Mice at AT shelters

imported
#21

Shelter mice are a special bred. I have watched them jump to reach a food bag or drop off a the ceiling to land on your bag. The best techinque is the upside down tuna can but even this can fail. The mice are like mini-bears. The get into you pack and use it for a home. I meet a hiker in '99 who had a mouse have it’s babies in her pack. She found the babies the next day. I found the mice generally entertianing. I met another hiker who was an expert at killing shlter mice. His name was Terminator. He saved my food at shelter one night killing two mice. Just some ancedotal stories.

Darth Pacman

#22

dems are good eatin’

Bucky

#23

The Mouse Olympics that take place in some shelters on some nights, especially beginning at dusk, can be Better Than Television. Just watch the daring young creature on the flying trapeze swing from food bag to food bag…then land squarely on your beard in time to pick out the remaining crumbs from dinnertime!

Some shelters are worse than others, and in jurisdictions like Shenandoah National Park or the Smokies we volunteer shelter maintainers are PROHIBITED from doing anything lethal with them. Of course hikers themselves do not always adhere to such edicts.

Best bet is to use nearby tenting areas (most shelters have 'em) but take advantage of the other shelter amenities (privy, picnic table, spring, bear pole/cable if any, enjoy the comraderie of other hikers, etc.). Mice can certainly climb in–or chew their way in–to your tent but they seem to be focused on the shelter buffet which is never ending at this time of year.

Also, camping NEAR a shelter can make setting up or taking down a tent in the rain easier as you can use the shelter’s cover to keep most of your gear dry while setting up/taking down.

And agreed, for light sleepers various bodily noises, tossing/turning, and endless calls of nature from other hikers in the shelter will keep you awake more than the mice will.

Skyline

#24

If you don’t like mice, avoid the Blue Mountain shelter in Georgia at all costs. Last spring it was overrun with the little bast*rds. We counted, within eyesite at one time, 40 + mice at one point, peering at us from above, and they weren’t waiting for nightfall to attempt their thievery and destruction. They were not intimidated by hiking poles or anything else thrust their way either.

We finally moved off and tented and left the shelter to those less worried about what was dropping into their mouths whilst they slept.

bladerunner

bladerunner

#25

Mice are bad in the Spring down south and in the Fall up north. I never had any problems with them in the Summer. However the deer and porcupines will chew holes in your sweat soaked clothing if left unattended in the Summer.

Farther

#26

I shared Bearfence Hut in the Shenandoahs with a southbounder while on a backpacking trip in November; he showed me a row of about 9 dead mice stretched out on a log near the fire pit. Seems that a southbounder traveling through earlier carried MOUSE TRAPS with him and set them up in the shelters he stayed in, then he displayed his catch!!

Mini-Mosey

#27

I gotta agree that Blue Mountain Shelter is a mouse favorite. I remember hearing scurrying, then a few seconds of silence, then a thud as the mice leaped for food bags from ceiling beams and landed on the ground or shelter floor (sleep with your head towards the back of the shelter). I’d still rate the shelter as one of my favorites though since it points directly at a magnificent sunrise, one of the best on the trail.

Wedding Singer