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The Biss
02-17-2006, 01:25
As a section tent hiker, I haven't had a lot of opportunity to deal with shelter mice, but in reading some old threads, it sounds to me like the things act pretty tame around people. Has anyone on this board had the gumption to use shelter mice as an additional protein source?

I did a little research to find that there are several tribes in Africa that consider mice a delicacy.


The cooking of the mice is very simple. The mice are gutted, boiled in plain water for about half an hour and salted. They are then fire dried until they are nearly bone dry. Mice are never cooked any other way. In fact, there is a song among the Tumbuka, whose lyrics are in the Chewa or Nyanja language, which mocks a young modern housewife who did not know proper mouse cooking.

Stuffed Dormice / Ancient Rome
Prepare a stuffing of dormouse meat or pork, pepper, pine nuts, broth, asafoetida, and some garum (substitute anchovy paste.) Stuff the mice and sew them up. Bake them in an oven on a tile.

Roasted Field Mice (Raton de campo asado) / Mexico
Skin and eviscerate field mice. Skewer them and roast over an open fire or coals. These are probably great as hors d'oeuvres with margaritas or "salty dogs."

And here... a whole slew of information on the preparation and consuption of rats in Thailand. http://www.earthportals.com/Portal_Messenger/ratfordinner.html (http://www.earthportals.com/Portal_Messenger/ratfordinner.html). It seems like a neat source of food once you get past the "Fear Factor".:-?

RedSean
02-17-2006, 01:33
I would probably be willing to give mice a try. But it all depends on how much of my food they eat.

AbeHikes
02-17-2006, 08:27
Sure. You'd just be reclaiming what's yours.

khaynie
02-17-2006, 08:32
Sounds delicious. Guess have I'll have to pack some Canola oil for my next trip and maybe a dash of cayenne.

mweinstone
02-17-2006, 08:44
lang van tran is my best friend.he owns the building i live in on a busy street in south philadelphia. his son qua,when visiting his grandpop in vietnam each year,eats and loves rats alot. you can only buy one in a gormay resturant. they are in a tank as you walk in like lobsters and the guy pulls one out and holds it by the tail for your approval before cooking.lang was a refugee 20 years ago and now hes a two buisness two house ownin american dream come true.he never eats rat ever. but his son goes at em like the wingador eats wings.

Brock
02-17-2006, 13:14
I would never eat a shelter mouse, but I have wanted to kill them on numerous occasions.
I can't stand those things crawling all over around me and on me. It has forced me more than once to move upstairs or setup outside.
Nothing worse than having a hot nite where your bag is half zipped open, only to fear that you will wake up with mice cuddling up inside your bag with you.
This is one of the main reasons why I hammock or tent.

Gray Blazer
02-17-2006, 13:33
You big time hunters who trap the mice at shelters...and you know who you are.....do not have to leave them as trophies for the rest of us to see when we show up the next day......at least that's how I feel.

Hikes in Rain
02-17-2006, 14:09
I think they should be roasted whole, on little tiny spits, over little tiny fires.

neo
02-17-2006, 14:13
i killed one and wounded another at claredon shelter in vermont with my trekking poles:cool: neo

Tin Man
02-17-2006, 14:53
There are enough mice in the shelters in CT, MA, and VT (and probably the rest of the states that I have not done yet) for a nice Buffalo Mouse Wings snack. I have taken to tenting (note to Neo - please no Hammock comments. ;) ) at bedtime after being ransacked and kept awake by their skittering and gnawing on god knows what.

Seeker
02-17-2006, 16:09
I think they should be roasted whole, on little tiny spits, over little tiny fires.

with tiny little currants in their tiny little mouths... then hang them from the nearest shelter foundation log as an example to the others...:D

The Cheat
02-17-2006, 16:34
Mouse eating movie:

http://www.ultimatedisney.com/nevercrywolf.html

Nokia
02-17-2006, 17:05
I like to feed them my extra chees. They seem to like it.

MtnBikerGuy
02-17-2006, 17:44
Besides your boot/rock/poles/etc, any creative homemade traps to catch those mouses? We make stoves/packs/tents and everything else. How about something cheap & easy for catching mouses? Dead or alive. Any cool designs out there?

xXIndyXx
02-17-2006, 17:54
When I was in the desert during Operation Enduring Freedom we would kill a hundred mice per day! They were coming from everywhere. It got a lot better in the spring when momma cat had some kittens.

Also, I had a mouse chew through my plywood footlocker, then through a hard plastic container just to get to some nuts.

We used everythng to kill em. Our feet, traps, sticky tape, deadfalls.

I guess if I had too, I would make a good meal out of the little bastards.

xXIndyXx
02-17-2006, 17:56
I forgot to mention what we would do with our captured mice.

Only two words neede to give you an idea.

LIQUID OXYGEN!

EarthJourney
02-17-2006, 18:00
Mouse eating movie:

http://www.ultimatedisney.com/nevercrywolf.html




Whoa man! How many years ago since I saw that one! Kinda like "Gump" only with mices!

Good movie though!

Jack Tarlin
02-17-2006, 18:06
Unless it has a resident snake, virtually every trail shelter also has resident mice. They live there. You, on the other hand, are merely passing thru.

If you overnight in a shelter, you'll probably encounter them.

If their presence bothers you, the simple remedy is to eschew shelters and stay somewhere else.

This point has been made here many times.

Either learn to deal with shelter mice, or stay elsewhere else and don't deal with them at all.

Geez, what a difficult concept.

general
02-17-2006, 18:22
clean a mouse just like a squirrel. incision along the underside to the neck, remove skin. remove the legs from the hip and remove the feet from the legs. that's about all the edible meat you'll get from a common mouse. there is a little backstrap, but it would be more trouble to get it than it's really worth. nab about a dozen and you've got a meal. fry em up in some oil with some salt and pepper, or make dumplin's. be sure to bury what isn't used as to not leave a nasty bloody mess for the faint of heart.

general
02-17-2006, 18:23
also, you

general
02-17-2006, 18:25
also, you would want to only eat mice in the winter months, between the first and last frost. all other times of the year the mice will have wolves in them, which are parasitic worms. if you eat the wolves then you too will have wolves. nasty.

Moxie00
02-17-2006, 18:51
Jack is correct as usual but staying away from shelters does not gaurentee you will not be bothered by mice. At the Cheese Factory tent site in Georgia I hung my food bag but forgot some gorp and toothpaste in my pack that was left outside my tent with a pack cover. The little buggers chewed a hole right to the gorp and toothpaste. Near Max Patch I woke to find them chewing a hole in my tent and I was miles fron a shelter. Mice have gone after my food camped in the 100 mile wilderness. They are everywhere in the woods and on the trail so either learn to live with them or stay home. They are one of the challanges of backpacking and their antics have given me many hours of entertainment. I no longer try to kill them. Chances are sooner or later Dick Chaney will shoot some of them by mistake.

Skidsteer
02-17-2006, 21:01
Jack is correct as usual but staying away from shelters does not gaurentee you will not be bothered by mice. At the Cheese Factory tent site in Georgia I hung my food bag but forgot some gorp and toothpaste in my pack that was left outside my tent with a pack cover. The little buggers chewed a hole right to the gorp and toothpaste. Near Max Patch I woke to find them chewing a hole in my tent and I was miles fron a shelter. Mice have gone after my food camped in the 100 mile wilderness. They are everywhere in the woods and on the trail so either learn to live with them or stay home. They are one of the challanges of backpacking and their antics have given me many hours of entertainment. I no longer try to kill them. Chances are sooner or later Dick Chaney will shoot some of them by mistake.

The mice at the Cheese factory have been conditioned to steal food by hordes of Boy Scouts. It is a very popular site as there is a road so close by to bring supplies in. The Cheese factory is almost like a shelter( like a smaller version of Slaughter Gap ).:)

Nate
02-17-2006, 22:44
A queston was brought up many years ago regarding the diets of arctic animals. The question was asked by the Canadian gov. before they sent Farley Mowat deep into the Canadian wilderness to observe the range and population of the Canis lupis (wolf). This cunning Biologist finds that the planning for this wildernesss endevor was quiet off, leaving him to have to suffer the rugged Northern Canada spring and summer, most of which alone and ill-supplied. During this time of observement he finds that the lands in which the gov. has selected for him to stay is over-ran with thousands of field mice. The wolves in observation can only be seen eating thise mice and nothing else, this is when he feels an experiment is imminent. This prompts him to create a meal regiment souly based upon eating mice and drinking alcohol & water. His book describes cooking the mice and even gives few recipies for your cooking & other mealtime pleasures. I highly recomend his book, listed below, and like his willingness to live his work is highly respected.

Never Cry Wolf
By: Farley Mowat
Also A Movie <Very good>

Nate :-?

P.S. I thought I would never use this information, I guess I'm a pretty good at being environmental studies/Forestry major, or maybe just a geek who reads, studies, and hikes too much. Man, I need a life...

The Biss
02-18-2006, 15:49
all other times of the year the mice will have wolves in them.Does this line conjure up any unique mental images for anyone else or is it just me?

I can't imagine that these "wolves" would be able to survive the cooking process any better than the trychonosis nemotode in pigs, which is why we cook pork completely. I think it would be something to consider if I were scoopin' up the field mice and poppin' them in my mouth like popcorn or fileting them out on rice like sushi.

I'm of the opinion if it has four legs and a heatbeat, it's dinner.

general
02-18-2006, 20:33
Does this line conjure up any unique mental images for anyone else or is it just me?

I can't imagine that these "wolves" would be able to survive the cooking process any better than the trychonosis nemotode in pigs, which is why we cook pork completely. I think it would be something to consider if I were scoopin' up the field mice and poppin' them in my mouth like popcorn or fileting them out on rice like sushi.

I'm of the opinion if it has four legs and a heatbeat, it's dinner.

they probably can't survive the heat, but finding them in the cleaning process has a high gross out factor. they look much like maggots, but in reality, they are just a larval stage of some other critter. hell, pick em out and fry em up like grubs, and treat them as an appatizer. mmmmm... grubs. they are probably good with some butter and ramps.

weary
02-18-2006, 21:32
I like to feed them my extra chees. They seem to like it.
A lot of hikers do. You and your "firiends" are part of the problem.

The Biss
02-18-2006, 21:38
Speaking of eating grubs, the kids and I ate grubs at the last Bug Day at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. Fried mealworms are not bad, though I preferred the earthy flavor of the crickets. I read that daggum near every bug that you can find is edible and an excellent source of protein. The key is to remove the head, wings and legs before cooking them.

Ingredients:


1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. oil
3/4 c. water
1/4 c. chopped onions
4 tsp. soy sauce
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 c. minute rice
1 c. cooked mealwormsDirections:

Scramble egg in a saucepan, stirring to break egg into pieces.

Add water, soy sauce, garlic and onions. Bring to a boil. Stir in rice. Cover; remove from heat and let stand five minutes.

:eek:

Doctari
02-18-2006, 22:19
The old gooch gap shelter used to have a mouse trap with a recipe for mouse on it nailed above the opening. Sadly, I forgot to copy this recipe down when I was thru there in 96 & I remember none of it other than it started: "Take one mouse".

Now, eating a mouse would be like eating family (see my post on rats elsewere).

Doctari

Moxie00
02-19-2006, 11:50
I remember in 2000 "High Speed" had an answer for shelter mice but I don't agree with what he did. He would take Ramen Pride, oatmeal, and stale gorp about 50 feet from the shelter and spread it all around. His theory was that the mice would all spend the night eating the food away from the shelter and he would get a goods night sleep without them. I may be wrong but I think all he did was provide healthy, well fed mice for whomever stayed there the next night. I will admit that when I did stay in a shelter with 'High Speed" I don't remember being bothered by mice.

Sloghound
02-22-2006, 12:37
Build a sedan chair out of saplings and parachute cord. Enlist as many volunteer mice as you can entice with your GoLight Trail Flute, and have them whisk you along the trail. That is, until the picture of cheese you are holding in front of them gets soaked in a downpour, and they figure it out.

Is this something PETA will protest?

Panzer1
02-22-2006, 12:53
I heard somewhere that MOUNTAIN MAN and MOUNTAIN DEW ate mice.

Panzer

Gray Blazer
02-22-2006, 13:04
Build a sedan chair out of saplings and parachute cord. Enlist as many volunteer mice as you can entice with your GoLight Trail Flute, and have them whisk you along the trail. That is, until the picture of cheese you are holding in front of them gets soaked in a downpour, and they figure it out.

Is this something PETA will protest?


Why would PETA protest? Doesn't PETA stand for People Eating Tasty Animals??;)

general
02-22-2006, 18:36
i love animals, they are delicious.

kyhipo
02-22-2006, 19:07
Toughest critters on the trail for sure even make people squill alot more than bears do!funny place the trails are:-? ky

Programbo
02-22-2006, 19:56
As a section tent hiker, I haven't had a lot of opportunity to deal with shelter mice, but in reading some old threads, it sounds to me like the things act pretty tame around people.

Leave those poor little mice alone!..They`re just trying to make a living :)

Sloghound
02-23-2006, 12:44
Get Out of Farley Mowat's kitchen.

Sloghound
02-25-2006, 13:14
MICE------

Companion Animal, High Protein Snack, or Scourge of the Trail?

The Biss
02-25-2006, 22:57
When I was younger and in Scouts, the problem at Philmont was not mice, but chipmunks. The camp staff called them Mini-Bears because they would get into your pack worse than the full sized version.

At Cimmeroncito, a rock climbing camp, the staffers had built a spring loaded catapult that would launch the chipmunks into a 5 gallon tub of water when a pull string was yanked. They had the launch board marked in the exact place that would put the rodent into the tub. When the ground squirrels would go for the bait, the staff would wait... wait... wait... until it was in JUST the right spot. All the while you could hear people in the background counting down.

As soon as it hit the mark, they would pull the cord that released the spring loaded board. It is a sight etched into my memory of the litle mini-bear flying through the air; arms, legs and tail flailing... hitting the water, swimming to the edge and climbing out soaking wet, unhappy and unharmed. He chattered and ran off into the woods. Good clean fun.