Protecting Food Supplies from wild animals While Backpacking
A group of 4 plan on hiking across Michigan's UP's Ottawa National Forest. We are finishing up our plans and have one last issue with food that we aren't sure how to handle.
We know you are supposed to tie a bag with all food/cooking/smelly materials 12 feet above ground, as to not allow a bear to get a hold of it. What about raccoons and other, smaller animals that may be able to climb down the rope?
We may be being paranoid, I don't know, but will raccoons be a threat against our food hung in a tree 12ft above the ground?
Note: we plan on using a basic mesh bag for this trip. Is this a bad idea? Bear proof bags are probably not in for consideration, but I was told in the past they really weren't necessary to begin with unless in Grizzly Bear country.
I've backpacked in places that have raccoons but I've never had a problem with them. Squirrels and a number of birds can …
9y ago
Some parks require you to have a bear canister. Here in the Rocky Mountains if you camp up in the mountains(no trees to …
9y ago
I've lived in Michigan for 20 years and have spent a lot of time backpacking in state, both in the UP and in lower MI. W …
9y ago
I've done a good bit of backpacking in the south where raccoons/possums/rats can get bad. I usually will wrap all the fo …
9y ago
There are animals out there capable of figuring out how to get into your cache, Wolverines (a cousin of the racoon) are …
9y ago
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I've backpacked in places that have raccoons but I've never had a problem with them. Squirrels and a number of birds can also chew/peck their way through a bag to get at your food. I don't know what kind of birds you have in Michigan, but here in Idaho, Clark's Nutcrackers and magpies can be a nuisance. A mesh bag will probably allow them access to your food.
When I hang my food, I've used a simple burlap bag with no problems whatsoever. One time, I forgot my bag and then got real lazy and hung my food in plastic grocery bags. Huge mistake. The nutcrackers and squirrels chewed/pecked through the top and ate everything they could reach. To be on the safe side, since squirrels sometimes carry contagious diseases, I threw out a good portion of what was left!
Another option is to just hang your food in a backpack. When I load my backpack, I try to group items into ziploc bags. It helps with compression and keeps things organized. It also makes it easy to empty what I need into my tent and then hang my backpack in a tree with the food and cooking/eating tools still inside.
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I've done a good bit of backpacking in the south where raccoons/possums/rats can get bad. I usually will wrap all the food in the plastic bag and tie it tightly shut. Then put that into a stuff sack that is hung from a tree. Try to find a long branch and get it as far away from the trunk as possible.
Also, make sure not to put any food in any other bags that you won't be hanging. I made the mistake of temporarily putting some food in my clothes stuff sack...which was then ate to hell by rats in an AT shelter.
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There are animals out there capable of figuring out how to get into your cache, Wolverines (a cousin of the racoon) are notorious for cracking into even the most cleverly hung food caches, but you don't really have to worry about them if you're only hanging your food for one night. Animals are more ambitious when they know their reward is food, but mere curiosity about something new dangling in the trees isn't as powerful of a motivator.
A mesh bag won't do anything to keep your food dry or help mask any smells, if you use one, at least make sure that your food is in ziplock bags inside the mesh bag. If you hang your food like potpourri then you're just asking to have critters come investigate.
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Some parks require you to have a bear canister. Here in the Rocky Mountains if you camp up in the mountains(no trees to sling a bag) you're usually required to have a canister, not because of bears but marmots. Bear canisters might be a little much, but its a sure fire way to prevent animals from getting in your food.Once I bought one, I've always used it even when I could bring a food bag, simply because I have it. It's quite a bit heavier and a bit bulky. But it comes in handy if you end up camping far from a treeline.
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I've lived in Michigan for 20 years and have spent a lot of time backpacking in state, both in the UP and in lower MI. We've always followed the rules for storing food, hanging everything associated with cooking and eating along with all toiletries in a tree away from the trunk UNLESS we're at backcountry campsites that have bear poles or boxes, then we use those. We always store food and cook away from where we're sleeping.
We store food and toiletries in lightweight drysacks, the type that you roll down the top and then clip the ends together. They keep odors from traveling far and the loop makes them easy to attach to a cord for hauling aloft. We use regular 550 cord and have never had a problem with critters getting into our food.
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