Packrat midden
Okay kiddo, have you ever gone on a picnic and had some leftovers that you didn't finish? And then you put those leftovers in the garbage can outside, right?
Well, animals like packrats are kind of like that too. They live in the desert and they collect things like seeds, twigs, and fruit. But sometimes, they can't eat everything they collect, so they make a garbage can too, just like you did!
They make their garbage can by collecting all of their leftover food and materials in one spot. This spot is called a packrat midden. Sometimes they use their own poop as glue to hold all their stuff together!
And you know what's really cool? Scientists can study the things that packrats put in their middens to learn about what life was like a long time ago. They can even find ancient poo and figure out what the packrats were eating!
So, packrat middens are like a garbage can for packrats, but they're also like a time capsule for scientists to learn about the past. Pretty neat, huh?
Well, animals like packrats are kind of like that too. They live in the desert and they collect things like seeds, twigs, and fruit. But sometimes, they can't eat everything they collect, so they make a garbage can too, just like you did!
They make their garbage can by collecting all of their leftover food and materials in one spot. This spot is called a packrat midden. Sometimes they use their own poop as glue to hold all their stuff together!
And you know what's really cool? Scientists can study the things that packrats put in their middens to learn about what life was like a long time ago. They can even find ancient poo and figure out what the packrats were eating!
So, packrat middens are like a garbage can for packrats, but they're also like a time capsule for scientists to learn about the past. Pretty neat, huh?