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  1. #81
    Surveyor & cartographer wyclif's Avatar
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    Looks like there are some notorious shelters out there for mice. Section hiking as a kid, we never stayed in the shelters 'cos we wanted to tent. I suppose at some point we might be driven to the shelters, though.

    I have a homemade piano wire mouse hanger with a lid in the middle. Should I bring it? Do the shelters all have bag hangers?

    I've never been on the AT south of McAfee Knob; I have no idea how well the shelters down south are maintained. Any advice is appreciated!

    I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.

    ~John Muir

  2. #82
    Cool Change - Donating Member drsukie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by veteran
    Dude! Did you do this? Just kidding....How long did the funeral services take? Sue
    "there is no price too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself" - R. Kipling

  3. #83
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    Mice!? some of them can be bold. Just give them what they want and nobody gets hurt.

  4. #84
    Registered User general's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by veteran
    nice harvest. happy hunting.

  5. #85
    Registered User Doctari's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Uncle Wayne
    I have a friend that uses a Dorito bag to hold the mice and then releases them the next morning. Here's what he recommends:

    Place your pack diagonal to the corner of the shelter (or use your boots) and place the empty bag in the void created. Your pack or boots will hold it up nicely, and allow the mice to climb up to enter the bag. But, they will not be able to climb out! They will be nicely contained for the evening.

    I've never tried this but may on our next section hike just to see if it will keep the mice from climbing through my wife's hair. She doesn't like mice climbing through her hair.

    Oh man, are you in for a rude awakining

    One of my girls can go thru the side of a plastic bag in less than 4 seconds if she wants, a foil bag would take just a bit longer. Granted they are rats so are a bit bigger, but my girls are well fed & not very motivated.
    As a treat, I give them the mini bags of chips, unopened, I just toss it in the cage.

    Elizabeth (a rat, 8 - 10 OZ) can open a cookie tin, unaided, in about 20 minutes. She loves chocolate, almost as much as she does chasing cats. In case you are wondering: she runs free, sleeps with whoever is warmest, including a 27 Lb cat (cat is FULLY armed: teeth & claws)

    Point is: never underestimate a rodent!

    BTW: after sleeping with a rat in my bed for the past year or so, I don't even notice shelter mice anymore


    Doctari.
    Curse you Perry the Platypus!

  6. #86

    Default ...How Bad are the Mice??

    Not too bad if you sauté them in mushroom soup and onions then top with a mild cheese. Also, great with mac-n-cheese dishes. But, on a serious note, if hikers didn't leave food scraps on the ground and in shelters mice (and snakes that follow) wouldn't be as bad.

  7. #87
    Registered User jungleland1972's Avatar
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    Trying to use an old thread instead of starting something new. Going North out of Harpers Ferry over Christmas (just a few nights) and was wondering if mice would be more/less active in freezing weather than in the Summer. Anybody have Wintertime shelter experience with mice?

  8. #88

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    The mice aren't the main problem It's the people. The mice are responding to the human animal's behavior.

  9. #89
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    They didn't scare me at all to see or hear them, only when I felt them I jumped.

  10. #90

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    Quote Originally Posted by bighammer View Post
    They didn't scare me at all to see or hear them, only when I felt them I jumped.
    Had a sleepless night one time when I kept feeling the little critters skittering around and touching my arm. I must have startled awake a dozen times.

    Turned out my daughter, who was sleeping close to me, kept brushing up against me.

  11. #91
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    Quote Originally Posted by jungleland1972 View Post
    Trying to use an old thread instead of starting something new. Going North out of Harpers Ferry over Christmas (just a few nights) and was wondering if mice would be more/less active in freezing weather than in the Summer. Anybody have Wintertime shelter experience with mice?
    I spent a night in a shelter in Northern PA in April this year. Temps down to low 20s at night and the mice were busy all night.
    humor is the gadfly on the corpse of tragedy

  12. #92
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    I didn't have an issue the 13 nights I spent in a shelter on trail, but can you tell I still didn't like the shelters? …. out of 174 nights in my tent on trail, I only saw mice near my tent when I got up to Maine, and it was getting cold. I even had to kick one off my screen mesh a couple times. Another time one kept creeping close and I'd smack the ground to scare it off. I heard of them chewing through tents but I didn't have that happen.

    What you really need to worry about up north is the flying squirrels, especially if your hanging your food. I had them chew into my food bag hanging in mid air on 2 separate occasions and that is the reason I'm switching to a bear canister for future hikes - not the bears. I can hang my food good from then but I couldn't believe them flying squirrels...
    NoDoz
    nobo 2018 March 10th - October 19th
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    I'm just one too many mornings and 1,000 miles behind

  13. #93
    Some days, it's not worth chewing through the restraints.
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    Love to eat them mousies
    Mousies what I love to eat
    Bite they little heads off
    Nibble on they tiny feet
    - B. Kliban

  14. #94

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    Quote Originally Posted by LazyLightning View Post
    I didn't have an issue the 13 nights I spent in a shelter on trail, but can you tell I still didn't like the shelters? …. out of 174 nights in my tent on trail, I only saw mice near my tent when I got up to Maine, and it was getting cold. I even had to kick one off my screen mesh a couple times. Another time one kept creeping close and I'd smack the ground to scare it off. I heard of them chewing through tents but I didn't have that happen.

    What you really need to worry about up north is the flying squirrels, especially if your hanging your food. I had them chew into my food bag hanging in mid air on 2 separate occasions and that is the reason I'm switching to a bear canister for future hikes - not the bears. I can hang my food good from then but I couldn't believe them flying squirrels...

    I've had nocturnal flying squirrels eat through a bear cable hung food sack in GSMNP once. I caught it in the act. I've seen it occur twice to other people's hung food sacks during the night. It's why in some areas I'll use an Ursack Minor for chewing rodent protection which is probably a good idea to use on the AT FOR RODENTS, especially if relying on AT lean to's. I've seen or had Gray and Red squirrels eat through hung stuff sacks too. The metal disks seen on GSMNP bear cables and tin lids or tin cans on AT lean to mouse trapeze' are there to thwart rodents or other animals climbing down the lines. Well when squirrels can jump 15 ft or more or glide like 'Flying Squirrels' they can get at a hung food bag. Birds also attack hung food sacks. I believe there are flying squirrels in GSMNP that have been conditioned to easy to obtain hung human food. I've had this conversation with several GSMNP NP Rangers and one Wildlife Biologists and they all agreed it does happen. It's also a reason why where bear cables are provided the brush and small trees growing up in the vicinity are cleared. 'Bear cables' aren't just for protecting food from bears.

  15. #95

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    Some folks think it's bats, that's what I thought at one time, until catching flying squirrels hanging from and eating through hung food sacks.

    NO, I don't suggest we allow a GSMNP flying squirrel small game hunt!

  16. #96

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    Remember this, the mouse will all ways be bad in the South. By time you reach PA, they're food!

  17. #97

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    The worst...imo..is when they have gnawed into shelter logs and built nests inside. The constant gnawing is amplified by the hollow wood.. all....night....long.

    Beating on wood stops them for a minute, then starts right back up. Earplugs required.
    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 12-15-2018 at 18:39.

  18. #98
    Registered User egilbe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MuddyWaters View Post
    The worst...imo..is when they have gnawed into shelter logs and built nests inside. The constant gnawing is amplified by the hollow wood.. all....night....long.

    Beating on wood stops them for a minute, then starts right back up. Earplugs required.
    We stayed at Kinsman pond shelter a couple nights this Summer. There was a piece of shelter log cover on the upper deck where we were sleeping. We went to bed and heard this gnawing/grinding noise all night. The next morning, the cover was just pile of fuzz with little mouse droppings around it. We assumed it was pine beatles eating the shelter. I hate mice.

  19. #99

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    Please forgive me for posting this.If you're squeamish you might not want to watch it.However,I have often wondered why every shelter does not have one of these.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SIlYiiCGLI

  20. #100
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dogwood View Post
    Some folks think it's bats, that's what I thought at one time, until catching flying squirrels hanging from and eating through hung food sacks.

    NO, I don't suggest we allow a GSMNP flying squirrel small game hunt!



    bears have also learned to tight rope and/or shake the cables to get the bags down....

    a kiosk in cataloochee a few years ago had pictures of bears on the cables...

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