Activity for Charlie Brumbaughâ€
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question | — |
Are elk and deer colorblind to blaze orange/pink clothes? During rifle season, hunters are required to wear blaze orange (some states also allow bright pink). I have heard that deer and elk are color blind to blaze orange, is there scientific evidence to back this up? (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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Are there any biodegrable freeze dried packages? More and more I see discarded freeze dried packages abandoned in the woods. The ones I have seen are made out of plastic and are foil lined and so don't decompose the way that oatmeal packets would for example. I find this highly irritating both because of the litter and am wondering if there a more... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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Are there any statistics on how many mallard ducklings survive? In addition to all of the ducklings currently around the area, one will also see mallard ducks without, (the mallards would run the duck with a red head off if they had ducklings). Lots of other animals such as foxes will eat ducklings, are there any statistics as to how many ducklings survive. T... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: How to keep socks from wicking rain off pants into boots If you don't need the full rain pants, then gaitors should do the trick. I would wear the gaitors over the top of all of your other layers, and just wear them when you need to, as otherwise you will get wet from your own sweat. They are also useful if you have to go through vegetation after it has ra... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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Keeping the hose on a hydration bladder from unscrewing? I have a hydration bladder with a screw on the drinking hose, and the problem is that given enough time it will come unscrewed and then leak inside my backpack. I have tried tightening it as hard as I dare, (everything is made of plastic) and it still eventually comes loose. I could live with a per... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Camelbak safe to use after cleaning for the first time in 4 years? Honestly, you should be perfectly fine to use it. If there was no mold after storing it and before cleaned it out, I wouldn't worry about it. Camelbak's official cleaning instructions say it safe to use even if you had gotten mold inside of it after following their instructions (although it still ... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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How do mallard mother ducks tell their ducklings from others? Right now the irrigation ditches and ponds have lots and lots of mallard ducklings, sometimes multiple families to a single pond. The way to tell is that there will be too many ducklings for one family in a pond, and they will sort of be grouped up. I have read that mother ducks will not tolerate ... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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How essential is the darkness/tint of a pair of sunglasses to protecting your eyes? In addition to sunglasses, you can get clear safety glasses that claim "Blocks 99.9% of harmful UV rays". The advantage of clear safety glasses is that they can be worn both during dusk and after dark when there are millions of tiny bugs trying to fly into your eyes. It made me wonder how essential ... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Contacting a yacht on IJsselmeer (Netherlands) What you are probably looking for is a satellite two way messenger like an inReach or to rent a satellite phone. The two way messenger will allow you to send both text messages and coordinates, and the inReach at least can be set to send up a message with your position every so often, and then your ... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Were elk solely plains animals before the Europeans came? TLDR: No, they were found all over North America before the Europeans arrived and are being reintroduced into the Appalachian mountains. I can see them preferring the plains instead of mountains in the absence of hunting pressure, but I haven't found any evidence that they were absent from the mounta... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Should I close a cathole (toilet-hole) at night? The solution to this and especially when you have multiple people in a group and so want to limit the number of holes, is to use a single hand width trench instead individual catholes. You start by making one cathole that is wider than long, and as it is used, you fill in and the dig to one one side... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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How much of a difference in insulation will a reflective tarp make? In addition to space blankets, you can get reusable tarps with a reflective coating on one side. For the most part, they are just like regular tarps with grommets for tie downs and are big enough to sleep under. Would the reflective coating make any difference in insulation as compared to sleeping u... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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Will bobcats climb cacti when not in fear of their lives? There are pictures of bobcats climbing on top of really tall cacti, the one story I read says that the reason the bobcat climbed the tree was to get away from a mountian lion who was trying give it a hug eat it. Would a bobcat climb a cactus if it wasn't being chased by a predator? (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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What additional equipment is needed for bowfishing? As it is the time of year when carp spawn and are in close to shore, I have been seeing people along the lakeshore with archery equipment, bow fishing for carp. If one were to already have a bow and arrows, what additional equipment would be needed to go bowfishing? (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Are there any reliable plants to use for navigation? I doubt there are specific plants, but in general, yes, plants can be indicators of direction. In the Northern Hemisphere, for example, snow will stay longer on the north facing slopes and pile up on the downwind sides of hills. This leads to more vegetation in general on the north slopes as there i... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Lake Erie / Presque Isle Water Level According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The water levels of the Great Lakes fluctuate at different time scales to different forces. Very short-term water level changes, viewable in the interactive charts above, are caused by wind and storms. These short-term (hours to day... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: How long is the carp mating season at Presque Isle? I doubt that there are specific dates, other than late spring to early summer. It also depends on the water temperature, and I am sure that fluctuates from year to year slightly. Carp spawn in late spring to early summer, over aquatic vegetation. They may choose a shallow, weedy bay. After rains ... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: How fast does a climbing rope recover its dynamic properties after a fall? Black Diamond did a study on this, and even after 24 hours of resting, there was still a noticeably increased load on the second fall. Allowing the rope to rest 24 hours still resulted in a 2nd drop load of 11% greater than the first drop QC LAB: Do ropes need to rest between falls? They concl... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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How much weight can a bald eagle carry? Just recently, a photographer was watching some foxes hunt rabbits. One of the foxes caught a rabbit when a bald eagle swooped down grabbed the rabbit and pulled both rabbit and fox into the air. The fox let go and the eagle took the rabbit.. That brings up the question of how much weight can a bald... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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Why would porcupines sleep on the ground during the day? More than once, I have come across a porcupine in the woods sleeping on the ground during the daytime instead of in a tree. They keep their nose tucked down and their long hairs provide some degree of camouflage. You can tell they are sleeping because once they do wake up, they will scurry off ver... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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Which animals would kill porcupines? I found the remains a of a porcupine in the woods, with nothing left but quills and hair. As porcupines are pretty well protected by their quills, what types of animals would be capable of killing them? (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: How dangerous is it to rummage the ground in the mountains of Nevada desert with venomous creatures out there? Last summer I did a yo-yo of both the Toyaibe Crest and the Ruby mountains while also summitting both Mt Wheeler and Boundary Peak. The mountains aren’t particularly dangerous, other than the big summits I did there really wasn’t any times where I was particularly concerned. Snakes ... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: Why does burning dung drive away insects? For mosquitoes, it probably works the same way DEET does, mosquitoes have the ability to smell and they really don’t like certain smells to the point that they will go away. However, more recent evidence shows that DEET serves as a true repellent in that mosquitoes intensely dislike the sm... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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How to permanently label Nalgene bottles? It's pretty common to use 1 oz Nalgene bottles to hold the spices in a spice kit for backpacking as they are waterproof and the right size. Image Source The problem comes when trying to label the bottles, as permanent markers or even cow id tag markers will rub off. Best solution I know of is to... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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How much should I worry/care about the "Known to the State of California" warnings on fuel canisters? A lot of outdoor gear has warnings like the following, WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. while sometimes it says may contain chemicals To keep this questions from being too broad, I am g... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: Is pouring boiling water into a plastic Nalgene bad for you? Most Nalgene bottles are designed to be able to stand up to boiling water. Today, many hikers and others recognize the distinctive appearance of Nalgene-branded bottles. Its laboratory pedigree is still suggested by the markings, in hundreds of millilitres, of the volume contained. The materials ... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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Is there scientific evidence of bobcats breeding with house cats? I have seen some barn cats that were claimed to be the offspring of female barn cats and a male bobcat (they had bobbed tails). Wikipedia says that there is circumstantial and anecdotal evidence for this, but the note says that the source for that information is unreliable, and the date on the sourc... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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How to tell the difference between bobcats and house cats? Recently there was a story about some people in Texas who brought three bobcat kittens home and then called animal control after the bobcats bit them. It's also happened once in California where a Maine Coon cat was mistaken for a bobcat, and once in Virginia with a Bengal cat. How would one tell t... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: Why does red snow make a person sick? Watermelon snow is caused by algae called Chlamydomonas nivalis. Apparently, it has laxative effects. As Giersch and National Park representatives explain, the red pigment in the algae helps to protect its chloroplast from the sun’s radiation, allowing it to take in more heat. As the algae... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How to estimate the volume a person sweats? You basically have it, the formula is Your Weight at start - Your Weight at end + Weight of water consumed - Weight of water urinated = Water lost via sweat Then you divide the water lost via sweat by the amount of time to find your sweat rate. Water lost via sweat/time spent exercising = swea... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: Hot water system as a heater for car camping? It’s decently common to use a nalgene water bottle inside of a sleeping bag to help stay warm during the night. Before you go to bed you fill the water bottle with water warmed over a stove and place it inside the sleeping bag. It is certainly possible to use boiling water but then you will ... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: What is the expected flowrate of a bucket brigade? From what we know of back when a bucket brigades were the fire fighting method of choice, Before the mid-1800s, the most common way of fighting fires in the nations cities and towns was the bucket brigade, made up of volunteers. When a fire was spotted, the cry of "throw out your buckets" would b... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How to deal with keeping a first aid kit inside a hot car? The two main tricks for storing things in a car in hot temperatures are, Try to keep the car as cool as possible, Park in the shade. Use a reflective windshield shade to reflect some of the heat that would otherwise be absorbed and heat up the inside of the car. Keep the things inside of other t... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: Can microspikes replace crampons when crossing ice in summer? It depends, if the snow is pretty level and you don't need the front points on the crampons to get up things, then yes microspikes can be a good substitute as they are certainly lighter and don't require specialized boots. They will never be a full substitute for crampons, but they should fit your p... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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How to protect sunglasses without a case? I find abandoned sunglasses fairly frequently, right now the snow shoe and cross country trails are melting, and all of the sunglasses that were lost during the winter are now visible. I don't find them often enough to carry a sunglasses case just for this scenario, but would like to know how I can ... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How do I safely move around Canada Geese? It looks like geese attacks are far more common in the spring when they are defending their nests. Realistically, you just want to treat them like any other wild animals and give them enough space and just wait until the nesting season is over when they are far less aggressive. The guidelines for pr... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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Do bull snakes keep rattlesnakes away? I was reading Desert Solitare by Edward Abbey, and in it, he mentions that he was using bull snakes (bull snakes are non-venomous) during his time as a park ranger to help control the mouse population around his trailer and to keep rattlesnakes away. While I am certain that bull snakes would help ke... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: Could a steam juicer be used to desalinate water? Yes, it can as what you would do is use heat to turn the salt water to steam and then collect the steam and turn it back into liquid water. It works on the same principle as a regular distiller, and if you really wanted to you could get a purpose-built water distiller but a steam juicer will work as... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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What features should I look for in a packraft? Reading through are other packrafting questions it looks like it would be a neat activity, especially since there are quite a few beautiful alpine lakes that would be neat to float across and they would be far enough in that packrafts are probably the only option. We already have a question asking a... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: What determines whether the young of a cat is called a kitten or a cub? It depends on whether the cat is a member of the Panthera (cubs) or Felinae (kittens). This Panthera is the big cats, The British taxonomist Pocock revised the classification of this genus in 1916 as comprising the species lion, tiger, jaguar, and leopard on the basis of cranial features. Resul... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How to keep paper from being damaged by water in the outdoors? The solution to this problem is waterproof paper. You can get it in notebooks, journals, legal sized for printing maps or documents etc. I have also seen at least one organization that had their instructor manuals printed on it. Some waterproof paper can be used with pencils, regular pens, and water... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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How to keep paper from being damaged by water in the outdoors? Sometimes people will keep notes or things they see in the outdoors or keep a journal and paper getting wet and then wrecked is a big problem. The other obvious use is printing maps off from the internet like the free USGS topo maps. Is there a way to keep one's notes or journal or printed maps f... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How to estimate the size and or gender of a mountain lion from its tracks? There are two things that can help one estimate the size, Size of the individual tracks themselves. The stride length (distance between tracks on the same size) The size of the tracks will stay the same no matter how an animal is moving, however, when an animal runs, the stride length will increa... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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How to estimate the size and or gender of a mountain lion from its tracks? If one were to come across mountain lion tracks, how would one estimate the size of the lion making the tracks? Also, is it possible to tell the gender of the mountain lion(s)? (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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How did/does shrinking canvas effect sailing ships? When canvas gets wet and then dries, it shrinks. Sails get wet from rain and from spray, and it was even done on purpose to increase the speed of sailing ships. For canvas tents, this has to be taken into account when building the frame as otherwise, you can end up with a tent that is too small for ... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How are canvas tents made to be fire retardant? They are treated with chemicals to be fire retardent. Fire retardant canvas tarps are treated with substances that lessen flammability. They are not exactly resistant to flames. When fire comes in contact with these tarps, they can delay or stop its spread. Fire retardant canvas tarps are nature ... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: What does moose scat/poop look like? The biggest distinguishers of moose scat from elk and deer are size and color. Moose scat is significantly bigger than either deer or elk scat around the size of a very large grape and usually reddish brown instead of black like deer or elk. Notice both the size in comparison to the boot tracks and... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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What does moose scat/poop look like? What does moose scat/poop look like and how can one distinguish it from the other similar scats namely deer and elk? (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: What do Tyrannosaur dinosaur tracks look like? First off, the tyrannosaurus dinosaurs are in the suborder Theropoda, and were bipedal, which is a fancy way of saying that they walked on two feet. They had three toes and one dewclaw. The ones found in British Columbia were over 2 feet long and over 5 feet between tracks. Finally, these tracks a... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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What do Tyrannosaur dinosaur tracks look like? One of the genera of dinosaurs is the Tyrannosaurus, which includes the famous T-Rex. What do the tracks of this type of dinosaur look like? (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |