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  1. #101
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    I have never witnessed anyone carried off by a gang of mice. Have witnessed damage to backpacks by mice. Leaving zippers open on pockets doesn’t always stop them from chewing holes. The tent areas ,not surprisingly have mice to. May b the shelter cost the mice more for rent or higher class of mice . More mice in the shelter ? A study should b done.

  2. #102

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cheyou View Post
    I have never witnessed anyone carried off by a gang of mice. Have witnessed damage to backpacks by mice. Leaving zippers open on pockets doesn’t always stop them from chewing holes. The tent areas ,not surprisingly have mice to. May b the shelter cost the mice more for rent or higher class of mice . More mice in the shelter ? A study should b done.
    I think shelters have way more.

    But ive had mouse in tent at shelter too

    30 sec after i laid down and turned off light the little bugger was sitting on my chest

    Dont know when or how it got in. Could been zipper gap. Or maybe got in pack while setting tent up. Had a spirited chase for several minutes to get it out.
    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 12-15-2018 at 20:42.

  3. #103
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    I caught a flying squirrel in the act to, that's how I knew what it was the second time it happened. I actually had to kick it off my food bag as I lowered it and saw it running around the outside of my bag.
    NoDoz
    nobo 2018 March 10th - October 19th
    -
    I'm just one too many mornings and 1,000 miles behind

  4. #104

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    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    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...
    Bears and raccoons trying to tight rope cables are hilarious. The acrobatic high flying tight rope wandering, vertical Cliffhanger antics, and leaping abilities of mice, squirrels and chipmunks are Wildlife Parkour AWESOME. I like betting on whose human food they'll get at first.

  5. #105

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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.
    Ever stay at one of the AT lean to's with stone walls the mice are nesting? Ever note mortared joints lacking mortar? How do you think that came about? Ever see mice moving around bits of crumbly mortar using their little front paws and stuffing it into their cheek pouches to be spit out on the ground? I don't remember the name of the AT shelter but when all the lights were turned out many sets of beady little eyes shown out through those joints. Everyone in the shelter knew we were being watched and stalked by the patient pitter pattering meese. The next morning with a late start at 8 the stone wall started heating up. What animals eat mice and like basking on warmed rock? Yup it was one of the few times I ever saw together a rattlesnake and copperhead trying to dart their oversized heads into the mortar missing joints expecting to rouse a mouse.

    A hungry mouse(mice are always hungry) with a Snickers wrapper sound like a new Neo Air and group of Kindergartners on Christmas morning all trying to sit on it at once.

    I like it when you turn the lights on the daring brave ones that don't run as if to say "turn the damn light off can't you see I'm trying to lick this wrapper to death?" Ever see a mouse's tongue? It's so small.

  6. #106

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    Ahh, all you AT lean to luvin hikers are in for a real rodent, bear, and reptile treat. It's like being at the Zoo with no bars or containment to restrict viewing and stalking the Zoo's primary animal exhibit - YOU!

  7. #107
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dogwood View Post
    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.
    I worried about something getting my food in the night, so I kept it in my tent every night. I had a couple 12x20 Loksak bags, one for food, one for trash. The only night I had any trouble was when I remembered I had part of a bag of Peanut M&M's and I got into them in the middle of the night. I heard footsteps (of what I thought was another hiker) get closer and circle my tent, so close, I thought they would trip over the staked lines holding it up. I opened the zipper to find it was a bear, who retreated quickly.

    https://www.amazon.com/LOKSAK-Re-Sea...57K?th=1&psc=1
    Last edited by bighammer; 12-16-2018 at 00:56.

  8. #108
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    Yeah, an opsack is nice but it isn't going to fool a bear:

    "Bears are thought to have the best sense of smell of any animal on earth. For example, the average dog's sense ofsmell is 100 times better than a humans. A blood hound's is 300 times better. A bear's sense of smell is 7 times better than a blood hound's or 2,100 times better than a human."

    A Bear's Sense of Smell - Section Hikers Backpacking Blog

    https://sectionhiker.com/bears_sense_of_smell/

  9. #109

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jayne View Post
    Yeah, an opsack is nice but it isn't going to fool a bear:

    "Bears are thought to have the best sense of smell of any animal on earth. For example, the average dog's sense ofsmell is 100 times better than a humans. A blood hound's is 300 times better. A bear's sense of smell is 7 times better than a blood hound's or 2,100 times better than a human."

    A Bear's Sense of Smell - Section Hikers Backpacking Blog


    https://sectionhiker.com/bears_sense_of_smell/
    ^+

    We have no concept of this.
    Its more than smell, its scent. Its a whole other dimension of information we can only speculate at.
    Bears find mates.......dozens of miles away ....by scent

    What we know, is even dogs , can discriminate easily between scent of different people. And, know what direction they travelled in. Dogs can even detect cancer in body by smell.

    A radio-collared bear was once observed travelling several miles upwind, in a straight line, and immediately retrieving a elk from 10' below water in a lake. The elk had been killed by landslide .

    So yeah..its unlikely an opsak do much good .
    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 12-20-2018 at 02:53.

  10. #110
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    I like to have a Snickers bar in my bag after dinner at the end of my day. Only problem is that the mice like to lick my fingers when I'm finished and half asleep! Lol

  11. #111
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    Quote Originally Posted by MOWGLI View Post
    They are worse off early on in the season. Once the warm weather hits, the snakes are out to put a hurtin' on the mice, and natural food supplies (for mice) become more abundant.

    Health hazard? I wouldn't worry.... If you don't like mice, you can always tent though. Its a big woods out there.

    Little Bear
    GA-ME 2000
    In March with snow on the ground we really didn’t see mice. Drought conditions seem to really reduce them a lot.

    Chipmunks and bats and everything else has visited me on the trail.

    The snakes are a blessing. People who leave traps with peanut butter in shelters and dead mice outside to teach the mice a lesson? Not so much (come on. Bears are not immune to the allure of peanut butter.).

    Ive used various bear hangs, a rat sack (like an op sack but lighter for the volume) and a bear canister.

    But mice (or “the little bears” as my wife calls them) are something to live with and account for.

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