Love the Pack Rats

Have you ever met a pack rat? I’m talking about the actual four-footed, sorta scary critters that create confusion and concern about ghosts and poltergeists in the households they adopt. Disappearing objects and unexplained noises make human imaginations work overtime.

Well, I didn’t actually meet one of those, I saw its stash when the bewildered human discovered it in an unused bottom drawer of a kitchen cabinet close to his dog’s feeding bowl. Immediately he knew why the canine wasn’t growing at the rate that matched the disappearing puppy nuggets.

While cleaning out the drawer he found shiny odds and ends - coins, jewelry parts, foil, etc. - stuff from his pockets on his own pack-rat runs. The really surprising discovery included the parts of a watch he had been cleaning/assembling that he couldn’t find anywhere. There the project was on a cloth on his dresser - and then…POUF … there it wasn’t.

The challenge was on to catch the conniving critter. I don’t like rodents that want to come inside, but I found myself rooting for this little guy. When he finally met his demise, I did catch a quick glimpse of him before I skedaddled to avoid the disposal.

Little he wasn’t. He looked like he HAD been perfectly happy and healthy from all the fun he’d been having and all the puppy food he’d been enjoying. It looked more like a pet guinea pig than a rat, (though I’ve not been up close to one of those, either) but it was just a rodent.

Now I see why the term ‘pack rat’ is used to describe the hoarders among us. The human versions have stashes here and there, sometimes everywhere, for no reasons that make any sense except to the pack rat. Some are more organized than others, some are high functioning, and most are undiscovered.

In honor of Pack Rat Day on this May 17, let the hoarders in your lives know you love them. There are more of us than you realize because most are happy, healthy and thriving as well as most in these chaotic times.

(For May 17, 2023)