54 WILD ANIMALS OF GLACIER NATIONAL PAEK. 



crevices into the limestone ledge. Here the rats have piled up bush- 

 els of sticks and chips, bark, and stones in the mouth of the cave, 

 closing up many of the narrow places to keep out their enemies and 

 to form a front door barricade for the protection of their nevSts and 

 living rooms behind. The ledges and rock shelves are worn smooth 

 by their little feet which for ages have been running back and forth 

 from one opening to another or a^vay to the. berry bushes and patches 

 of weed seeds and pine cones beyond the eclgC" of the cliff. Their 

 runways and nest chambers are clean and neat, and they use some 

 out of the. way corner of the rocks in wdiich to deposit their little 

 black pellets. All food refuse is used for building material, and 

 their S3\stem of home economy is practical and efficient. 



As they are strictly nocturnal, it is difficult to study their habits 

 or obtain photographs of them at home. To obviate this difficulty 

 as far as possible I -placed an inverted box by the side of their house, 

 bent and lashed a t^dginto an oval loop and, placing the rounded end 

 under the edge of the- box and a bit of bread and bacon on the sharp 

 end of the stick under the middle of the box, left it over night. In 

 the morning, as I expected, the loop had slipped out and the box 

 had fallen and underneath was Madam Woodrat sitting in a dark 

 corner awaiting further developments. I slipped a gunny sack under 

 and over the box, including its' occupant, and then, removing the box, 

 carried the woodrat to my back porch at the hotel and placed her in 

 a screen-covered box. She seemed greatly surprised, but not much 

 alarmed, at all of this unusual procedure, and when I placed a bunch 

 of green plants of various kinds in the box she at once seized upon 

 them and began to enjoy her much-delayed breakfast. She would 

 stop eating and fix her big shiny eyes upon me as I came near the 

 box, and with erect ears and long, vibrating mustaches she ma.de a 

 most animated and interesting picture. If I approached closely she 

 would sit straight up on her hind feet with her little fists rounded 

 in a most pugilistic attitude, and once as I tried to pass her a more 

 dainty plant- to eat she jumped at my hand and gave me a vigorous 

 nip with her teeth. Again as I tried to put a bag over her to trans- 

 fer her to better quarters she caught me by the finger and bit a hole 

 through the end of it. I left the bag in her box while bandaging 

 my finger and when I returned she had crawled into the bottom of 

 the bag, just where I wanted her for a transfer to a glass jar, where 

 she could be more conveniently studied. 



When alone in her box she would often make a thumping or drum- 

 ming sound, and by approaching carefully I could watch her raise 

 her hind feet and strike the soles down flat on the bottom of the box, 

 both together, with a sound such as one makes by striking the flat of 

 the finger on a table. These taps were repeated rapidly or slowly at 

 varying intervals of from several to a second to only one or two, 



