WOOD-EATS, PACK-RATS, ETC. 103 



communicated in 1877 to The American Journal 

 of Science by A. W. Chase, shows what the an- 

 imal is capable of in the way of mischief. The 

 tale relates to a dwelling-house near a disused 

 sawmill in Oregon: 



"This house was left uninhabited for two years, 

 and, being at some distance from the little settlement, 

 it was frequently broken into by tramps who sought 

 a shelter for the night. When I entered this house 

 I was astonished to see an immense rat's nest on the 

 empty stove. On examining this nest, which was 

 about five feet in height, and occupied the whole top 

 of the stove (a large range), I found the outside to 

 be composed entirely of spikes, all laid with sym- 

 metry, so as to present the points of the nails out- 

 ward. In the center of this mass was the nest, com- 

 posed of finely divided fibers of the hemp packing. 

 Interlaced with the spikes we found the following: 

 About three dozen knives, forks and spoons, all the 

 butcher knives, three in number, a large carving knife, 

 fork and steel, several large plugs of tobacco ; the 

 outer casing of a silver watch was disposed in one 

 part of the pile, the glass of the same watch in 

 another, and the works in still another ; an old purse 

 containing some silver, matches and tobacco ; nearly 

 all the small tools from the tool closets, among them 

 several large augers. Altogether it was a very curi- 

 ous mixture of different articles, all of which must 

 have been transported some distance, as they w r ere 

 originally stored in different parts of the house. 



