Adorable, widely-used stock photo of unidentified origin.

My Placitas, NM client and I had spent hours cleaning out her garage, which was largely full of recyclables. We packed them into her pick-up truck, covered them with a tarp, and tied them down. All set to go to the recycle center! Except… the truck wouldn’t start. She fiddled around for a minute and then said, “I wonder if I have pack-rats?” Huh?

Sure enough, under the hood we found an engine compartment stuffed with leaves, sticks and rocks…and a nice little nest. A couple of hoses and wires had been chewed through. That truck wasn’t going anywhere. (more…)