AT Section Hike 2026 Mexican Mice 🐁

We stayed at Jenkins shelter our last night before Weary Feet came and bailed us out of the rain. This shelter was known for its mice. Not only are they in the shelters but will investigate around the picnic table. One hiker commented the mice came out while they were eating, to share. I figured we were fine, because we were several feet away at campsites. We set up camp, ate near our tents as the picnic table and shelter were full of hikers. Did our evening chores, and put our food away. I hung my food bag in a pine tree. Not my best hang, but not the worst either. Butterfly has a bear can.

When I sat down to eat lunch yesterday, on our way to the hostel, we found a picnic table at Laurel Creek Campsites. I pulled out my tortillas to find our unseen friends had decided to have tortillas. Must have been Mexican mice! They didn’t touch anything else, not even the packets of oatmeal. I don’t see a hole in the bag. I figured they climbed in my food bag when it was open, sitting by the place we had set up for supper. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Oh well. And just like a thru – hiker, one cannot let good food go to waste! I tore around where they had eaten, threw their nibbled portions in a zip lock bag used for trash, and pulled a tortilla out for an almond butter and marmalade tortilla wrap.

This morning in the hostel, I got out my food bag to get out something for breakfast. I saw it. The hole. The one that matched the hole in the tortilla bag. They had gotten through from the bottom of the bag. I still think it was the sneaky Mexican mice that gnawed their way through when I wasn’t looking at supper. (please see pictures on Facebook. I will post them later).

Moral of the story. Watch out for Mexican mice, unless you don’t mind sharing your tortilla with them!