Bushy-tailed woodrats are interesting creatures when they are not wreaking havoc on vehicles and buildings.

In addition to natural materials, bushy-tailed woodrats gather tinfoil, bottle caps, broken glass, and other shiny objects. From this insatiable urge to collect comes the nickname pack rat.

Cliffs and rock ledges that have been occupied by woodrats for a long time, sometimes hundreds of years, contain black or dark brown deposits that resemble geologic formations. Biologists have humorously named these formations, composed of metamorphosed pack rat droppings and urine, “amberat” and “ratite.” Pollen, leaves, animal bones, and other natural items trapped in the rock like urine formations have been preserved as though in amber for thousands of years. Scientists who study amberat in the arid Southwest and Yellowstone National Park are learning much about changes in plant and animal communities over time.

Bushy-tailed woodrats appear to be common on Seedskadee NWR based on evidence they have left behind, but are almost never seen except under the hood of a pickup truck.