Pack Rat Nests

[IMAUDIGGER]

Has anybody here been successful in finding coins/valuables by tearing apart pack rat nests?

I recently took one apart and found a 1970's beer can....a piece of a broken arrow....a mushroomed bullet...silver foil...not done tearing it apart yet.

I'm thinking if there was treasure (silver or gold) scattered around for some reason...say a coin spill or coins being spilled during a robbery, a pack rat might just grab one or two and hide them in his nest 100 yards away! Maybe he would do the same thing if a shiny diamond ring was dropped by accident?

 

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[SusanMN]

I think you can get diseases, like Hanta virus, from rats and mice, so I am not about to dig into anything they have been in unless you soak the whole thing in bleach ahead of time, and even then I wouldn't unless I saw gold in there

 

[lastleg]

Hantavirus is deadly. Just burn it and stay downwind.

 

[snakeyes]

Well the saying goes if it don't kill ya it'll only make you stronger, Now that being said we collect Pinon nuts in Oct. and Nov. and the majority come from rats nests, usually you get 2 to 3 lbs from a nest in a couple of hours while it would take you all day to get that much picking em off the ground one at at a time. I've found all kinds of stuff in the nests but nothing of value or worth saving. I'm not sure what kind of rats they are, but they are the size of a small cat, and the ones I've seen are white. The 50 cal prjectal and the arrow head were fond while picking pinon,but not in the rats nest

 

[TommyB]

I found a five dollar bill in a bird's nest when I was a kid. It was in pieces but all there.

 

[Peyton Manning]

Hantavirus is deadly. Just burn it and stay downwind.

uhhh upwind?

 

[BigWaveDave]

I found a five dollar bill in a bird's nest when I was a kid. It was in pieces but all there.

You stole from a bird?....man, that's low.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I have read that an individual pack rat nest can be used 100 years or more. Those buggers do steal anything shiny.
I have an area where scattered coins have been found...I'm thinking that it's worth a try to look in some of the adjacent pack rat nests to see if they found any of the coins before me.

Maybe also concentrate on the south side of large Juniper trees as that seems to be where they build their nests around here.

Holy crap about gathering the pine nuts from rat nests!! I hope the pine nuts are not being sold for human consumption?

 

[Molewacker]

Hantavirus is generally spread to humans by inhalation via fecal dust - so get a good dust mask when digging in rodent nests (deer mice are main carrier) and rinse finds well while wearing mask.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Now that being said we collect Pinon nuts in Oct. and Nov. and the majority come from rats nests, usually you get 2 to 3 lbs from a nest in a couple of hours while it would take you all day to get that much picking em off the ground one at at a time.

So you steal the food out of a rat's nest? Are you serious? You do realize that they carry those nuts to their nest in their mouth, don't you?

"Hey Bob, would you please pass me the pinon nuts covered with rat spit?" Sounds delicious...

 

[SusanMN]

So you steal the food out of a rat's nest? Are you serious? You do realize that they carry those nuts to their nest in their mouth, don't you?

"Hey Bob, would you please pass me the pinon nuts covered with rat spit?" Sounds delicious...

Not to mention that they continuously pee and poop which means anything in their nest is likely covered in it. Yummy

 

[releventchair]

At one time ,people ate the rats.
Wonder if packrats don' t also scatter their finds ,when dropping/ trading one for another on their travels.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Wonder if packrats don' t also scatter their finds ,when dropping/ trading one for another on their travels.

That was my thought as well.

 

[Honest Samuel]

While searching these filthy nests, cover your face, use large stick and large gloves. Good hunting and good luck.