Joshua Tree Squirrels

If you've climbed at Joshua Tree, you've got squirrel stories. I can't count the times I've had my food broken into and spread across the camp site. The worse, so I thought, is being woken up by the little varmints. Nothing like a crack of dawn little chirping squirrel 3 feet from your head when you got a hangover from poor life decisions that involved drinking until 4am.

So I thought I'd experienced every kind of torture those little furry deviants could come up with. NEVER, NEVER did I think this shit could happen. We set up a top rope for a project at Atlantis. I got this new camera, the Rylo 360* thingy and had it setup on a tri-pod by the anchor pointing down route, nice top down POV. Anyway after me and the boss did a few tries on the route, wifey noticed the sheathe frayed and upon closer inspection, the core was shot. This is not unheard of at Joshua Tree. Joshua Tree glass is notorious for chewing up ropes. It was after dinner back at the campsite when I went to edit the vids that I saw a fucking squirrel in the footage chewing on my rope. I was like, WTF? I pulled the rope out of the bag to look at it again. I hadn't noticed on first inspection but there was some discoloration. Basically, it was close to sunset when Jules found the core shot. We just packed up and headed back to the Hidden Valley. So on second inspection, the rope was a bit stained around the infringing chew spots. It didn't feel sticky or anything but I gave it a sniff test and it was well, shit, hard to describe... my sniffer kind of sucks and I'm no chef but something got spilled on the rope and apparently Chip or Dale or one their cousins liked whatever the hell that was.

Has anybody else ever had a rope compromised by a varmint out in the wilds? 

youtube.com/watch?v=g79mLV9…

I've camped a bunch in the backcountry at Josh, amd I've never had a rope chewed, but the desert mice out there are outta control and have chewed various other things..  chewed holes thru my backpack (when no food was even inside), chewed clothing, ate the prongs off a plastic fork I left out once, and most recently chewed the laces right off my shoes! 

Gabriele Benvenuto wrote: I've camped a bunch in the backcountry at Josh, amd I've never had a rope chewed, but the desert mice out there are outta control and have chewed various other things..  chewed holes thru my backpack (when no food was even inside), chewed clothing, ate the prongs off a plastic fork I left out once, and most recently chewed the laces right off my shoes! 

I kind of forgot about the mice in my head spinning from squirrel terrorist attacks. But yeah, the f'ing mice are really friggin crafty. Early June when I was out in Jtree goodness, the mice chewed through the blue plastic cap of my honey roasted Planter peanuts and proceeded to mock me as they dined upon my nuts. I think I was out on Dampled Mare for like 3-4 hours. We left just after dawn. By the time we got back, the cap of the nut jar had been compromised and the little four legged fuckers, well two of them, were being bold as fuck and mining nuts from the jar like it was the California Gold Rush. 

We were backcountry camping and the mice there were BOLD...chewed a hole through our 7 gallon water container, leaving us in a bad spot.

My wife almost went splat while at the base of Mental Physics when a kangaroo rat jumped out of her pack when she was trying to retrieve her granola bar. (we warned her not to leave any food in pack).  The base is very boulder-y

Justin Case wrote: 
Has anybody else ever had a rope compromised by a varmint out in the wilds? 

There was a recent rope failure in a So Cal gym...

Check out the Emotions of Climbing thread. One of the first pics shows a varmint damaged rope.

Mice actually got into a bag of mushrooms I had at jtree

M. Morley wrote:

Not to sound like a jerk, but if you have had this happen MULTIPLE times, you are not storing your food correctly. It is YOUR responsibility to ensure that your food is secured from the animals. It's their home, we are the guests.

I’ve seen LEOs give out tickets for this. 

Marmots on Whitney has been my worst experience they took three cliff bars I was sure looking forward to eating and they aren’t crafty enough to work the zippier the bastards chewed a hole through the top of my pack.
I was working in the cloud forest on Santa Rosa Island and had an especially annoying volunteer with me that week. He left his boots outside one night and those awesome island foxes ate the laces right out of them. 

Squirrels or marmots chewed a sling that I left around a huge tree on a multi-pitch rap (new route, so it was the first sling on the tree). I'd placed the sling a couple weeks prior but I went around just to double check the knot...and the sling was chewed 95% of the way through. Close call for sure - always double check!

Never had trouble with squirrels at Josh (seen them plenty, also wood rats and mice, but kept food with me), but one time on a hot day I left the windows cracked extra wide (about 1.5"), and the dang cactus wrens got in and pecked into some food (and left little calling cards all over...). Anyway don't crack the windows more than an inch! And of course the ravens go after anything including pecking into pretty thick water bottles to get a drink.

My bad, I thought this was gonna be recipes.

rob bauer wrote: My bad, I thought this was gonna be recipes.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 : Squirrel
• 2 : BBQ Sauce (I prefer Sweet Baby Rays)
• 3 : A-1 Bold and Spicy Steak Sauce
• 4 : 2% Milk
• 5 : Salt / Pepper to taste
• 6 : Grill set up for direct heat over an Oak fire

PREPARATION
1: Get yourself a squirrel!
2: Skin and clean said squirrel.
3: Rinse off any remaining fur.
4: Soak squirrel in milk for approximately 1 hour (will get rid of any gamey taste.
5: Lightly rinse off squirrel
6: Place squirrel in zip lock bag and cover 1/4 with BBQ sauce
7: Add in a couple dashes of A-1 Bold and Spicy Steak Sauce
8: Let that sit for about 30-60 minutes
9: Grill over direct heat for about 5-8 minutes per side
10: I like mine with mashed potatoes, biscuits and Corn!

Rock Monkey wrote: INGREDIENTS

• 1 : Squirrel
• 2 : BBQ Sauce (I prefer Sweet Baby Rays)
• 3 : A-1 Bold and Spicy Steak Sauce
• 4 : 2% Milk
• 5 : Salt / Pepper to taste
• 6 : Grill set up for direct heat over an Oak fire

PREPARATION
1: Get yourself a squirrel!
2: Skin and clean said squirrel.
3: Rinse off any remaining fur.
4: Soak squirrel in milk for approximately 1 hour (will get rid of any gamey taste.
5: Lightly rinse off squirrel
6: Place squirrel in zip lock bag and cover 1/4 with BBQ sauce
7: Add in a couple dashes of A-1 Bold and Spicy Steak Sauce
8: Let that sit for about 30-60 minutes
9: Grill over direct heat for about 5-8 minutes per side
10: I like mine with mashed potatoes, biscuits and Corn!

I’ve found cleaning immediately after a kill greatly reduces the gamey taste. 

I've seen skunks playing with climbers' stuff at the base of Atlantis Wall.  We gently chased it away before it did any damage.  Only place in the Park we've seen skunks.

Rock Monkey wrote: INGREDIENTS

• 1 : Squirrel
• 2 : BBQ Sauce (I prefer Sweet Baby Rays)
• 3 : A-1 Bold and Spicy Steak Sauce
• 4 : 2% Milk
• 5 : Salt / Pepper to taste
• 6 : Grill set up for direct heat over an Oak fire

PREPARATION
1: Get yourself a squirrel!
2: Skin and clean said squirrel.
3: Rinse off any remaining fur.
4: Soak squirrel in milk for approximately 1 hour (will get rid of any gamey taste.
5: Lightly rinse off squirrel
6: Place squirrel in zip lock bag and cover 1/4 with BBQ sauce
7: Add in a couple dashes of A-1 Bold and Spicy Steak Sauce
8: Let that sit for about 30-60 minutes
9: Grill over direct heat for about 5-8 minutes per side
10: I like mine with mashed potatoes, biscuits and Corn!

LMAO! 

NOW THATS SOME REDNECK SHIT.

Disclaimer: no animals were harmed during the production.

I've never had a problem with rodents in Jtree, and I've camped there countless nights. I don't keep a sloppy campsite, nor do I eat dinner over my rope though. I have had my shoes chewed on in several places in the Sierra.

Here's some helpful tips on camping in Jtree (or anywhere really):
1. Clean your f#%king campsite up. Keep all food in hard-sided, sealed bins or in your car, or in a bear-bin if applicable.
2. It's going to get windy after you leave your site. Secure all those paper towels and other crap that will blow away.

I’ve never had any varmints break inti my food but that might be because I store it properly.
I have had ringtail cats chew holes in ky backpack that was empty and wide open hanging in a tree near the base of the Column.  I have witnessed bears break into a car and open up a bag left by a couple of girls who finished Cathedral Peak about 10hrs after us.  They found a bag of gummy bears and flung climbing gear all Over.  Luckily no car damage.
I’ve caught ring-tailed cats tearing into my partner bag that she left unattended.
I’ve had horses knock my and my partners food bins of the picnic table.  Both were latched and did not open.
And I have seen several ravens fly down on picnic tables in Upper Pines and fly away with entire bags of potato chips.  
I’ve actually had a racoon take my pack that was right against my foot and start running with it.  I caught up to him just before he reached his hole.  This was at one of the YOSAR tents.  Learn how to store your food people.  And dont leave it unattended.  
And dont leave gear at the base of multipitch routes.  Problem solved

Climberdude wrote: Mice actually got into a bag of mushrooms I had at jtree

What kind of mushrooms? Were they tripping balls?