Those rats love soy wiring harness. They can cause a lot of damage to a vehicle.

looks like fun. Save them for predator bait?

Dawn dish soap mixed with water sprayed all over those wires will supposedly deter them. Idk if it works though.

Do you ever find anything interesting in the middens?

Keith

I didn't see much today, just some aluminum cans, and pieces of marking tape we use to mark trees we've planted. Bits of plastic trash.
I've had them steal short plastic tree tubes (just a few inches long, for mice) and bring them back to the middens.
What's most irritating inside the middens is the lack of bark. They strip bark off the trees, especially inside the middens.

When the tractor broke down last year it was outside for a few days waiting on parts. A pack rat hitched a ride back to the garage when I got the tractor back in. I didn't realize it was in the garage at first, and then it took some time to get it trapped. I had panels off the tractor trying to find where the rat was staying. While the tractor was apart, a thumb screw that held a panel on disappeared. I was certain the pack rat stole it. A few months later I came across a bucket (inside the garage) where it had been stashing everything it stole. Here's what was in the bucket:

The black thumb screw is just below right-most of the 3 green bait blocks.