Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1885-01-02
THE COLORADO WoOp.RAT,
That Lies Low by Day and Plays
Practical Joke. by Night.

New ork Sun
don't know whether people out in
Colorado are bothered yet with what we
used to call wood-rats said a former
Resident of that state, but Il few years
ago, when first went out there, they
kept us in perpetual stew. The wood
rat is about the size of our COM
mon housc-rat. with a tail nine
inches long. 1t is gray on the back
and white on the belly. There's dew
iltry enough in 'cm to fill a wood chuck.
You seldom see one of them, plenty as
they are, for they lay low in the day
time, and won't come fooling around at
night if there is any one stirring about
the house. The wood-rat is natural
born, irrcclaimable thief. What he
steals for no one had ever found out
while | was there, for he don't crib
things to eat, and he distributes his
booty throughout the country without
regard to his personal benefit. When
he steals something from one spot he
will put in its place some article he has
tilchcd from another.
Il remember once | was building
sllanty ont in Pueblo, and had kcg of
nails sent IN from Denver. Work had
been at standstill for day or so for
wan, of them. knocked the head out
and left them in the shanty over night.
Next morning there wasn't a nail in
kcg but in their place was niscellane-
Gus collection of articles, consisting of
table knives, spoons, a tin saucer, sew
eral stones, a number of chips, a buck
skin glove, and, worst of all, a set of
false teeth.
I'VE knew at once the mischievouS
rats had been at work. and set out to
see if could gather up at least por
ton of tie nails about the neishbor-
hood. found a man who had lost a
spoon and had found pie of nails n
his kit. The owner OF tie buckSkin
glove had not been rtnumerated Tor
his loss with nails. but some
ones WOODEN sock lay in its place. By
and by the whole community was out
looking up missing things anG duEpiny
nail, at my shanly. | got back abo It
half of them. and the articles that ha |
been left IN tn il pace were all restored
to their owners except the false teeth.
No one in the whole ncighborhood had
lost any teeth. The finding of the teeth
came TO he The tall OF the country, and
in a few weeks Judge over in a town
twenty miles away sent man over to
look at them. as he thought they might
be Il set of teeth of his that had mysteri-
ously disappeared, stating that they
had been taken from tumber of water,
in which they had been placed over
night, and that a dead bird hal been
lett i'll Their stead The tech proved tO
be the Judges TacSa rats must have
had high old time Wit the Judges
tech before they reached my place and
dumped them in the nail keg.
III used to lie a fi>or.te paStimc with
the woodrats to carry al sorts OF refuse
and garbage into the houses ami scatter
il aboat. have wakel up :Iore thar
once TO find some moist and sweet
smelling morscl from the sw II tub ly in2
across my lace, or number of then
pied on tie bed covers. This pecul ar
ily of the wood-rat naturally led to con
slant annoyanccs and misunderstood
irgs, and nrWt umVrs in the region, un
ac ,uainted with til, ways of the animal
We're fire. lucntly myStltcd, and some
times frightened by occurrences. Al
Irish family once came to the neighbor
hood, where they had purchased
little leproptlty. They had not Eeen ther
q week before the wood-ratS paid them
visit Denny Ryan, the head OF the family
placed his pipe on the table as usual ol
gong to bed one night. When he aroS
in the morning his pipe was gone, ant
lying where he had left it was a talloy
candle. Denny had no such thing as
tallow candle in his house. and no on,
in the house had touched the pipe. Thi
aroused his superStitous nature. He re
lated the circumstances with much awe
to some acquaintance, who, seem!
4 some probable fun in store for them
did not nfo..n him as to the cause o
the mystery. One morning, a few day
e later, Denny found his lost pipe in hi
/ Root, and the sock he had left there whe
= he went to bed was gone. emmy de
v carcd that there were ghosts in hi
: house. he was thoroughly frightened
n and wanted to sell his property.
t "A number of eastern men had sc
e POS .s,ion of some land next to Denny's
( end his holding, they believed would i
9 time be highly valuable to them. Cr
Il kNONH 10 any Ol DcIHS dcuudiu'
:, anceS, thoJ made him an offer for HI
j.: property. 1t IVES less than he had paiC
q and in spite of his su, er ttious fear. h
Il refused to take it, \ day or two afte
:. that / emmy found his stove half full
i potatoes. not one o. which had been
). the house bef"r,, and the kindlin9
: wood lc had placed in the stove tn
II night lc!ore was filed on
table in the din room. Will
c out waiting to entirely DIR IS hir,
self, he hurried II the parties VII
i wanted to buy his property, and close
!. and elm he'd the tran action at onc'
II When his friends, who had been keepin
Denny in ignorance of the ways of II
: wood rat for the joke of the thing, near
A of what he had been induced to DC
II the sIiarlers. they attempted to fort
:. them to cancel thc sale, but as ever.
n thing they had done was regular. tht
refused to do 1t. Denny'S friends, HOY
d ever. Clipped in and made up quite
II sum of money for him. If the woot-r
hadn't toti cred benny he would ha'
I been a rich man in a year or so, for h
q property became worth thousands
- dollars.