Why don’t the shelters simply have a few containers that are animal proof for people to put their food bags into? It seems like an easy idea that would keep out critters like skunks, mice, and on rare occasions, bears. Seems like a couple trash can size containers with screw on lids would do the job?
Anonymous
Mice hangers are cute and plastic tubs are ugly and very un-trail-like. Hillbilly trash like us don’t use no Tupperware.
Mouse Hang
I would think they would be used as trash cans and just more work for trail maintainers to do. Hang your food properly and that minimizes (not eliminates) critters from snacking on your food. What probably attracts mice is people eating in shelters and crumbs being left on the floor.
Shawn P
Cooking on shelter platforms and spilling crumbs and stuff is #1 reason for midnight mouse excursions to U. :x Most haikus are too lazee to properly handle food to keep mouses at bay. So handle yer food rite and U’ll be mousefree but U know what it aint’ gonna happen so hang smart or else. :x
Mouse Trap
First, at most shelters where critters are a major problem, there are either bear lines or bear boxes.
Second, I suspect that Shawn is right with his answer. But, if you want to find out for yourself, why not adopt a shelter and try keeping up with the maintenance.
Peaks
Even hanging your food on the bear lines doesn’t keep the mice out. When I hiked ther Smokies last November circus mice were doing a hire wire act at Tri Corner… They got into two out of six people’s food bags…
ASWAH
p.s. Personally I consider my ramen a mouse catcher
Aswah
I stayed at Tricorner Shelter last November, too. I had talked to some people who stayed there the night before and they had warned me their food had been attacked. So I studied the bear cables before I hung up my food. One set of cables had branches overhanging closely enough that even an arthritic squirrel could jump from there to the food bags. The other did not. I put my food on the second set of cables. No problem.
Marta
I was at ice Water Spring shelter this fall and had a pesky mouse chew through half of my ziplocks inside of my food bag. The good part is that he came down the cinch cord and wormed his way through the little hole in the top so he didn’t have to chew the sack. On a side note:…Don’t put your M&Ms in the same ziplock as your corn tortillas, the moisture in the tortillas rubs all the color off of the M&Ms so you end up with tye-died tortillas. Actually the tortillas look pretty cool like that but the M&Ms get gross and slimy. 
Prospector