The coordinates listed are for Stage 1. The coordinates for the
final cache (an ammo can) will be discovered when you look on the
inside of the lid of stage 1. There is no need to remove stage one
from where it sits, it has been placed to allow easy access to lift
the lid after the branches covering the container are removed.
This cache is placed among the homes of some of nature's
original Geocachers - Pack Rats! The cache name is based on the
fact that rats can get through a half inch hole.
Facts about pack rats:
A pack rat, also called a trade rat or wood rat, can be any of
several species, but most commonly the Bushy-tailed Woodrat. Pack
rats are prevalent in the deserts and highlands of western United
States and northern Mexico. They also occur in parts of the eastern
United States. Pack rats are a little smaller than a typical rat
and have long, sometimes bushy tails.
Pack rats build complex nests of twigs, called "middens", often
incorporating cactus. Nests are often built in small caves, but
frequently also in the attics and walls of houses. The
White-throated Woodrat, use the base of a prickly pear or cholla
cactus as the site for their home, utilizing the cactus' spines for
protection from predators. The Desert Woodrat will appropriate the
burrows of ground squirrels or kangaroo rats and fortify the
entrance with sticks and bits of spiny cactus stems fallen from
Jumping and Teddy-bear Chollas.
In houses, pack rats are active nocturnally, searching for food
and nest material. A peculiar characteristic is that if they find
something they want, they will drop what they are currently
carrying, for example a piece of cactus, and "trade" it for the new
item. They are particularly fond of shiny objects, leading to tales
of rats swapping jewelry for a stone.
Historically, houses in or near ghost towns such as Crestone,
Colorado were typically infested with pack rats. In the days before
television, this provided a measure of entertainment to the
sensation-starved residents.
The term pack rat is also used in English as slang to refer to a
person who collects miscellaneous items and has trouble getting rid
of them (a compulsive hoarder).
Before one can understand how to keep rats and mice out of a
building, it is important to understand how little it takes for
them to enter. Mice can utilize openings down to roughly a 1/4” in
size to gain entrance into a building, while rats need openings
about a 1/2”. There are many different types of openings to be
considered. For example, a 1/2” gap under a door is a far different
opening than a 1/2” diameter hole.
If you were to make a circle with your thumb and forefinger in
the diameter of a 1/2”, you could easily talk yourself out of
believing that a decent sized rat could fit through, while fitting
through the gap under the door appears to be much more valid. In
fact, both are important. The 1/2” gap under the door is in fact
one of the more common entry points that rodents utilize to enter
structures. Because the gap extends the length of the door, it is
not merely a 1/2” hole, but instead a “space” which they can
squeeze under without much difficulty.
So, why worry about the 1/2” hole? The reason lies in the
business end of the rat-his teeth. Rats and mice both have the
ability to chew into and through a wide variety of household
materials. If the rodent is interested in gaining access to the
building, the 1/2” hole is enough space for it to push its muzzle
into the opening far enough so that its teeth can gain access to
the solid surface surrounding the hole. Depending on the surface’s
material, generally the rat is required to do minimal work to
expand the hole so that it is big enough to squeeze through.