ii8 The Mammals of Colorado 
often selects the prospector's cabin or some ranch house. 
He soon makes his presence known by carrying away any 
portable articles, and it makes no difference whether they are 
of any use to the animal or not, so long as it can get away 
with them. Food of any kind is of course taken, and material 
FIG. 40. MOUNTAIN RAT, Neotoma c. orolestes 
Caught in trap. E. R. Warren, Photo. 
for its nest, and, to put it slangily, any old thing, or new 
either, for it does not pose especially as a collector of antiques. 
We can recall a case where a cabin at a mine was left vacant 
all the winter. In the spring, when the miners went back 
to work, all the knives, forks, and spoons were missing. 
After a diligent search they were all discovered by tearing up 
the floor, under which were found the missing articles, carried 
there by the rats, which had been in undisputed possession all 
winter. They have been known to carry off sticks of dyna- 
mite. It is not known if they ate the latter or not. 
