[at-l] Mice

[lparker@cacaphony.net (L. Parker)]

Mara gave what is probably the best advice. Mice live in shelters because
they provide a ready supply of food. The best way to cut down on mice is not
to let them get any of your food. Rats did not use to be as common in
shelters as mice, but that has been changing.

The first thing you should strive to do is cook away from the shelter. I
know many people (including myself) stumble in late and it is very
inconvenient to cook outside in the dark. At the very least try to pick up
any crumbs or scraps you drop and dispose of them as far from the shelter as
you can. Same thing goes for leftovers or dishwater for those of you who do
such things. (Me, I never have any leftovers and usually lick the pot
clean...)

As Mara said, there are mouse lines in most shelters. These help, but are
NOT mouse proof. The little suckers have long since learned to jump for the
pack on the NEXT line, not the one they are on. They usually miss a few
times, but they climb right back up and try again. Eventually they make it
onto a pack. Never zip your pack up tight, in fact, open every pocket and
section and remove all food and anything that contains salt, like your socks
and hang them separately, preferably in a silnylon sack. Its great fun to
watch them try to land on silnylon, you can entertain yourself for hours
this way.

Bear bagging is a better alternative. Although they CAN climb the rope to
your pack, they rarely do so. There have been incidents where squirrels and
such have got into bear bagged food, but again this is much more rare than
mouse stories.

All the shelters and campsites within the GSMNP now have permanent bear bag
lines made of steel wire. You are REQUIRED to use them. The chain link had
been removed from all of the shelters - there isn't supposed to be any food
in there, so it isn't necessary. Although they are called bear bag lines,
they primary purpose was to reduce the mouse population by removing food
from the shelters. Many other high traffic shelters along the trail now have
these lines installed also.

As for mouse trapping, it does seem to temporarily alleviate the problem,
but I don't think it has any real long term effect. I don't like it when
someone does it all night long, but they are welcome to trap as many as they
want before bed time. If you are squeamish or love little fuzzy creatures,
STOP READING HERE.










If you trap mice, throw them in the fire (I warned you to stop reading) or
bury them in a deep hole. Failure to do so attracts other animals such as
rats.



Lee I Joe

Once I knew where I was going, but now I have  forgotten.  Sometimes my mind
wanders.  Sometimes it goes alone, and other times it takes me along...this
isn't one of those times...