Mice and Camping
A Charming Camping Companion
It is all really a matter of perspective. One can await the next mouse episode with either expectancy or anxiety. As all long time campers know rodent encounters are always part of the deal. Just as Rebecca shared in her blog about her new very nice mummy sleeping bag test drive, without the mouse tickling her bare backside; and the ensuing scramble to escape her now confining mummy bag it would have been a pretty boring post about a ho-hum gear review. Her story reminded me of a tale Patrick McManus wrote about pretending to drop a cherry bomb fire cracker down the front of his uncles’ chest-waders and the resulting contortions of escaping the predicament. The piece was outdoor humor at its best and so was Rebeccas’ story.
Rodents are often the antagonists that spark amazingly funny chapters in our outdoor adventures. So, if this is indeed true should we not invite these charming and cunning little pests to be part of our experiences.
The National Park Service and other agencies has been very successful in creating a camping environment that has greatly reduced encounters with bears by enforcing regulations that discourage bear and human conflict over food. Mice are quite happy to settle for crumbs and not compete for the whole meal deal like the bears have a habit of doing. This “crumb” strategy once understood by the camper allows for a happy, often humorous symbiotic experience.
As I said it is a matter of perspective. The rodents will be there invited or not, so like the weather we can choose to make the most of it, or not.
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