Tell wolves to precede rodent (7)

I believe the answer is:

packrat

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'rodent' is the definition.
(I know that packrat is a type of wood rat)

'tell wolves to precede' is the wordplay.
'tell' becomes 'rat' (I've seen this in another clue).
'wolves' becomes 'pack' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'to precede' says to put letters next to each other.
'rat' put after 'pack' is 'PACKRAT'.

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I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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