Packrat aka Bushy-tailed Woodrat
The bushy tailed woodrat is the only native rat found in B.C. and has been spotted here in Delta. It is a large squirrel-like rodent with long dense fur and a bushy tail. Like all our local rats- the Norway and roof rats, the packrat are active all year and nocturnal (busy in the night). These “want to be” squirrels also are primarily vegetarian, eating leaves, seeds and fruit but are classified as omnivorous as they will eat insects, small amphibians, and road kill. The packrat requires habitat that has good security cover where they like to build their rather large (1 to 1.8 m in height) stick houses. The stick houses are made of woody debris, vegetation, and other objects including any shiny objects that they can steal from us humans. Their stick houses are not actual houses, as they don’t live in them rather they function more as a storage dump. Their actual nests are quite small cup shaped dens, made of shredded bark and other soft materials.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C., Randy L. Bilesky BsF CPA RPF
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/packrat-aka-bushy-tailed-woodrat-randy-bilesky/?published=t
