squirrel defense
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After having my pack raided by the squirrels that seem to be everywhere at RR, I finally got an idea.....bear canister for rodents! Put your food in an empty Nalgene bottle. Perhaps if we all protect our food that way they will unlearn about human food and quit destroying packs! |
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Don't be giving the squirrels a bad name. Are you sure they weren't ringtails? |
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kemple sr. wrote:After having my pack raided by the squirrels that seem to be everywhere at RR, I finally got an idea.....bear canister for rodents! Put your food in an empty Nalgene bottle. Perhaps if we all protect our food that way they will unlearn about human food and quit destroying packs!I've always put my food in a small plastic container and place it on the ground buried under a few rocks. I leave nothing in my pack and hang it in a tree. I've never had any problems with this method. |
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kemple sr. wrote:I finally got an idea.....bear canister for rodents!Why do rodents need to protect their food from bears? That's crazy, man! |
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Brendan Magee wrote: I've always put my food in a small plastic container and place it on the ground buried under a few rocks. I leave nothing in my pack and hang it in a tree. I've never had any problems with this method.I've had good luck using this method until... This is what my tupperware looked like after I returned to my pack at the base of a climb near Olive Oil a few days ago. The rocks which I had stacked on top of it were pushed off and the container was carried about 20ft away from the spot where I had left it. (I saw a chubby squirrel stalking us when we were racking up, so I am pretty sure this wasn't done by a ringtail.) |
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Sherri Lewis wrote: I've had good luck using this method until... This is what my tupperware looked like after I returned to my pack at the base of a climb near Olive Oil a few days ago. The rocks which I had stacked on top of it were pushed off and the container was carried about 20ft away from the spot where I had left it. (I saw a chubby squirrel stalking us when we were racking up, so I am pretty sure this wasn't done by a ringtail.)I tend to use a more rigid plastic that what your picture shows and I use several heavy rocks. The point is, my $150 pack is not destroyed and let them chew on the $5 plastic container all they want. Obviously if they really want the food they will get it. Just have to make it harder for them and hope they give up. |
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Plastic doesn't cut it anymore, I use metal containers. Take the food container out of the pack and anchor it to the ground with a good size rock, then hang the empty pack so the critters are less likely to chew through it because of any lingering food smell. There's nothing like the smell of high calorie human food to bring out the resourcefulness and determination in a small, hungry rodent. |
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mark felber wrote:Plastic doesn't cut it anymore, I use metal containers.What kind of metal container, and where did you acquire it? |
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I've seen folks in rodent-but-not-bear country use these: |
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Ratsacks are pretty impervious to rodents and standard for long canyon trips I've done. Good idea getting them from REI since we had problems getting them directly from the mfg. several years ago.. |
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JCM wrote: What kind of metal container, and where did you acquire it?Cookie tins and the metal containers that some fancy tea bags come in are good. Health food stores sell stainless steel sandwich and lunch containers. |
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A spendy but convenient and light option I've considered but never invested in: |
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I bury my food stash in a bag under heavy rocks too....works like a charm. Never had problems. There are two cute, fat squirrels (partners...maybe husband and wife team?) at the base of BVC and they get fatter every year. They don't reside in RR for the climbing. |
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If anyone develops marmot napalm, I'd be totally fine with that. |
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Squirrels cannot be trusted |