For information on rodent nests contact Travis McDonald at Jefferson's
Poplar Forest site. He has become somewhat of an expert on them and a brief
discussion is included in the Preservation Brief,
http://www2.cr.nps.gov/tps/briefs/brief35.htm on architectural investigation
that he authored.(there is less on the subject than I thought after reading
through it but I think there is a picture in the real Bulletin) You can make
contacts through their web site at http://www.poplarforest.org/.

Neal Hitch

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Marsha King [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2000 2:42 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Query re:pack rat nests
>
> I have been asked by a colleague, Tom Barr, to see if anyone has had
> experience with pack rat nests on historic sites or knows of any good
> information sources about these nests. He is particularly interested in
> pack rat nests inside of standing structures.
>
> He is analyzing a collection recovered several years ago during
> renovations at one of the buildings at Shawnee Indian Mission (a
> state-owned historic site) in Fairway, KS (in Johnson County just outside
> of Kansas City).  A wide variety of artifacts were recovered from nests
> between the ceiling of the first story and floor of the second.  The
> materials included a hat, baby clothing, bottles and bottle glass,
> bullets, cartridges and gun parts, coins, marbles and other toys,
> ceramics,  etc.
>
> So far we have found a few natural history sources relating to pack rat
> behavior (mostly in the Southwest) and very little directly relating to
> historic sites and/or standing structures.
>
> We would greatly appreciate any information you could provide or sources
> you could direct us to, especially from historic buildings and/or
> archeological sites.
>
> Thank you in advance for your assistance,
>
> Marsha
>
>
> **************************************
> Marsha K. King
> Special Projects Archeologist
> Cultural Resource Division
> Kansas State Historical Society
> 6425 SW 6th Ave
> Topeka, KS   66615-1099
> Phone:  (785) 272-8681, ext. 253
> Fax:  (785) 272-8682#240#
> Email:  [log in to unmask]
> Web:   http://www.KSHS.org
>
>
>