eaglesfly
va
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Joined: 07/29/2008
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i am curious if there is a real need to worry about critters chewing thru your tents to get to food? lets say you set up you screen room over the picnic table area and you eat here. is there a real concern about creatures trying to get into this screen room?
or tents for that matter?
and does it make a difference if staying at sites like koa's as compared to national forest or parks?
we stayed in bear country last year and at our site we had no problems at all with anything, except small spiders and small bugs. a few birds were in the bushes but they did not come up into our site.
..and i only saw a bear out in the trail (a little too close i might add).
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cm
Dillon, CO USA
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Joined: 08/01/2002
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The rule in bear country is do not cook or eat near the tent or keep food in the tent. A tent is a minor inconvenience to a bear looking for food.
The attraction to food is going to be the same for small rodents like mice and chipmunks. And any raccoon attracted to food odors will not let a tent stop them.
There was a post recently about a chipmunk that was entering a RV through the slide opening to get to food.
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Hiker3
Florida
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Joined: 01/21/2007
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Yup, during the day, critters will come under the screen room -- I've seen it alot. If you leave the campsite for sightseeing or hike during the day, you should probably put the food in the car.
As mentioned, after bedtime, your food is in your car -- so that works.
p.s. backpackers have had critters eat through the material to get to the tasty snacks -- so yes, critters are persistent. It's like a 7-11 being located right in their yard.
Livin Lite Quicksilver 8.0 (Folding Tent Camper) only 900 lbs!
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Horseplay
NC
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Joined: 01/03/2004
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A screen room doesn't have a floor on most of them. The critters especially love bread. They will unzip to get to the food stuff if you leave it out.
We now just leave our food and cooler in the car or hang from a tree.
No food, or toothpaste/flowery smelling where you sleep.
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Nick Wildwood
Hell California
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Joined: 04/16/2008
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Hiker3 wrote:Yup, during the day, critters will come under the screen room -- I've seen it alot. If you leave the campsite for sightseeing or hike during the day, you should probably put the food in the car.
As mentioned, after bedtime, your food is in your car -- so that works.
p.s. backpackers have had critters eat through the material to get to the tasty snacks -- so yes, critters are persistent. It's like a 7-11 being located right in their yard.
Bears will tear open your car like it's a bag of potato chips if they think there is food inside of it. Use bear lockers or bear proof containers when camping in bear country. Ice chests and heavy plastic containers with good locks will keep out raccoons and squirrels.
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dawgs3
n.c
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Joined: 07/27/2007
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if theres a to get to your food,they'll find it.if theres not a way they'll make one!!!!!!!!!!
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maddog348
Bakersfield,CA
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We use old 'pop-corn' tins to keep the little/middle critters out. They might get a bit bent and banged but they are still tooth-proof. Except bear country then ALL goes into bear-box.
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bondebond
Central Kansas
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We just settled into a pattern of never having food inside our tent. We kept a large plastic Rubbermaid chest with clamping latches. It is decently waterproof. For many years, I just left it sitting on the bench of the picnic table, but one trip, racoons made me adjust even that.
I then started wedging it under the bench seat, if it was a tight fit (often was). Otherwise, I'd haul it back to the truck for overnight. All food was kept in it, so it made it easy. Trash was always moved to the truck overnight and during day trips.
After just returning from Yellowstone and Tetons, I've had that reinforced to store no food where your body resides. With a PUP, I still don't store food in the camper. Not like half-hard, half-canvas has any real protection. We don't cook inside the PUP, so there should be no food smells inside, generally.
Tenting is no different, and more the case. Never food inside the tent, unless you are forced inside by weather/etc. We tried to cook and eat everything around the picnic table. Most all critter traffic was then concentrated over there.
I awoke many a night to some pilferer checking our picnic table for yummies. Very rarely did they find a reward at our site.
Myself, The Boss, and two wanna-be Bosses
2006 Jayco 1007
There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who can count, and those who can't.
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Chock Full o' Nuts
GA
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Joined: 02/02/2007
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The one and only time we had a critter was one night at Fort Pickens, FL. We always put our food in the trunk at night so the animals won't see it and can't get to it. But this time we had accidently left a fresh applesauce cake in the back seat--with the windows down! Oh man, what a feast it was! The worst part is the darned raccoon took a nap under the front seat and we discovered him just as we were pulling out. You never saw a car empty out so fast!
"Those who dwell...among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life."--Rachel Carson, environmentalist, 1956
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wanagocamp
Santa Cruz, Ca. USA
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Joined: 04/28/2004
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We always lock our food up at night. Of course one camping trip I was playing a mean trick on my little brother and left oreos right outside his tent. The racoons got them but the joke was on me since he never woke up! Hehehehehe.
Eliane (71)
Larry (71) 
Kamon (90) 
Eva (99) 
Nathan (02) 
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