WOOD-RATS, 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 were 
originally stored in different parts of the house. 
