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  1. #81
    Registered User kestral's Avatar
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    What, no one has resugested the abandoning of a feline? (Please don’t) I have a twin set of ninja assasins who would take out the little beasties, but I doubt I could ever corral them again to bring them home. Because they act like .......... cats! ;*)

  2. #82
    Registered User sketcher709's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kestral View Post
    What, no one has resugested the abandoning of a feline? (Please don’t) I have a twin set of ninja assasins who would take out the little beasties, but I doubt I could ever corral them again to bring them home. Because they act like .......... cats! ;*)
    Problem is that the little kitties would not be at the top of the food chain. Once they were fattened up, they would become coyote dinner.

  3. #83
    Registered User SoaknWet's Avatar
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    You have to love the human race, self-proclaimed smartest animal on the planet! We create the problem than blame everything on the lower life forms! Mice are trying to survive just like all living things and they've learned life is easier to gather where human gather because they're stupid and don't use common sense. Bottom line NO FOOD means no MICE. I can't stand mice but I refuse to condemn them because of my mistakes. Clean up after yourself and don't feed the wildlife!!!

  4. #84

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    Quote Originally Posted by SoaknWet View Post
    You have to love the human race, self-proclaimed smartest animal on the planet! We create the problem than blame everything on the lower life forms! Mice are trying to survive just like all living things and they've learned life is easier to gather where human gather because they're stupid and don't use common sense. Bottom line NO FOOD means no MICE. I can't stand mice but I refuse to condemn them because of my mistakes. Clean up after yourself and don't feed the wildlife!!!
    This is all well and good but Mice present a problem for backpackers if these backpackers are out long enough. Sure, I love the little critters and they deserve to live like anything else but it must be remembered these little Detards sometimes invade certain campsites all thru the Southeast---and not only around AT box shelters.

    By "Invade" I mean they'll chew up gear, chew holes in your tent or remove parts of your tent, go down bear lines and chew holes in your food sack, chew off boot tops for salt or fiber for nests, chew holes in your sleeping bag to get nest material, pee and defecate around your gear and cook pot, and generally run across your body all night making for a crappy night of sleep.

    Most established campsites in the Southeast have a mice or two, some campsites have dozens, some camps have zero to none.

  5. #85
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    This is all well and good but Mice present a problem for backpackers if these backpackers are out long enough. Sure, I love the little critters and they deserve to live like anything else but it must be remembered these little Detards sometimes invade certain campsites all thru the Southeast---and not only around AT box shelters.

    By "Invade" I mean they'll chew up gear, chew holes in your tent or remove parts of your tent, go down bear lines and chew holes in your food sack, chew off boot tops for salt or fiber for nests, chew holes in your sleeping bag to get nest material, pee and defecate around your gear and cook pot, and generally run across your body all night making for a crappy night of sleep.

    .
    To me, this kinda brings the conversation back to it's start. I totally agree with the above statements and I see it as a choice: Leave a little food so the critters (hopefully)will leave your gear alone, or let them find your food that they want wherever it is. Yes, I have had mice eat food out of my bag, yes it was properly hung, yes I have had them run across my face at night. My opinion, they are already there, they will find food somewhere. I prefer to keep them out of my pack or food bag.

  6. #86
    Journeyman Journeyer
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    Funny story, I was backpacking about 35 years ago and left one of the side pockets on my pack unzipped. Inside was a baggie of instant coffee. Upon waking in the morning I found that a mouse had chewed a hole in the bag and gotten itself a little caffeine high. It did exactly the same thing it does to me and cleaned the little rodent out. My pack pocket had a disturbing amount of little mouse pellets.
    Might be an idea for an offering if you insist on feeding them.

  7. #87
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    This is all well and good but Mice present a problem for backpackers if these backpackers are out long enough. Sure, I love the little critters and they deserve to live like anything else but it must be remembered these little Detards sometimes invade certain campsites all thru the Southeast---and not only around AT box shelters.

    By "Invade" I mean they'll chew up gear, chew holes in your tent or remove parts of your tent, go down bear lines and chew holes in your food sack, chew off boot tops for salt or fiber for nests, chew holes in your sleeping bag to get nest material, pee and defecate around your gear and cook pot, and generally run across your body all night making for a crappy night of sleep.

    Most established campsites in the Southeast have a mice or two, some campsites have dozens, some camps have zero to none.
    Tipi you need another dog....hell why not get a St. Bernard so he can carry some of the load as well as deter the mice! Hiking with a dog especially a vermin killing breed seems to keep the mice at bay...


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  8. #88

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    This is all well and good but Mice present a problem for backpackers if these backpackers are out long enough. Sure, I love the little critters and they deserve to live like anything else but it must be remembered these little Detards sometimes invade certain campsites all thru the Southeast---and not only around AT box shelters.

    By "Invade" I mean they'll chew up gear, chew holes in your tent or remove parts of your tent, go down bear lines and chew holes in your food sack, chew off boot tops for salt or fiber for nests, chew holes in your sleeping bag to get nest material, pee and defecate around your gear and cook pot, and generally run across your body all night making for a crappy night of sleep.

    Most established campsites in the Southeast have a mice or two, some campsites have dozens, some camps have zero to none.
    Which is why I always carry one of my wife’s biscuits, one bite and it’s game over!

  9. #89

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    Quote Originally Posted by SoaknWet View Post
    You have to love the human race, self-proclaimed smartest animal on the planet! We create the problem than blame everything on the lower life forms! Mice are trying to survive just like all living things and they've learned life is easier to gather where human gather because they're stupid and don't use common sense. Bottom line NO FOOD means no MICE. I can't stand mice but I refuse to condemn them because of my mistakes. Clean up after yourself and don't feed the wildlife!!!
    It's easier said than done. Humans, by nature, are messy. What may seems like a nothingcrumb from your granola bar is a nice-sized snack for a mouse. I try to limit temptations by keeping my food bag off the ground as soon as I get to a site but, unfortunately, there's no way to keep every speck of food off the ground. Except for not carrying food.

  10. #90

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    Quote Originally Posted by martinb View Post
    It's easier said than done. Humans, by nature, are messy. What may seems like a nothingcrumb from your granola bar is a nice-sized snack for a mouse. I try to limit temptations by keeping my food bag off the ground as soon as I get to a site but, unfortunately, there's no way to keep every speck of food off the ground. Except for not carrying food.
    these are the worst


    3E387289-1C97-486D-BD52-BF1FC01EE911.jpeg

  11. #91

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    Do they work? I'll buy a box!

  12. #92

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    Back in the early days o science, when theories about spontaneous generation of life abounded, one particular scientist said that, after testing, that straw plus a sweaty shirt left for 21 days resulted in mice.

    Well he was right of course. But it wasn't spontaneous generation of life, mice just liked to nest in straw and a sweaty shirt.

    Mice like to nest in shelters too. Food or no food. The woods is full of their natural food source just feet away. But....its also full of their predators. What they really like is the protected habitat that shelters provide. And they aren't exposed to predators like snakes, foxes, bobcats, owls, coyotes , etc when they go dining out.
    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 02-13-2018 at 12:52.

  13. #93
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    Quote Originally Posted by rocketsocks View Post
    soooo true...under my truck seat is loaded with them!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  14. #94
    Registered User Toolshed's Avatar
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    I didn't read all the comments, but as a longtime Former Certified Pest Control Operator with hundreds of rodent jobs under his belt, I can say Don't Do It!! Mice do not eat until full then go drift off somewhere for a night. Mice will eat and hoard at the same time. They will nibble and then hoard, nibble and hoard. When that food source is gone/hoarded, they will run along the walls and fixed objects exploring until they meet up with another possible food source (perhaps your pack?). If they smell or sense food, they will chew through anything obstructing their path. All you are doing if you leave food out is enforcing to rodents that this is the place for stress-free feeding.
    .....Someday, like many others who joined WB in the early years, I may dry up and dissapear....

  15. #95
    GSMNP 900 Miler rmitchell's Avatar
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    Nests are another problem. Some friends of mine got home from a Smokies trip and put their packs in the closet on return home. A week later they begain to smell something . Apparently a mouse built a nest and downloaded a litter of babies in a pocket. They said for such small critters the decomposing mice smelled pretty bad.

    Something else to check is under the hood of a vehicle left at a trail head. After one section, I was dropping off a hiking partner and during the drive we were discussing car engines. I popped the hood of the Jeep that I was driving at the time to look at the engine and discovered a nest on top of the engine. Dry tinder is not something you want next to the exhaust of an engine in a car that is driven for several hours.

  16. #96

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    Plus I have found the "leave a little pile of peanuts out by the tent" does not work. I've done it. They will still pester me and the tent all night long and since it's a keg party they will call in all their friends.

  17. #97

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    Quote Originally Posted by rmitchell View Post
    Nests are another problem. Some friends of mine got home from a Smokies trip and put their packs in the closet on return home. A week later they begain to smell something . Apparently a mouse built a nest and downloaded a litter of babies in a pocket. They said for such small critters the decomposing mice smelled pretty bad.

    Something else to check is under the hood of a vehicle left at a trail head. After one section, I was dropping off a hiking partner and during the drive we were discussing car engines. I popped the hood of the Jeep that I was driving at the time to look at the engine and discovered a nest on top of the engine. Dry tinder is not something you want next to the exhaust of an engine in a car that is driven for several hours.
    Oh so true. Try leaving your car sitting at a trailhead for 15 days. I once came out and found the car's air filter eaten apart and a mouse nest built in the heating/cooling fan. One big reason why I now use a shuttle for all my long backpacking trips. One time I left 4 glue traps scattered thruout the car.

  18. #98

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    I keep reading the thread title as “Feeding the ice (monsters) so they leave you alone.”
    It’s disappointing to open it and the subject is mice.

  19. #99
    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Traffic Jam View Post
    I keep reading the thread title as “Feeding the ice (monsters) so they leave you alone.”
    It’s disappointing to open it and the subject is mice.
    Here ya go

    Marshmallow-Wallpapers-frozen-35894680-1920-1200.jpg

  20. #100

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    Quote Originally Posted by 4eyedbuzzard View Post
    my brother in-law reports seeing that monster after 17 hours of plowing snow.

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