Holiday Guests Get a Royal Send Off

It's woodrat (also known as a packrat) season up at the cabin. It's a seasonal thing, but this year they've been quite prolific. I know when there's a woodrat hanging around because they chew up plants on my cabin deck, and they build nests in our storage shed on shore.

This time of year there aren't many plants on the deck, but the current batch of woodrats have taken a liking to the cedar tree I've been nurturing for five years. I've wrapped it in plastic mesh and topped it with bird netting, but they still get through to chew off branches. Here's what they do with the cuttings (and lots more from the nearby cliff).

I get frustrated. So far, this is woodrat number six in the last two weeks. How they all know about the cedar tree is a mystery.

But it's hard to get too mad at such cute little guys. They have rat in their name, but don't look like their city cousins.

Here's Wayne saying good-bye to our most recent holiday "guest" and preparing to take her (I've read woodrats have a matriarchal society) on a cruise to a new home on Goat Island.

Want to read a funny story about another experience I had with a woodrat? Try my post, "The Night of the Woodrat" about my first up close and personal experience with this seasonal "guest." -- Margy