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  1. #41
    Registered User Sir-Packs-Alot's Avatar
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    Default To clarify -

    Sorry guys - didn't mean to get up on a soapbox - my apologies. I've been around the block - but I haven't posted much here. I am realizing that this isn't the forum for me to vent about frustrations I've had on the trail recently. I leave the least amount of "trace" that I can - like most of you - I didn't want to go "over the top" - but I felt like some of the activities (re mice) were going "over the top" in the other direction. Thanks for the feedback - and yes, of course this self-proclaimed "sometimes-I'm-a-hypocrite" will be "swatting mosquitoes and pulling off ticks" like anyone else!

    ANYWAY - This is the wildlife forum right? A dependable source (that usually knows what he's talking about) told me of a run-in with a mountain lion on the Jack's River Trail (GA - not too far away from the "AT") about 2 months ago. This of course prompts me to put the question out there to y'all - Fact or fiction: Does anybody believe they have seen one on the trail - or is the mountain lion little more probable than "Bigfoot" on the "AT" nowadays?

  2. #42
    Registered User DrRichardCranium's Avatar
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    Did Robert Burns ever write any poems when he wasn't drunk?

  3. #43
    Registered User Sir-Packs-Alot's Avatar
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    Tipi - you make a good point!

    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    The whole premise is skewered. The shelters themselves are the biggest Trace/Blight on the landscape, forget about the rodents. Leave No Trace? Uh, what about the shelters?

  4. #44
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    Perhaps those concerned about mice should consider instigating a Cap and Pay type of system. If you kill a mouse or see one get killed, you can go to the local pet shop and buy one of those mice that are sold for snake food. Give the mouse or mice a nice home and let him/her/them live a long life in your "living room" in a pleasant condo/cage.

  5. #45
    Wandering Vagabond
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    The whole premise is skewered. The shelters themselves are the biggest Trace/Blight on the landscape, forget about the rodents. Leave No Trace? Uh, what about the shelters?

    Technically, wouldn't the trail itself fall under this category? Or, for that matter, anyone on it?

  6. #46

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    I prefer to go for the rats, nothing like some oatmeal and rat on a stick to start off the day.

  7. #47
    Registered User Panzer1's Avatar
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    I'm just guessing but it is probably illegal to kill mice at shelters.?

    Panzer

  8. #48

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    Quote Originally Posted by MintakaCat View Post
    Technically, wouldn't the trail itself fall under this category? Or, for that matter, anyone on it?
    So, would this also include all animal trails? There's leaving a foot trail and then there's hauling in building supplies(usually by primitive road access), and setting up a permanent building. Big difference. The rodents might like it, and I guess some humans might be cleverly enticed by shelters being that they themselves have rodent characteristics. Just kidding.

  9. #49
    Wandering Vagabond
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    So, would this also include all animal trails? There's leaving a foot trail and then there's hauling in building supplies(usually by primitive road access), and setting up a permanent building. Big difference. The rodents might like it, and I guess some humans might be cleverly enticed by shelters being that they themselves have rodent characteristics. Just kidding.
    Well, there's more than leaving a foot trail. Would clearing a blown down tree be considered LNT?

    I guess my point is that LNT means Leave Little Trace, LOL.

  10. #50
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    Sir-Packs-Alot, if you feel strongly about something, then defend it, theres nothing wrong with your first post, just alot of folks disagree with you (like me). Can't stand the little guys running around, so I sleep in a tent at night, but its fun to meet people at the shelters, but certainly not mice.
    "I told my Ma's and Pa's I was coming to them mountains and they acted as if they was gutshot. Ma, I sez's, them mountains is the marrow of the world and by God, I was right". Del Gue

  11. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lyle View Post
    I agree with OP. Hikers should not be killing wildlife.

    1) Mice are mammals, much higher developed nervous system than insects (mosquitoes and ticks), thus they are much more likely to experience pain and terror in a way similar to us.

    2) Mosquitoes and Ticks are directly attacking (biting) us. Self defence is a totally natural reaction. The mice are generally attracted to and cleaning up our garbage that we are too lazy to clean up ourselves or store properly.
    Mice are our fellow mammals. We have no business putting up shelters where slob hikers are inevitably going to leave plenty of mouse treats and then killing the animal population that naturally results from the excess calories left around.

  12. #52

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    For those who are looking for a quick mouse dish on the trail.

    http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/cookingrats.htm

  13. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by taildragger View Post
    For those who are looking for a quick mouse dish on the trail.

    http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/cookingrats.htm

    Wow, look at all the resupply time and money that can be saved by feeding from the shelters. The biggest problem I see is getting the fur off the mice. Maybe just burn it off? What a great thread this has turned into. I'm thinking that I could burn the fur off using my zip stove. Then cover the mouse with barbecue sauce and cook to taste. It seems like the way to go for a cheap thru hike.

  14. #54
    Registered User Elder's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by superman View Post
    Wow, look at all the resupply time and money that can be saved by feeding from the shelters. The biggest problem I see is getting the fur off the mice. Maybe just burn it off? What a great thread this has turned into. I'm thinking that I could burn the fur off using my zip stove. Then cover the mouse with barbecue sauce and cook to taste. It seems like the way to go for a cheap thru hike.
    Nope, Just skin the little critter and pack it in salt to tan later. Makes an amazing blanket with winter fur..summer's furs a little thin..

    and no. no season , no trapping license required, no bag limit...until your bags full!

  15. #55

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    I'm thinking in foul weather you could trap and cure some, maybe make a little smoke house and have some mouse jerky for the next few days.

    Rats of course would be better, but then you'd need to carry larger traps or make some snares to catch them

  16. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by taildragger View Post
    I'm thinking in foul weather you could trap and cure some, maybe make a little smoke house and have some mouse jerky for the next few days.

    Rats of course would be better, but then you'd need to carry larger traps or make some snares to catch them
    how bout if we introduce cats to the shelters? They would eat the mice and we could make stir fry out of the cats.

  17. #57
    Registered User Sir-Packs-Alot's Avatar
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    Default 'Nuff Said

    Hey "double d"! There is a time a place for everything - and I know that Whiteblaze doesn't favor it's threads getting into the "political" category. If anyone wants to send me a private message about the subject - I will very definetely continue to defend the common sense position that there is a better way to deal with mice (and why this is more than a joke - it's a state of mind about how you treat the trail as a whole) Jokes aside - I didn't count on hikers being allergic to a green / anti-killing position - and taking the low and easy blows instead of offerering up something constructive. Does being told that one shouldn't just forget about "Leave No Trace" annoy some hikers so much that they come off sounding more like a dog-fighters or bear hunters than AT hikers? (I know you can be both - but it's a bit surprising!) I aint no green fanatic - trust me! Isn't there somewhere in the middle? I wish someone would have talked about wolf, elk and mountain lion "eradications" so that they were still AT locals. Wouldn't that be cool? Rattlesnakes get rarer evrery year - and don't be surprised if bear sightings don't get more scarce soon. Only the giles of the coyote seem to be standing up to our ways. Maybe this discussion would be better suited under the "delicate issues on the AT" forum? What do you think attrtoll? 'Nuff Said

  18. #58
    Registered User Sir-Packs-Alot's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Panzer1 View Post
    I'm just guessing but it is probably illegal to kill mice at shelters.?

    Panzer
    Panzer asks if it's not techically illegal to kill mice on the AT - good question? Does anybody know happen to know ?

  19. #59
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sir-Packs-Alot View Post
    Panzer asks if it's not techically illegal to kill mice on the AT - good question? Does anybody know happen to know ?
    It is absolutely not illegal to kill them.

  20. #60
    Registered User Sir-Packs-Alot's Avatar
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    Hmm - really - I just put a call in to ATC Field Ranger Eric Barron and asked him - I'll let you know if he calls back.

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