pack rat


pack rat,

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 of the genus Neotoma, of North and Central America, noted for its habit of collecting bright, shiny objects and leaving other objects, such as nuts or pebbles, in their place; also called trade rat or wood rat. Most common in the southern and western parts of the United States, but found as far south as Nicaragua, the pack rat stores the objects it collects to decorate its nest. The rodent may reach a length of 18 in. (45.7 cm) including tail, has soft brown fur, and resembles a squirrel with large ears. It eats nuts, berries, seeds, twigs, and roots. Its nest is a large stick structure built in a sheltered area. The desert species adorns its nest with bits of cactus, turning it into an impenetrable fortress. A litter is born after a gestation period of 33 to 39 days and contains from two to six young. Pack rats are classified in the phylum ChordataChordata
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References in periodicals archive ?
Pack Rat, a 45,700 square-foot facility, will be re-named Out O' Space Storage.
Next, Pack Rat's sharp eyes spotted a child's old roller skate.
Pack rats (also known as wood rats or trade rats) had filled every nook and cranny with debris of all kinds.
Chinese astrology tells us that 2008 is the year of the rat, but I'm going to take it one step further and say it's the year of the 'pack rat,' which is a more appropriate term for the storage industry these days.
Unlike the pack rat, you with this skill can make the distinction between important and useless items because you DO know what adds value and what does not.
The Return of Pete Pack Rat presents three picturebooks in a conveniently sized hardcover format: "Pete Pack Rat", "Sheriff Sally Gopher and the Haunted Dance Hall", and "Pete Pack Rat and the Gila Monster Gang".
For a person, life as a pack rat is one of obsessively collecting, say, newspapers, computer parts, food containers, or maybe all of these.
Of course, the more sources that are used for forest history--such as needle types in fossilized pack rat middens and fire scar frequency in old stumps--the more accurate it becomes.
Jon is a pack rat, saving everything "just in case," while I'm an impulse tosser, doing anything to clear the clutter.
Triatoma gerstaeckeri is considered a sylvatic species, most frequently associated with pack rat (Neotoma spp.) burrows (4).