Page 74 - 2005 DT 12 Issues

Ratbert well of my car and had set up his new thing out of the house to make room
operation at my house. The notorious for a better trinket. (I could learn a lot
e was a fugitive from the law, packrat I came to call “Ratbert” was from a packrat.)
a bold thief that had terror- back in business. Ratbert was a perfect guest. With a
Hized the Visitor Center office At first I did nothing, but fleeting ready food supply and lots of treasure,
for several months. Under the cover glimpses early in the morning and he didn’t need to break into the house.
of night, he would sneak in through at dusk were too tempting to ignore. I never did find out where he lived,
his secret passage and filch whatever He was about average for a packrat, though. He may have burrowed into
caught his fancy . . . an earring, a perhaps 15 inches long, including the hilly area behind the rocks to build
button, coins, candy (there was lots his tail. I started leaving a handful of his midden, a nest that can get to four
of that!), paper clips, erasers . . . and birdseed on one of the slabs for his feet across and may be built in trees,
disappear without a clue. He was quite night’s forage. Sure enough, it was squirrel burrows or on rock ledges, but
skillful. Locked drawers were hardly a gone the next morning. With all the there was no evidence of his lair.
deterrent and rat traps, futile. Then one birds around, I began to worry that By late March, it was obvious
day he was gone, never to return. the fugitive was not finding enough that Ratbert had moved on yet again.
He was jaded. It was all too easy. seeds to eat in my cultivated, subur- Perhaps one of the neighborhood cats
He had honed his skills to a fine edge ban yard, so I switched to pumpkin had gotten his number. I preferred to
and he was ready for the BIG TIME! seeds, pine nuts and some occasional think that he had left to find a mate,
Maybe he should broaden his horizons blueberries—very tasty and nutritious. since it was breeding season.
and get out of town. He flourished. Had he stayed at Red Rock
It was a cold afternoon in January Small wind-blown flotsam, potted Canyon, his midden, tended for end-
several years ago. I had just gotten plant sticks, feathers, flower heads and less generations by his descendents,
other items began to would provide some future archeolo-
collect on the ledges. gist with a wealth of information on
With his soft, pointed the flora, fauna, geology, hydrology,
little face and round, climate . . . and perhaps . . . culture of
fuzzy ears it was hard a segment in time. c
not to forgive his Annual Volunteer Awards
thieving ways.
In an attempt to
channel Ratbert’s col- f it’s October it must be awards
lecting mania away time! This year rather than a big
from the annoying Isit-down Volunteer Banquet,
we decided to kick off our shoes
piles of litter, I start-
ed leaving small balls (so to speak) and have some good
old fashioned fun at a Volunteer
of aluminum foil and Appreciation Picnic.
out of my car after returning from the other glittery things along with his By now, you’ve all received your
Visitor Center when I thought I saw a food. They quickly disappeared. This invitations to celebrate and dine on
smallish, beige blur streak by the ga- was the good stuff! He was a choosy Saturday, October 15, 2005 at Floyd
rage door. About a week later, my eye packrat. Up to now, I assumed that Lamb State Park (Tule Springs), 10:30
caught that smallish, beige blur with a packrats sequestered most every item a.m. – 3:30 p.m., rain or shine. After
long, rather fuzzy, tail whizzing along they collected. Not so. Packrats, or the awards presentation, there’ll be
on the tiered sandstone slabs at the rear woodrats, are known to sort through volleyball and a horseshoe tourna-
of the yard. My dogs didn’t react, but their collection of random junk and ment, Bluegrass music by Stuck in
I knew that it had to be HIM. He had select only what pleases them, leaving Reverse, and a smoker-cooked bar-
hitched a ride in a fender or wheel the rest. They may even throw some- beque by John Mull’s Meats. Rsvp to

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