Last night we were watching Animal Homes; a woodrat (“pack rat”) was adding found objects to its impressively-large nest in the forest. The voiceover explained that these rats love anything metal and shiny. They don’t seem to make any “use” of them; they just add them into the structure of twigs and branches, seemingly at random. There was no mention of using them to attract a mate, as birds of paradise do, for example. As is common in these documentaries, the narrator ended with something to the effect of, “scientists aren’t sure what purpose this serves.”
But what does it do?
I like thinking about the pack rat appreciating the aesthetics of the shiny objects. Like ornaments on a Christmas tree.