[at-l] Mouse ingenuity

[Tim.Hewitt@fairchildsemi.com (Tim Hewitt)]

Merlin <ept@bellsouth.net> wrote:
[clip]
> Has anyone had a mouse get into food well hung on a baffled cord?  Has
> anyone ever seen a mouse trying to get around a can or lid to get to
> food?  Mice can do some amazing things.  I saw one RUNNING upside down
> along a ceiling beam one night.  Why can't they get past the cans?
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Plenty of people I hiked with had their bags opened - through a hole in the
side - and food eaten or spoiled (with mouse poop) inside.  Most had hung
their bags on the appropriate hooks. You have to make sure your bag is free
to swing and that the surface is not something that a mouse can grab. For
this reason, mesh bags don't work at all. They provide a great set of
handles for a falling mouse to grab.

I used a heavy stuff sack for my food. It was heavy duty in order to protect
my food asset on the trail. I felt that my providing a difficult target for
the mice, the extra weight was worth it. I had no problems, but I may have
been lucky.  I also had no food odor in my food bag - everything was inside
plastic bags that were always sealed - often double or triple bagged. The
people who had food stolen often were not as obsessed with this activity as
I was. Never did a candy bar wrapper go into my food bag without being
inside a zipped plastic bag. I really believe this makes a difference, and
food smells do not permeate my clothing or my pack because of this.

-p
-- 
Paddler
AT Class of 1999 GA>ME
http://paddler99.trailstories.com