This may seem like a strange one... But honestly, I have to wonder- how can you keep animals from moving into your new top secret holding place? Besides a door which can be tough to camoflage... How can you keep your stockpiles safe from the plundering of animals?

Well it's all to do with scent and territory and nothing is foolproof.

Idea: Possibly acquire some 'dung' from an animal that the bear is afraid of (not many but maybe lions and other large cats and the like) and scatter that amongst your territory. The curious bear may well have second thoughts when it gets a wiff of Leo.

But then you may end up with a lion for a lodger instead.



Just a thought though

child-proof containers?



also, traps would be good

Hey... It's one of those things... I have read this awesome post about bunkers and the like, but how are we to stop animals from taking over our dwelling?

Well all you can do really is have a weapen closeby at all times and dont leave any food out or trash if you have any and also if you can get pepper spray that should definitely work especially against bears you would probably have to urinate all around where you are so your scent should deter animals i think not 100% sure on that one but ive seen it done on survival programmes

This is not much of a problem,attracting animals can be very good,but it's moisture and the little ones that can do a lot of damage to food stores,set snares and pit traps for big animals,keep fire lit,more food for the table

[edit on 1-12-2008 by all2human]

I mean as the bunker is waiting for use. If I made it this week and didn't need it til two summers from now, how would you keep skunks, coons, bears or any other animal from callig it home.

Let me paint the scene: You're gone! Running fast to your bunker with BOB in hand, slide in the entrance and are greeted by something that growls...

Food will need to be put into sealed containers and any human scent removed from the outside of the container. This could be done by wiping the container with an alcohol based 'wet-wipe'.

Originally posted by Jkd Up
I mean as the bunker is waiting for use. If I made it this week and didn't need it til two summers from now, how would you keep skunks, coons, bears or any other animal from callig it home.

Let me paint the scene: You're gone! Running fast to your bunker with BOB in hand, slide in the entrance and are greeted by something that growls...

To be honest - If you have gone to the trouble of making a bunker, then you should have thought about putting some form of secure doorway/hatch over the entrance.

Haha, Just had a thought - If in doubt, send your friend into the bunker first

Well ye yopu should probably put up a hatch to stop anything getting in but lets say you dont have that what do you do all i can rally think of is using some kind of animal scent to deter animals or maybe do something like make alot of noise that should definitely deter snakes no suer wethre it would attract anything i doubt it though

sorry i cant be more help i dont know much about this sort of thing

Good question. I would say keep the food stuffs in your home until the day you decide to bug out. Hiding food and resources in a remote location is not the best idea in my opinion as you cannot ever really control access. If you do bug out, the safest thing to do from what I have read, is to hang the food in a tree inside seal-able containers.

WOTAN: Remind me never to bug out with you

Main thing to remember is that most animals want to stay away from humans. Our scent deters them. Unless you have yourself a man eating bear. Lock up all food in tightly sealed containers and keep you cave clean from all food leftovers. This will minimize racoons and other scavengers. Have the fire closer to the entrance of the cave.

You really should consider throwing up a wooden blockade and intertwine native brush to help conceal the entrance to your cave. This will also keep out larger animals while your away and while you're asleep.

Really what we should worry about are all the nocturnal creatures. (Snakes, spiders, scorpions, ants, rats) These are the ones we should be most worrie about. They really do not care about human scent and our body heat as well as heat from the fire will attract them. I believe this was something our neaderthal friends had to deal with as well. Why should we be exempt from this tribulation? All part of the nature of survival of the fittest and smartest.

I, as one of the fittest and smartest, have a generous stash of Raid!!!

Great point AMAXIUM!

ammonia. the scent is so strong it generally burns the nasal passages of most animals. we use it to deter neighborhood dogs from getting in the garbage. if your bunker is close enuough, go by one or twice a week, spray down the outside, around the entrance, or you could rig some kind of time release system to spray every couple of days.

If your building an underground bunker thats to be left empty for a long period, perhaps include a U-bend similar to a toilet's trap as part of a tunnel-access defence

Once you have your cache stored securely inside, flood the U-bend with water and it should work as a barrier to most insects as well as animals including curious humans

[edit on 2-12-2008 by citizen smith]

The best thing to do is to make a burial cache. Get a large 55 gal drum with a removable lid. Bury it in the ground under at least 18 inches of dirt. Even unburied on of these drums is pretty varment proof, of both small and large critters. All food stuffs should be sealed in their own container before placing in the drum. This also works well for ammo and weapons that have been preppped for long term storage.

respectfully

reluctantpawn