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  1. #1
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    Default To kill or not to kill

    What do you think about mice in shelters, how do you feel about people that bring traps to shelter?

  2. #2
    Addicted Hiker and Donating Member Hammock Hanger's Avatar
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    I personally feel weather they belong there or not they are there and do supply owls and snakes with a source of food. I do not see the need for us a hikers to go hunting. Killing the mice to me is sadistic and just unnecessary. (IMHO) I came across a shelter this year that had 6 dead mice neatly laid out on the lof in front of it. WHat's with that? Tropies from the night before... In all my years hiking I've only had my stuff chewed on once and that was not at a shelter. Six babies bon in my shorts pocket and a chewed up pack towel I forgot to hang up. If you hang your food and stow your gear properly the only annoyance is a mouse that may run over your sleeping bag, head, hand... Not that big a deal. Not to mention is seems to be part of the trail culture at this point. HH
    Hammock Hanger -- Life is my journey and I'm surely not rushing to the "summit"...:D

    http://www.gcast.com/u/hammockhanger/main

  3. #3
    Section Hiker 180 AT miles
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    I dont think hikers have any reason to kill any animal along the trail, they have more right to be there than we do. although the mice have taken advantage of the shelters and would not be so numerous, or atleast not in such a small area if the shelter was not there they are still "part" of the ecosystem and preditors and other animals have come to in some way relly on this population of mice, even if only in a small way. The mice wont usualy bother you too much, and as long as yoru carful with how you hang your food, and other smelly things they should leave your stuff alone as well.
    "Do what you Love, Love what you do"

  4. #4
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    I say trap them live, take them to the pet store to feed the snakes.

    That should make everyone happy.......

  5. #5
    GA-ME 3/5/02 -8/14/02
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    Default snakes too...

    Along the same lines as whether or not to kill the mice, should come a general respect for the wildlife I think. We were at one shelter in the Shenandoahs where a large group of Boy Scouts were high-fiving and congratulating each other on the decapitation and smooshing of several copperheads in the area that were simply minding their own business, sunning themsleves on some logs that were a pretty decent distance from the shelter itself. If an animal is threatening you and you need to defend yourself, that's one thing, but to purposefully seek out and destroy mice or snakes or anything else that is simlpy going about it's existence seems to be somethign else? This incident made us so upset that we hiked on so as not to spend the night with such people....
    "It's a dangerous business, going out your door...if you don't keep your feet, there's no telling where you might be swept off to."-The Hobbit

  6. #6

    Default

    Why are people afraid of field mice? Buncha sissies!

  7. #7

    Default Mice

    I never killed any mice myself but it doesn't bother me whenever someone else does the job. It would be hypocritical of me to criticize them when I killed my fair share of mosquitoes, deer flies, noseeums, spiders, ticks, etc along the way.

  8. #8
    GO ILLINI! illininagel's Avatar
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    Default Reverance

    I think it's important to have a reverance for all life...with the exception of mosquitoes and ticks maybe.

  9. #9

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    I place killing mosquitoes and ticks in the Self Defence category!

  10. #10

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    Do baby animals count?

  11. #11
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    Cool

    Kill ALL gay baby whales!

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    Default Nasty Rodents

    I will take credit for the six dead mice outside the shelter this summer. Yes they were indeed trophies! Like a cat, I lined them up in a row outside of the shelter. Now, I would normally try to put them on a rock or a log so that the next visitor to the shelter could dispose of them with ease. But my feelings on mice haven't changed since the third day I left Springer: They harbor disease and are foul and disgusting. They prevent me from getting a good night sleep and there is nothing more wretched waking up with a pile of mouse turds near your nose.

    Most of the people I ran into appreciated the mouse traps in the shelters. I was always courteous and asked them if it was a problem. If so, I wouldn't set them up.
    D-Con

  13. #13
    Section Hiker 500 miles smokymtnsteve's Avatar
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    when we build a shelter and then leave food crumbs around to feed them and cause mice "population explosion" then I consider it our duty to kill a few mice and help bring balance to the eco-system surounding the shelter...if not the mice would have an unfair advantage caused by our intrusion...and the owls and snakes would be drwan to the shelter putting themselves in danger and disrupting thier natural hunting abilites...when hiker populations drop after the busy spring season these predator animals that have become dependent on the unusally high rodent population...will then suffer a food crisis...

    the same phenomena as happens with bear...during the early season when the bears are comng out and natural food sourcers are fewer..bears smell food and come around the shelter...a few folks give them a little food and then the bear comes to expect it and becomes more aggressive..then you have a dependent bear...a bear had to be dystroyed near the spence field shelter late last spring because of this type of thing..so don't feed the bears...It's tough nobody want to be the person who runs the bear offf while it all cute and playfulbut the best thing tht you can do for a bear is to scare it off quickly..if not the end result is death for the bear...


    the same as with exploding white tail deer populations...with so few of thier native predators left..(not any really) white tail deer are suffering from over-popualtion..in the smokies there are places..Gregory bald comes to mind...(heading north on th At turn left at doe knob and about 3 miles ...good unmarked spring and ranger camp located near the gregory ridge trail..one of the largest flame azaelias near spring...blooms mid-june) the place is over run by a deer herd which defintly needs culled...where are mountian lions when you need them.....we need to allow some culling of this herd in the park to prevent overgrazing and habitat destruction ...we have taken away thier predator and we need to make amends.


    So YES kill the Mice!!!

  14. #14
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    Talking

    I'll sign up to whack and stack a buch of Bambis! Kill em and grill em!

  15. #15
    Section Hiker 500 miles smokymtnsteve's Avatar
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    all right lone wolf I'll talk to HQ and see if I can get you set up...

    It really is becoming a problem in a lot of areas ...we have no natural predators left and these deer are over browsing areas and they start to look awful ...this dear up on Gregory Bald back in june of 99 was very aggressive.. as I was making some cranberry stuffing to go with my wild tyme turkey..had to throw a rock at the SOB..to drive it away...

    also there is a psychotic deer that lives in beech gap( not on the AT but 5miles down the Balsam mtn trail in the smokies...you take a right just north of the Tricorner knob shelter)...the SOB charges me everytime I go through there..could you get him too??

    thanks smokymtnsteve

  16. #16
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    Oh boy! Backstrap. I could be the official Bambi hitman. In the Shenandoahs too! Then I'll go to Jersey and weed out a bunch of them bears that the PETA idiots want to save. I'm a PETA member. (People Eating Tasty Animals)

  17. #17
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    Eat what you kill. Applies to mice as well.

  18. #18

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    HA HA! Desite being herbavores, vegetarians DO NOT count as game!

  19. #19

    Thumbs down Down With Mice

    My personal take on the issue:

    I never tried to kill a mouse in the shelters, but I am all for others doing so if they want to.

    I don't put mice in the same category as bobcats and moose; I do put them in the same category as wood ticks, mosquitoes and black flies.

    To me, a mouse in a shelter isn't in its natural environment, so therefore it wouldn't be hurting nature's balance by killing a few.

    The do damage lots of stuff, they do eat lots of food, they do make a mess, and they do commonly run across people's face. They carry disease, too. For these reasons, I applaud anyone who wants to impose the death penalty on mice in shelters.

  20. #20

    Default Massive fear

    Wow, I knew people were afraid of bears and would actually carry a heavy gun for nothing. Then they started to be afraid of mice and ooh the horror of a dirty shelter. But now they are afraid of DEER. Soon the scary bunny rabbits and chipmonks will be running wild. You all could stay home under your beds, but no the dust bunnies will get you there.

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