The bushy-tailed woodrat, or packrat (Neotoma cinerea) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae found in Canada and the United States.

The bushy-tailed woodrat is the original "pack rat", the species in which the trading habit is most pronounced.

It has a strong preference for shiny objects and will drop whatever it may be carrying in favor of a coin or a spoon.

[3][4] Bushy-tailed woodrats can be identified by their large, rounded ears, and their long, bushy tails.

[3][4][5][6] Bushy-tailed woodrats occupy a wide range of habitats, from boreal forests to deserts.

[5][6][7] They can be found from sea level up to 14,000 feet (4,300 m), but they become increasingly restricted to higher elevations toward the southern end of their range.

The bushy-tailed woodrat prefers green vegetation (leaves, needles, shoots), but it will also consume twigs, fruits, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, and some animal matter.

One study[7] in southeastern Idaho found grasses, cactus, vetch, sagebrush, and mustard plants in their diets, as well as a few arthropods.

The daughters may share food caches with the mother, increasing their likelihood of survival, and the higher female density of the area may also help attract males.

These woodrats collect debris in natural crevices, and abandoned man-made structures when available, into large, quasistructures for which the archaeologists' term 'midden' has been borrowed.

[6] Bushy-tailed woodrats are preyed upon by many predators, including: spotted owls, bobcats, black bears, coyotes, foxes, weasels, Snakes, martens, and hawks.