  Still not the end of the story, because I have cleaned out the nest above and magically leaves are reappearing.  It is going to be a long fall.  I have caught 30 mice and now three packrats.   Maybe I need to start working on a fur coat. 

Have any of you had experiences with packrats? 


8 comments:

  1. Never have seen any. At first description I thought you had a Woodchuck. Not bad eating there.LOL

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  2. Awww it is adorable!! I wish I could have taken your three legged one. I have no idea what I would have done with it but it is cute as a button!

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  3. Obviously the one you caught had had offspring that you are still dealing with. Never heard of a pack rat hoarding greens. I thought they went for shiny baubles and such. Now a groundhog would have done the mowing of the plants but they would have eaten them not hoarded. I have one of those I'm dealing with. I have voles too that pull the plants into their holes. Good luck with this varmint. Never a dull moment when you garden, is it?

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  4. Haven't seen packrats here, but we sure have our share of bugs here in North Carolina, which we didn't in Seattle. Still not getting use to that:-D I'm glad you let him go; he was already missing a leg;-D

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  5. I have never seen a packrat. What an incredible looking fellow. My goodness. I love that little tail.
    I wonder how many other things like that you have. I am glad you relocated him.

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  6. My Mother-in-Law was a packrat. You should see the stuff my wife is still clearing from the walk up attic. A lot more than your rhubarb prunings.

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  7. The last shot in my last post is an Arrowroot.

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  8. I'm not fond of the rodent population in general. I've never encountered a packrat. I hope you can get your problem under control.

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