lcommerford
CANADA
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Joined: 03/11/2010
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hey guys..I have just purchased a pop up after years of tent camping and was wondering what the protocol is for food storage ....will they get into my tent trailer at any cost or having it off the ground will halt them....thanks....larry
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Klueck
Florida
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Joined: 11/15/2008
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We never had any problems with raccoons trying to get inside the pop-up.
One night though, I happened to wake up and looked out and saw a family of raccoons in our cooler. I woke DH up and told him to "look at those cute little raccoons". About that time, I remembered I had a Honey Baked Ham in the cooler! We flew out the door and saved our ham!
We were new to camping then, and had to learn our lesson!
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lcommerford
CANADA
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yeah , I've camped for many years and have learned how to stymy the " cute little guys " , but my first trip with the new trailer is to hunting island where the racoons are very abundant and experts in their craft and really don't know how they'll attack a pop up if there is food in it !!!
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JLTN_James
Colorado
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Joined: 02/03/2009
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You could treat camping with racoons like camping with bears. Keep food inaccessable in bear bags or in you vehicle.
2004 Toyota Tundra SR5 (V8, 4WD, TP, TRD)
2005 Fleetwod Allegance with axle flip
Honeywell 2000i Generator
DH, DW, DS, DD, Dog & Cat
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kknowlton
southeast Idaho, formerly IL/WI border
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Joined: 05/27/2005
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If you leave much food out, they could certainly get into your trailer if they really want to. We PUP-camped for 17 seasons, though, and never had one get in - nor any signs that they tried. We always stored our cooler in the locked car at night, and other food was kept inside the trailer. I'm sure they could have smelled bread and other things we kept in bags, though. Like all wild animals, they're drawn to the easy pickin's - chances are if you keep a clean camp (outside the camper) you'll be fine.
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mac_camper
Illinois
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Joined: 05/04/2009
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We always have a cooler in the camper in addition to our fridge for cold items. We store our dry food in Rubbermaid or Sterilite containers with lids in the camper. We also make sure no food outside the boxes and no food outside the camper to attract them in the first place.
I figure, you just need to be cleaner than your neighbors and you will not be the easy target.
We had problems tent camping with the Racoons, but none w/PUP.
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bondebond
Searcy, AR
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Joined: 07/16/2008
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Agreed, keep a clean campsite in general. Fifteen years of camping in a tent helped us develop good habits in regards to food storage. However, we have stored food out in the PUP in a hanging cupboard, and have yet to be bothered by raccoons: things like cereal bars, oatmeal packets, etc.
Now, when in bear country, it's a whole 'nother game.
Insert Stuff Here
Yum...nature is tasty.
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Merrykalia
Appalachian (apple at chun) Mountains in SW VA
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Like lcommerford, we frequent Hunting Island, and as such have had our encounters with these high IQ creatures. They are the most amazing animals. When we had our pup, we were awakened early one morning/late one night by a strange sound. I peeked out the window that we had unzipped part-way and found 3 racoons under our bed area that had opened a locked Rubbermaid container that had been bungee corded together and were eating the dogfood by the handfuls. We turned a flashlight on them and I think one of them "gave me the finger", but kept eating the food. The next evening, we double bungeed it. (I couldn't get it open, DH had to open it to feed the dogs). Yep, they got into it again! The next evening, I set it up on the picnic table, double-bungied with 2 chairs sitting on top of it. You got it, they did too!! We finally brought it into the pup. They showed up and scratched at the door, but we didn't let them in. I guess they found another dinner somewhere else.
At Hunting Island, you can always find the "newbies" on their 2nd day because their trash is usually strewn around their campsite!!
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Wildcat63
MN
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Joined: 07/09/2006
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We have never had one try to get in the trailer. Tho our two hounds probably have something to do with that. When we were tent camping we got raided one night by a raccoon who swiped our marshmellows while we were sitting by the fire. Then he returned about 3 am and my wife watched him work on opening up the topper of our pickup for about an hour before he gave up. He sat on the bumper and was trying to turn the handle to open up the back of the topper where our cooler was.
Wildcat63
07 Coachmen Clipper Classic 1070ST
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lcommerford
CANADA
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hey guys ....to solve that bungee cord problem....get a couple of stainless steel 16 inch hose clamps and a standard nut driver....takes no time to strap around the cooler and is racoon proof...used these in cayo costa in fla ...island camping with no vehicle..
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