View Full Version : How to keep mice out of food bags?
Two Speed
09-05-2008, 15:41
Could try an Ursack, if you can find one at an outfitter's.
Footslogger
09-05-2008, 15:45
Try letting the bag hang down farther from the overhead branch. Only 2 times I've had a food bag successfully pilfered by a mouse or chipmonk was when I lied the bag off too close to the overhanging branch. Another thing you can try is to take a small circular piece of tin or cardboard and put it on your line about 6 - 8 " above the food bag.
'Slogger
I've been told that it's unorthodox but it worked for me -- I put 2 mothballs in a paper envelop and placed it at the bottom of my food sack before hanging. No mice. The reason for putting them in a paper envelop is simply so they would not come in direct contact with anything else in the bag.
Footslogger
09-05-2008, 16:15
Those poor moths :D
'Slogger
Pedaling Fool
09-05-2008, 16:25
I've lost food four nights in a row to mice this week. They've chewed into food bags whether they're hung from bear cables at shelters or from trees/bear-bagged at tent sites. At Plum Orchard Shelter one chewed into my Platypus Big Zip water bag, rendering it useless. (I usually don't use the mouse hangers in shelters - I seem to be a bear magnet so I prefer to hang food outside.)
I've only got a month left on this hike. Is there anything I can buy in town that I can use inside or outside my food bags to keep the mice out of them?
That's some really bad luck. I've never had a mouse get into my food bag when I used the mouse-lines in the shelters (It's important to ensure they have a can or similar object that the mouse won't cross and to ensure the line is not close to a supporting beam or something else, say a hanging pack, that will allow the mouse to get to your food bag). When I tent I sleep with my food in my tent, never had a problem.
The only times I've had a mouse get my food was when I overlooked getting all my food out of my pack - no matter how little you leave in your pack, they'll find it.
tatersalad
09-05-2008, 16:26
Those poor moths :D
'Slogger
Good one!
:-?
bigcranky
09-05-2008, 16:29
I had this happen every night on our 2003 section hike of Georgia. In 2004 we bought a pair of Ursack TKO bags, and we've used them ever since. No mouse problems, or anything else, for that matter. I watched a raccoon try unsuccessfully to get in our bag on top of a bear pole in SNP.
Pedaling Fool
09-05-2008, 16:35
I had this happen every night on our 2003 section hike of Georgia. ....
I watched a raccoon try unsuccessfully to get in our bag on top of a bear pole in SNP.
How was your food bag hung in Georgia?
Why was the raccoon unsuccessful - because he couldn't climb the pole or because he couldn't get in your bag?
bigcranky
09-05-2008, 17:33
How was your food bag hung in Georgia?
Why was the raccoon unsuccessful - because he couldn't climb the pole or because he couldn't get in your bag?
Georgia: Hung on the bear poles = mouse droppings in food. Hung inside shelter = mouse droppings about half the time. The food was in a standard nylon stuff sack that year.
Raccoon: he climbed the bear pole like there was nothing to it. The he proceeded to try to chew through the Ursack for several minutes. No luck. Then I chased him away, sort of -- he mostly just looked at me like I was nuts. Nobody else lost food that day, since we took turns chasing off the raccoon, but the ranger said that plenty of people had lost food in the previous weeks.
I've never had anything get inside the Ursack. I know that negative results can be meaningless, but I still sleep better at night.
Homer&Marje
09-05-2008, 20:31
This worked against the red squirrels every time I have been to the whites. That cardboard sounds like a good idea too, gonna have to think about that
minnesotasmith
09-06-2008, 09:07
Could try an Ursack, if you can find one at an outfitter's.
Newer, and no trouble getting them. You also know they've been kept out of the sun (ultraviolet light exposure degrades Ursacks after a while).
www.ursack.com (http://www.ursack.com)
i lived on a farmhouse for 3 years and my roommate and i had troubles w/ mice every now and then. his mom suggested using peppermint oil (a few drops into a cottonball). we stuck cotton balls w/ the oil in various cupboards and the mice never returned. you may find some success by sticking a few of them in your food bag (or even putting some on your parachord close to the bag) and i'd personally feel better about using that, as opposed to moth balls, near my food. YYMV. it doesn't work for everyone though. you can pick it up at GNC
middle to middle
09-11-2008, 11:12
I have heard that peppermint oil works. I used to carry a coil of piano wire and hang from it. Mouse can't get traction slides and crashes into bag and falls off. I think best answer is garlick cloves. You can use it cooking and keeps mice and critters away. Men can easily urinate in a circle around food and critters do not cross p line.
dessertrat
09-11-2008, 12:17
Use either the ursack (which also should keep out any other animal) or use a "tin can" barricade on the line you hang from.
Or use this:
http://www.rei.com/product/768902
End of problem . . . end of story! Ursack if the weight bothers you, but then you still have to hang it. :)
bigcranky
09-11-2008, 21:36
Or use this:
http://www.rei.com/product/768902
End of problem . . . end of story! Ursack if the weight bothers you, but then you still have to hang it. :)
Actually, you're not supposed to hang an Ursack, at least not according to the manufacturer. You tie it to the base of a tree some distance away from camp, using a Figure-8 knot.
gonewalkabout
09-11-2008, 22:03
Well you are not surpposed to hang the Ursack for back bears but I don't remember the reaosning. However a black bear can rip the bag apart they are definetly not bear proof. I use mine for rodent protection and haven't had a problem with it, although I never used it for 100-200 nights yet.
The Mechanical Man
09-11-2008, 23:11
Here try this.............................
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showpost.php?p=372289&postcount=27
create your own mouse can, similar to what hang in some shelters, create an obstacle for the mice
Here try this.............................
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showpost.php?p=372289&postcount=27Hmmm, smoked bear for breakfast! :D
I was considering moth balls. Did the moth ball smell affect your food?
It didn't affect my food at all. The food that I carry is invariably sealed -- freeze-dried stuff, power bars, peanut butter and crackers, etc., but I'd think that if any food item was packaged in such a way that wasn't air tight, then it probably would.
dessertrat
09-12-2008, 09:21
Well you are not surpposed to hang the Ursack for back bears but I don't remember the reaosning. However a black bear can rip the bag apart they are definetly not bear proof. I use mine for rodent protection and haven't had a problem with it, although I never used it for 100-200 nights yet.
The whole idea of the ursack is that the bear should not be able to bite through it. I suppose the bear would squash the food pretty good by chewing on the outside of the sack, though, if he finds it and gives it a go.
NICKTHEGREEK
09-12-2008, 09:24
I've lost food four nights in a row to mice this week. They've chewed into food bags whether they're hung from bear cables at shelters or from trees/bear-bagged at tent sites. At Plum Orchard Shelter one chewed into my Platypus Big Zip water bag, rendering it useless. (I usually don't use the mouse hangers in shelters - I seem to be a bear magnet so I prefer to hang food outside.)
I've only got a month left on this hike. Is there anything I can buy in town that I can use inside or outside my food bags to keep the mice out of them?
May not be useful but if you avoid shelters and established tent sites the chances of mouse infestation should be much smaller. The midnight raiders don't hang out where there's no consistent supply of food. And yes you can buy a cat.
Check your pack/food bag to be sure a mouse isn't in it. This happened to a hiker this spring, he didn't know where the mouse got in, but he found daily evidence for over a week before finding the mouse.
May not be useful but if you avoid shelters and established tent sites the chances of mouse infestation should be much smaller. The midnight raiders don't hang out where there's no consistent supply of food. And yes you can buy a cat.That's ironic that Plum Orchard Shelter and you mentioning a cat come up. Last October when I stopped at Plum Orchard for lunch, there was a cat hanging around. By its scrawny looks, I'd say it had cleaned the mice out of that shelter and was beginning to go hungry.
OldStormcrow
09-12-2008, 15:05
'Way back in "the day" when the shelters in the Smokies still had fences on the front I used to keep my food in an old tin spice can that measured about 12" tall and about 6"x6" on the sides. It weighed hardly anything, being made out of very thin and cheap tin, and you could hear little Speedy Gonzales scratching away on the outside of it all night trying to get in. It also doubled as a good way to hold warm rinse water when washing your hair, etc. It's also handy because you can keep it right beside your stove while cooking and not have to worry about Speedy sneaking into it. I once had one sneak into my food bag as I was cooking while the bag was right between my feet. I unknowingly packed him up and carried him with me and he ate into every package I had before I got to my next night's campsite. If you hang your food bag properly and use something like this can I don't think you will ever have another mouse problem. By the way, don't chase the skunks away from your shelter....they are fairly tame and love to eat mice!
soggybottoms
09-14-2008, 08:06
MOUSE TRAPS!!! Nothing more peaceful than that snapping sound as you drift off into dream world...
P.S great fun among your pals for most scored on a 2 week trip
Homer&Marje
09-14-2008, 12:13
That's ironic that Plum Orchard Shelter and you mentioning a cat come up. Last October when I stopped at Plum Orchard for lunch, there was a cat hanging around. By its scrawny looks, I'd say it had cleaned the mice out of that shelter and was beginning to go hungry.
Feral cats only need about 8 mice a day to survive, while it's possible that they were cleaned out, I'd say the cat was scrawny due to infection or parasites. I have two house cats that don't go out and they get tapeworms about once a year. They will start eating their food twice as fast and get skinnier... then I have to spend 40 bucks on pills, then three weeks later 40 bucks on pills again ( to kill anymore babies that hatched).
Been trying to find a way to get the cats into backpacking... any suggestions?
Cross country biking with the cats in a yellow kid carrier might be doable.:-?
tom_alan
10-07-2008, 22:51
I have been told that an old tuna can with a hole punched in it works very well. I would assume it works like a round piece of cardboard. Have never tried it myself.
Matteroo
10-08-2008, 00:15
we use this:
Cabela's XPG dry sacks
http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0023291516238a.shtml
they are heavier duty than almost all the nylon/nylon laminated/silicon/silicon laminated nylon etc whatever bags/stuff sacks that most folks use. They also weigh more, but we never had an issue hanging food in rain, and due to being a heavy-duty dry sack with an air-valve release, they kept odors out. Now I'm not sure what would have happened if we smeared peanut butter all over the inside or what, but we never had a single problem.
when hanging the bear/mouse/whatever line, I was always ambitious and did the sometimes difficult work of getting a line over a pretty high branch, and letting the food bags hang a good 5 or more foot down. I think if the distance between the food bag and the closest sturdy footing for a mouse is a big deal - if it is close enough they will jump, drop, or slip onto it and be able to hold on. Further, and they have no chance/don't even know it's there. We also hung our food in shelters and left it in the dry-sacks and left that inside our backpacks, which we put our pack covers over and then leaned against trees. never a critter problem once.
taildragger
10-08-2008, 00:23
Could sleep in your tent with your food.
Other than that, I'd say hang from a tree using the PCT hanging method, or an ursack (you can pick up the used ones fairly cheap, but they do go fast)
Could sleep in your tent with your food.
I used the Lone Wolf method in the Whites this year. no issues.
LIhikers
10-08-2008, 07:46
I hike with an MSR Simmerlite stove. I put the round ground protector piece of aluminum, that came with the stove, on my hanging line above my food bag. So far no problems when I've done that.
superman
10-08-2008, 10:01
I stay away from shelters where the mice hang out. I also carry an inch and a half knife that I am prepared to use if attacked by mice.:)
I have used a rubberized dry bag like the ones used for canoe and kayak camping. I have 3 sizes and take the one that is appropriate for the amount of food I am carrying. being air and water tight they keep the food odors in. They also have a rubber smell to them that I think deters rodents. They are heavier than standard stuff sacks but i feel the extra wight is justified. I started this after my friend and I spent a night at site # 37 in the Smokies (Walnut Bottoms). He hung the food in his sleeping bag stuff sack and you would have thought there was a Golden Corral Buffet hanging from the cable. Not only was the food pilfered but the sack was destroyed.
Grumpy Ol' Pops
10-09-2008, 13:18
I've only got a month left on this hike. Is there anything I can buy in town that I can use inside or outside my food bags to keep the mice out of them?
I've carried a Frisbee for several years. I put a small hole in the center through which I pass the rope used to hang my food bag. A slip knot about six inches up the rope holds the Frisbee from directly contacting the food bag. The Frisbee is right-side up. If mice or chipmunks try to climb down the rope, they get to the Frisbee and lose their footing. The fall to the ground usually persuades them to skip the next attempt.
Christopher Robin
10-09-2008, 15:52
I made my food bags doubled thikness for hiking SOBO this year & stayed in the shealters with not one mouse getting in my bags.