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Raccoon deterrence

Old 02-21-18, 10:48 PM
  #51  
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I'm going to be camping in bear country for ten days this summer. I'll be carrying toiletries and energy bars. Food will be carried by the tour leader. Can the toiletries and bars be stored in air tight Tupperware "safely" in my tent? Wouldn't Tupperware be as efficient as the odorless bags?

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Old 02-21-18, 11:12 PM
  #52  
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Originally Posted by alan s
Apparently raccoons are a problem where I plan to camp on an upcoming trip in the Florida Panhandle. Aside from putting all food out of reach, are there additional steps one can take to deter these clever critters? Lots of products for the home that claim to work, but most reviews indicate limited success. I was thinking a healthy sprinkling of cayenne pepper around the campsite would help, but I’m a little skeptical. I sleep with earplugs, so they could have a field day without my noticing.
There was a family of raccoons that would sit on my porch and watch TV with me (rural Texas) I would chase them away and in five minutes there back watching TV Racoons have skills they can open ice chests and picnic baskets and eat everything and anything. Hanging food in tree won’t work they have gymnist like talents and will climb down the rope. Racoons are breaking into trash can experts and can talk to each other in code. Seriously I don’t know when camping I have awoken several time to shoo away raccoons. Sometimes they just gave up or more than likely moved on to another bounty like a dumpster or someone else’s camp.
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Old 02-21-18, 11:38 PM
  #53  
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Originally Posted by MAK
I'm going to be camping in bear country for ten days this summer. I'll be carrying toiletries and energy bars. Food will be carried by the tour leader. Can the toiletries and bars be stored in air tight Tupperware "safely" in my tent? Wouldn't Tupperware be as efficient as the odorless bags?
It will be fine right up until the point that it isn't.

When assessing risk you have to consider the likelihood of an event and the outcome should it occur. While the likelihood may be low (many people break the "bear" rules and get away with it) the question becomes: What will you do if a bear does try to claw its way into your tent in the middle of the night?

I know, even with bear spray, that I have little defense against a bear so my strategy is to do what I can to avoid conflict. So the rules are the rules for me.
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Old 02-21-18, 11:41 PM
  #54  
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Originally Posted by MAK
I'm going to be camping in bear country for ten days this summer. I'll be carrying toiletries and energy bars. Food will be carried by the tour leader. Can the toiletries and bars be stored in air tight Tupperware "safely" in my tent? Wouldn't Tupperware be as efficient as the odorless bags?
you might like to read this.
you're in the running for 2018.

your current competition:

https://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2018.html


Last edited by saddlesores; 02-22-18 at 12:09 AM.
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Old 02-22-18, 12:03 AM
  #55  
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Originally Posted by saddlesores
you might like to read this.
you're in the running for 2018.

your current competition:

Darwin Awards: 2018 Darwin Awards
It occurs to me that if some find air tight bags sufficient, air tight containers should work. I think I posed a legitimate question.

Anyway...thank you for your worthless sarcasm. You've added a lot to the discussion. Enjoy your ignominious life.
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Old 02-22-18, 12:09 AM
  #56  
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Originally Posted by MAK
I'm going to be camping in bear country for ten days this summer. I'll be carrying toiletries and energy bars. Food will be carried by the tour leader. Can the toiletries and bars be stored in air tight Tupperware "safely" in my tent? Wouldn't Tupperware be as efficient as the odorless bags?
Keep in mind that bears seek out food by smell.

So the question you have to ask yourself is whether your concern is with losing some food, or what the bear might do while looking for it.

Store ALL food at a remove from your tent. Worst case is you lose the food, but at least the campsite should be OK.
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Old 02-22-18, 12:33 AM
  #57  
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Originally Posted by MAK
It occurs to me that if some find air tight bags sufficient, air tight containers should work...
Should work. The question being: What if it doesn't?

The risk vs reward for gambling doesn't seem worth it IMO. We know the risk but what really is the reward. So you have your toothpaste a little closer. Will you then brush in the tent? Where will you spit? etc...

Having the energy bars closer is more problematic. From there it isn't much of a stretch to maybe eating one in the tent and then not being bothered to dispose of the wrapper right away etc... If one does not intend to eat them in the tent what is the reward aspect of keeping them in the tent?

Being bear aware is partly a sort of self enforced discipline against convenient behavior we have developed at home where large carnivores don't live. Out there it's a different world where they have all the advantages. What keeps people safe is that a bear (or raccoon) will weigh every encounter with the same risk vs reward evaluation. A bear does not want to risk injury from an unknown predator for nothing. There is no reward. Add potential food smells to a hungry bear (or raccoon) and the reward may then outweigh the risk of confrontation.

Last edited by Happy Feet; 02-22-18 at 12:42 AM.
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Old 02-22-18, 12:43 AM
  #58  
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Originally Posted by Happy Feet
Should work. The question being: What if it doesn't?....
Reminds me of a New York story from BITD. Before they were digitally encoded, car radio theft was a major problem. Not only would you lose the radio, but there was often serious damage to the dash as they struggled to remove it.

So, it became common practice to install radios in slide out mounts and take them with you when you parked. Many would also take the added measure of leaving a note on the dash ---- "NO RADIO". So, of course, one day someone who had carefully posted the NO RADIO notice, came back to find the driver's side window shattered, and on the seat a note, "just checking".

Back to the tupperware container in the tent. Do you really want to share a tent with a bear struggling to get that container open?
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Old 02-22-18, 12:52 AM
  #59  
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Our Favorite Raccoon Recipes

If you eat enough, maybe you'll develop a scent they recognize and stay away from.
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Old 02-22-18, 01:05 AM
  #60  
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Originally Posted by MAK
It occurs to me that if some find air tight bags sufficient, air tight containers should work. I think I posed a legitimate question.

Anyway...thank you for your worthless sarcasm. You've added a lot to the discussion. Enjoy your ignominious life.
i'm fairly certain, without rereading the entire thread about raccoons, that the no-smell-um bags might
be okay in 'coon country. in bear country, all agree you must keep any smells away from your tent.

it would be ueber foolish to even consider food/toiletries in tupperware in your tent.
if you could be bothered with a google search instead of crowdsourcing life-or-death
decisions, you would have found your answer .......About 423,000 results (0.67 seconds)

someone storing scented items in their tent has earned a painful death.
so shaming your truly ridiculous question may have saved your life.
you may hate me, which is good. you are still alive.
i hope it's a long and healthy hate.
live long and prosper.
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Old 02-22-18, 03:08 AM
  #61  
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I did read all of the comments on this thread. I asked the question after seeing four or five people say they use opsaks and/or ursacks. It seemed logical to me to ask about an alternative "air tight" alternative. I thought that if something is air tight, aromas would not be escaping. Whether aromas escape or not, Happy Feet and FBinNY make sense about being cautious.

I will use a small bear canister and use it as described by the experienced members above in this thread.

Thank you Happy Feet and FBinNY for informative and on point comments.

Saddlesores...Ridicule doesn't "save lives". I don't hate you, I just wonder about your initial response. May you also live long and prosper, here on earth or on Vulcan.

BTW...Congratulations to the US Women's Ice Hockey team. Great overtime gold medal win and an extremely entertaining game.
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Old 02-22-18, 10:13 AM
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Moths balls

I hear moth balls but it's so tough getting their legs spread jk my family used moth balls to get raccoons out of their attic..I hang my food pct method
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Old 02-22-18, 01:29 PM
  #63  
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Originally Posted by MAK
I'm going to be camping in bear country for ten days this summer. I'll be carrying toiletries and energy bars. Food will be carried by the tour leader. Can the toiletries and bars be stored in air tight Tupperware "safely" in my tent? Wouldn't Tupperware be as efficient as the odorless bags?
Can you smell blueberries or grubs inside a rotten log? Bears can, good luck with that.
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Old 02-22-18, 02:47 PM
  #64  
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Originally Posted by MAK
It occurs to me that if some find air tight bags sufficient, air tight containers should work. I think I posed a legitimate question.
Perfectly fair question.... the National Park Service says an average dog can smell 100x better than a human, a blood hound can smell 3x better than the average dog, and a bear can smell 7x better than a blood hound - that's 2100x better than a human... but this thread is about rodents .

Airtight/watertight is very different than odorproof, though. The way I found out was because I'm religious about picking-up after my dog, and a knotted dog poop bag inside a ziploc bag inside a hot car does nothing! But the Opsak does stop it. Another test is to wrap a couple pieces of juicy steak in paper towels and put one in a Opsak and one in your Tupperware and see which one a dog is more interested in.

I posted above as one that sleeps with food in my an Opsak, but I camp in New England where there's mostly timid small black bear - I might think twice out west with larger black/brown/grisly bear. Then you have to consider what else might hold interesting odors - the empty energy bar wrapper that was temporarily in my pannier pocket, the bit of food dropped on my Tyvek footprint, the steam wafting up from my dinner into my clothes and hair, and in the rain I both cook and eat inside my tent. With all that, I figure I'm toast anyways - I sure ain't going to hang all that up in the air. Then in my neck of the woods, abiding by the conservative 200ft bear triangle rules (sleep/eat/hang positions being 200ft apart) means bushwhacking though low brush multiple times - that puts me at an equally unattractive risk of pick-up ticks and Lyme disease. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Note: Opsak ziplock seals always seem to fail over time, always test by squeezing for air leaks and I also roll the top several times and rubber band it, and finally, I also put the Opsak inside a drybag when I have one.

PSS: I usually wild camp when backpacking and bicycling. What worries me more is camping at established campgrounds and AT shelters - rodents and bear know these are the best places to scavenge for food. I can't imagine a campground neighbor being OK with me hanging my bear bag in his site .

Last edited by reppans; 02-22-18 at 03:09 PM.
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Old 02-22-18, 03:45 PM
  #65  
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Originally Posted by reppans
but this thread is about rodents .
Just to be fair, raccoons are not rodents. Pests, critters and damn nuisances, they are, but not to be lumped in with mice, squirrels, beavers, hamsters, gophers and lemmings.
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Old 02-22-18, 03:50 PM
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Originally Posted by MAK
I'm going to be camping in bear country for ten days this summer. I'll be carrying toiletries and energy bars. Food will be carried by the tour leader. Can the toiletries and bars be stored in air tight Tupperware "safely" in my tent? Wouldn't Tupperware be as efficient as the odorless bags?
In a word, "No". If you are in bear country you should store any food away from your campsite. When I have backpacked and camped in areas with bears, I don't drop a crumb on the ground in my campsite and EVERYTHING toiletries included, is stored away from camp. Why does a mouse chew through a wrapper on the granola bar? How does he know there is food in it? He can smell it, that's how. Once a bear just one time finds food in a tent, he learns tents potentially have food. In my area, they have closed whole sections where bears got into tents because the become problem bears and danger. Many times the bears are relocated or destroyed.
It isn't worth the risk, keep all food and toiletries out of your tent.
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