View Full Version : Rodent issues and storing your stuff
It's me again. I have jumped all over this forum and thanks to EVERYBODY who has helped me. Here is another question: I hear a lot about keeping you stuff (packs, shoes, etc.) as rodent free as possible so that mice and things don't chew on them and so forth. So with that said, if you hang you food as seems to be the norm, and you keep your pack and shoes in your tent (if that is your primary shelter) do the mice and rodents not chew on the tents to get in?
Please excuse the spelling. Sorry
Two Speed
08-07-2008, 10:09
Occasionally a mouse will chew his/her way into a tent, but that isn't all that common. A far more likely cause of damage is a mouse chewing it's way into your gear or clothing in a shelter. The partial solution is to leave all zippers partially unzipped.
However, that does not solve the problem of a mouse that's looking for nesting material. Been a while, but I ran into a fella who had spent the night in a shelter and had done everything right; hung his food on the prayer wheel, opened all the pockets on his pack, etc. Even so he had three socks screwed up by a mouse that decided it had better uses for the wool than the hiker.
The easy way to solve that is don't sleep in shelters.
Occasionally a mouse will chew his/her way into a tent, but that isn't all that common. A far more likely cause of damage is a mouse chewing it's way into your gear or clothing in a shelter. The partial solution is to leave all zippers partially unzipped.
However, that does not solve the problem of a mouse that's looking for nesting material. Been a while, but I ran into a fella who had spent the night in a shelter and had done everything right; hung his food on the prayer wheel, opened all the pockets on his pack, etc. Even so he had three socks screwed up by a mouse that decided it had better uses for the wool than the hiker.
The easy way to solve that is don't sleep in shelters.
Yeah, I don't plan to stay in shelter if I son't have to. So the zipper half undone really doesn't apply if your in a tent, correct?
Two Speed
08-07-2008, 10:16
By and large, yes, that is correct.
Lone Wolf
08-07-2008, 10:32
It's me again. I have jumped all over this forum and thanks to EVERYBODY who has helped me. Here is another question: I hear a lot about keeping you stuff (packs, shoes, etc.) as rodent free as possible so that mice and things don't chew on them and so forth. So with that said, if you hang you food as seems to be the norm, and you keep your pack and shoes in your tent (if that is your primary shelter) do the mice and rodents not chew on the tents to get in?
i have never had a mouse or anything else try to chew into my tent when food and gear was stored in there
skinny minnie
08-07-2008, 10:37
i have never had a mouse or anything else try to chew into my tent when food and gear was stored in there
that's because mice try to avoid decapitation :D
mister krabs
08-07-2008, 12:52
Not AT specific, but I have not had mice chew into my tent, but I did have SOMETHING chew through my tent when canoe camping in the boundary waters. I woke up to the sound of oreo wrappers crinkling, and when I started awake whatever it was took off into the brush. I'm guessing it was a muskrat as we saw lots on that trip, but it could have been anything, maybe a raccoon or a possum. The hole in the tent annoyed me far more than losing the oreos as the skeeters were in my tent the rest of the trip. I no longer trust that little critters are afraid of me or percieve the tent as any sort of barrier.
jersey joe
08-07-2008, 12:55
I had a mouse chew through my tent once, but I wasn't in it at the time.
Probably not a great idea to store food in your tent EVER.
Alligator
08-07-2008, 13:02
Please excuse the spelling. SorryI fixed it for you:).
Berserker
08-07-2008, 13:45
If you are worried about mice, just make sure to stay away from the shelters. If you are setting up near a shelter, then just try to get as far from it as you can. A buddy and I set up in front of Vandeventer (TN) earlier this year, and he had a hole chewed in his tent while I had a mouse run over me cause I left me door open (did the burnout thing mentioned by a poster in one of your other threads...just not on my face). We were literally a few feet from the shelter. I have not had rodent issues when set up further away from the shelters (usually >50').
Take a Yorkshire terrier with you in your pack. Those little devils will kill mice all night long to protect you.
Wasn't there a fellow who hiked with his cat a few years ago?
Two Speed
08-07-2008, 13:50
. . . (did the burnout thing mentioned by a poster in one of your other threads...just not on my face). . . Probably just as well. That was nearly 20 years ago and I'm still kinda psychotic about mice.
Plodderman
08-14-2008, 09:00
I have seen more than one hiker jump out of the sack when a mouse runs across their chest or face in a shelter. Once in the Smokies at a Shelter (Double Springs gap) it sounded like a whole colony moved in.
If you can tent it is the way to go.
Wise Old Owl
08-14-2008, 09:25
Sometimes its food, sometimes its nesting material, anything improperly stored is interesting to a mouse. Here is a $500 used once tent, improperly put in the attic for winter. about three or four holes were found in the spring.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg275/MarkSwarbrick/200804181.jpg
NICKTHEGREEK
08-14-2008, 09:53
Occasionally a mouse will chew his/her way into a tent, but that isn't all that common. A far more likely cause of damage is a mouse chewing it's way into your gear or clothing in a shelter. The partial solution is to leave all zippers partially unzipped.
However, that does not solve the problem of a mouse that's looking for nesting material. Been a while, but I ran into a fella who had spent the night in a shelter and had done everything right; hung his food on the prayer wheel, opened all the pockets on his pack, etc. Even so he had three socks screwed up by a mouse that decided it had better uses for the wool than the hiker.
The easy way to solve that is don't sleep in shelters.
At the risk of looking like a mod-suckup, that is simply the best advise ever on WB
take-a-knee
08-14-2008, 09:58
I have yet to have a critter breach my hammock, or a properly hung food bag.
If you are worried about mice, just make sure to stay away from the shelters. If you are setting up near a shelter, then just try to get as far from it as you can. A buddy and I set up in front of Vandeventer (TN) earlier this year, and he had a hole chewed in his tent while I had a mouse run over me cause I left me door open (did the burnout thing mentioned by a poster in one of your other threads...just not on my face). We were literally a few feet from the shelter. I have not had rodent issues when set up further away from the shelters (usually >50').
Mice generally range from 10 to 30 feet from their nest. They are curious and will explore their territory at all times. Getting 50' from the shelter moves you out of their normal range (of those nesting in the shelter).
The worst shelter in the GSMNP (IMHO having stayed in them all at various times of the year) is Derricks Knob. Seems like the mice and the chipmunks comptete for space but the chipmunks control the perimiter while the mice absolutely rule the interior.
1 or 2 MMs left outside a tent will satisfy all the mice that come around in a shelter 3 or 4.
Blissful
08-14-2008, 10:42
I have yet to have a critter breach my hammock, or a properly hung food bag.
The only time I was breached was leaving by mistake a bag of gorp in my waistbelt pack. Saw the gnawing at the bottom pack - but it actually did not get all the way through the material. It's a sign now to make sure everything is in the food bag for the night
I have yet to have a critter breach my hammock, or a properly hung food bag.
Some where two raccoons, a flying squirrel, and a red squirrel are having a smile on this one. They are discussing if cousin Woodrow the beaver is still in the union.