While packrats can be a nuisance, they are also an important factor of the desert Southwest ecology. “I am amazed by them and their incredible abilities to find access points, to chew and generally to survive,” he said with admiration. To look at the wealth of appreciative information on the critter, you might think that Brown has a certain affection for packrats, even as he makes his living eliminating them. “I’m a big believer in niche companies,” said Brown, whose website brims with information on the whys, wherefores, cultural mores, environmental impacts and habits of the pesky packrat.
Pack Rat, which serves the local community as an “elimination” company that specializes in, you guessed it, packrats. He owns a business called, with some consideration bestowed to honor the rat, Mr. As urbanization spread across rural and desert areas, the pack rat scourge has become more pronounced, with the need for experts to deal with it increasing.Įnter Tucson’s own Kris Brown, A.K.A Mr. The packrat is indigenous to the desert and has adapted to live on the fringes of human settlements. “They’ve adapted to us moving into their environment.” “Packrats are a huge problem in southern Arizona for destroying cars,” Wood said. But the rats died on the job, chewing through wiring. Startled, he checked the car from hood to end and found that in the engine compartment, wiring insulation and whole undercarriage had been chewed through.Īt the dealership, a technician found two dead packrats in the engine compartment. As he started the vehicle, every display and light erupted into a chaotic cacophony. Richard Wood, a private investigator who works on criminal justice cases, hooked up his horse trailer to his truck one day at his home in the Southwestern desert. In one instance, a man from Tucson had $6,000 worth of damage done to his Toyota Tundra pickup. Packrats often settle their nests under the hoods of in cars, in large piles of wood or garbage, and even in attics and cactuses. Pack Rat.īut in general terms, humans and packrats do not play well together. It nibbles away, blissfully unaware of his impending fate. The scientifically named Neotoma albigula is more commonly known as the white-throated wood rat. They can be infuriatingly devious, and for many homeowners the thought of feeding it to a rattlesnake is not only appealing but in some cases practical, assuming you own a rattlesnake. The packrat, or the Neotoma albigula as they are called, can do thousands of dollars of damage to cars and homes, even in a single night. This seemingly innocent ball of fuzz is a Southwestern menace. Don’t be fooled by the white-throated wood rat with its big, brown eyes, petite round ears and fluffy snout.
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