Looks like you have a big strong pack rat there!

Man I hate those things. It's amazing what all they can haul to their nest.

We had a rat population explosion at lease about 2 years ago. Still a bunch of them and pretty sure that is at least part of the reason we have more yotes lately.

My daughter was in the stand with me and kept looking over the edge at the ground. Thought maybe she dropped something but come to find out packrats apparently can be more interesting to watch than deer.

Around here Pack Rat's aren't prone to explosive populations, now the Cotton Rat certainly is. Most of the rats you see around camps and old buildings are Cotton Rat's. If it's a long bushy tail it's a Pack Rat, Cotton Rat's are usually smaller and have shorter slick tails. It's also noted that Cotton Rats have been witness eating bird eggs, mostly the ground nesting species. Cotton Rats have multiple litters a year, on average it's five but some studies have shown as high as eight.

An interesting note on the Pack Rat. Pack Rat Middens as old as 50,000 years have been discovered and hold a wealth of information from it's time.

This one tried to take over our trailer. It was war. He had compartments full of rat poison, halloween candy, corn, paper, you name it. We couldn't sleep he was so noisy. Finally got him on a peanut in the shell. Rat Bastage. My favorite kill that year.