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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Bear with squeaky toy - better known a a pack rat

Our friends Doris and D. J. Harter sent us this photo for our blog site. He had a trail camera hooked up outside and while they were inside eating lunch; they had no clue this was going on outside. The camera took this photo of a bear with a pack rat in its mouth. The camera took a series of photos of the bear and all the while they were inside eating lunch totally unaware of what was going on just off their deck. Makes me wonder how much of this activity goes on and we never know about it.

You have to admit this is a unique photo and thanks to D.J. for sharing it with us. I offered to rent the bear to help with our pack rats, but D.J. advised me that he had already put the bear under contract for the remainder of the summer.

9 comments:

Pat said...

May I borrow that bear? We seem to have adopted some mice – at least one mouse, which we caught in a sticky mat last night. However, There is enough sudden mouse poop that I think there may be more. And I don’t like that some of that mouse poop is at the base of my desk in my office. Setting more sticky mats tonight… Stay tuned…

Bruce said...

Maybe borrowing a kitty would be better than putting a bear in your office. Bears make an terrible mess.

Barbara said...

Oh Bruce, you know how much I love your animal photos even if you didn't take this one. What is a pack rat anyway??? Barbara

Bruce said...

Barbara: A pack rat is a rat that is including tail 12-15" long and they are also known as wood rats as they like wood habitat. They collect and gather anything from nails to tin foil. We have plenty of them out here, and they especially like confined quarters - like under the hood of a vehicle. They will chew the insulation off wires and chew up hoses. We keep our hoods propped up which doesn't give them a closed confined area to nest in. They are destructive and stink. They are cute looking but beyond the cuteness they are nasty and destructive. I did a blog for Mother Earth News a while back on the pack rat.

Bruce said...

Here is the link to my earlier article on pack rats..
http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteader/pack-rats-mountain-living-reality.aspx

Patricia said...

You just never know what may be lurking out there watching you from the brush.

Bruce said...

Good point: I do know of one pack rat that won't be sneaking up on us though...

Deirdre said...

I have never seen a packrat before. I did not know bears put their ears back like cats do either. Wow

Raylene said...

Wow! I had no idea pack rats were so big. They are about the size of our 'possoms. What a beautiful,healthy looking bear. Our bear are a lot smaller and usually not as healthy looking--hard to survive in this urban space. Our fox are awesome, however--as long as they don't have the mange! It amazes me at all the wild life that can be found in such an urban area. This immediate area is a wild life refuge as it is off the beaten path, forested, and has a good year round water source. My son lives inside the city limits in Maryland and has all sorts of small wildlife--a "friendly" 'possom that visits most evenings to rumage through their compost.