Doctor Cathryn Hoyt talks about Packrats!

In:

"Nature Notes: Packrat time machines"


A few tiny, random snippets from her timely and fascinating essay in the Kinney County Post. Tuesday, February 22, 2011.



"Have you ever been camping in the desert and lost your pocketknife, your compass, or your shiny new fork?

"You might have been the victim of a packrat.

"Packrats are compact, long - tailed rodents with prominent eyes and large ears.

"Their name comes from their habit of collecting the desert's flotsam and jetsam -- bits of bone, plant parts, even pocketknives.

"This habit may be annoying to campers, but it's a boon for paleo - ecologists, who use packrat dens to learn about the past...

"Packrats seek protection from the sun in caves, rock fissures or under mesquite trees, where they build loose mounds of sticks, plant material, bones and mammal dung.

"Often these dens -- called middens -- are armored with prickly pear or cholla cactus to deter predators looking for a snack.

"Middens can remain intact for tens of thousands of years, giving paleo - ecologists a time machine into the past.

"Ancient middens are rock-hard and usually coated with amberat, or fossilized rat urine. .."

Yes, indeed!

"Packrat middens hold many stories.

"So the next time you lose your pocketknife to a packrat, just imagine what stories will be told when a paleo - ecologist finds it 20,000 years from now..."

Thanks a lot, Doctor! :)