To those of you who are, and, to those of you who aren’t — today is National Packrat Day. This sparked my interest, as I have a somewhat curious regard for rodents. I mostly like mice, but as I have seen photos of some nice-looking rats and various other rodents, I don’t discount any.
While I am familiar with the societal term for people, I haven’t encountered any actual Packrat animals in the wild. At least, not that I am aware of.
They are more commonly called woodrats. By definition, they are bushy-tailed rodents (Neotoma cinerea). They hail from western North America and have well-developed cheek pouches. These woodrats hoard food and other miscellaneous objects. There are numerous species of these woodrats, aka packrats.
But over the years they have become known as “packrats” for their pack-ratting ways. They accumulate food and other nifty items on or near their dens. And the places where they store their stuff? Those are called “middens” and one might find a whole range of goodies there. Like bones or sticks. Shiny metal objects. Or any other “innumerable items discarded by or stolen from humans.”
I had to quote that last phrase directly from Britannica. “Innumerable items discarded by, or stolen, from humans.”
This could explain a lot about our lives.
I couldn’t begin to tally the number of hours that I’ve spent looking for something that I have seemingly misplaced. On numerous occasions past, I was absolutely certain that I had placed “that precious shiny metal object” in a very specific place, only to find out, that when I went to retrieve the thing, it was g-o-n-e. Without a trace. No explanation. No indication of foul play. And certainly, no ransom note. Those “innumerable” items.
Now, in my 56th year, I’ve come to find out that all those items were most likely tucked away under the arm of an absconding packrat. A woodrat, of various species. The ones with the well-developed cheek pouches.
Heavens. If it weren’t for National Packrat Day, I would have never even known such a thing. All these years I have thought of packrats as those human hoarders of sorts, our friends who can’t seem to throw anything away. They’ve written self-help books for those people. As you may or may not know, I am on the other end of the spectrum from the packrat. I keep a very spartan — well — a very spartan everything.
Which is why whenever I misplace something, I am buffaloed. (I’ll have to find out why they call it buffaloed on another date.) Right now, we have thieving packrats to consider.
Regardless, I am now certain that’s where all my missing stuff resides. It is all lying in some midden, with a bunch of bones, sticks, and god only knows what else.
Packrats may be cute, but you can’t take your eyes off them for one little minute. As for my missing socks though, I think I just saw a squirrel with one on its head.
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“The petty thief is imprisoned but the big thief becomes a feudal lord.”
― Zhuangzi, The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu
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“One thing I’ve learned: you never know where life is taking you, but it’s taking you.”
― Hilary Swank
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“Faith and hope mean absolutely nothing where consistent action fails to exist.”
― Edmond Mbiaka
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