Mice Eating Sheds?
02-27-2003, 01:50 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Omaha Nebraska USA
Posts: 530
Mice Eating Sheds?
First off, thanks to everyone that has replied to my question about scouting this time of year. One thing I kept coming to in those replies, besides, " Heck yeah, this is the best time to scout" , was that of shed hunting.
I have question about that. I have heard that mice like to eat the sheds, and I assume maybe some other critters do too, but how fast do they do so?
I have had an old timer tell me that if I don' t get to the sheds within a few weeks of the them hitting the ground, that they would be gone- ate by the mice. Can they, and will they, eat them that fast? That seems awfully fast to me. But he said, " Think about it son (he calls everyone son), if the mice didn' t eat them up, we' d be tripping over them all the time." Sounds fishy to me and there is an awful lot of woods out there for the antlers to lay. Heck, he might as well said that we could walk from one county to the other on the backs of bucks, they' re so thick. In fact, maybe he has said that but it was after I fell asleep from listening to his other stories...
I have question about that. I have heard that mice like to eat the sheds, and I assume maybe some other critters do too, but how fast do they do so?
I have had an old timer tell me that if I don' t get to the sheds within a few weeks of the them hitting the ground, that they would be gone- ate by the mice. Can they, and will they, eat them that fast? That seems awfully fast to me. But he said, " Think about it son (he calls everyone son), if the mice didn' t eat them up, we' d be tripping over them all the time." Sounds fishy to me and there is an awful lot of woods out there for the antlers to lay. Heck, he might as well said that we could walk from one county to the other on the backs of bucks, they' re so thick. In fact, maybe he has said that but it was after I fell asleep from listening to his other stories...
02-27-2003, 01:59 PM
#3
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Omaha Nebraska USA
Posts: 530
RE: Mice Eating Sheds?
Oops, I just saw that someone else has posted this same question. Sorry. But it does look like the old timer knew what he was talking about. I' ll go out this weekend looking. Thanks guys.
02-27-2003, 08:45 PM
#8
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Stillwater, Oklahoma USA
Posts: 254
RE: Mice Eating Sheds?
Yes, all kinds of critters eat at sheds. I had a nice little 8 point rack mounted on the front of my hunting cabin. I have seen squirrels and mice gnaw on it and even birds peck at it. It took about 2 years to eat it down to the skull. Probably would have gone faster if it was on the ground.
I had an old-timer tell me " they eat-em for them minerals in em."
I had an old-timer tell me " they eat-em for them minerals in em."
02-27-2003, 08:48 PM
#9
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: East Central ILLinois USA
Posts: 1,595
RE: Mice Eating Sheds?
Alot of the antlers that I have found espercially near a water source get chewed up pretty fast and I think the muskrats and beavers do the lions share of the damage to the ones near water.
Yes the rabbitts, squirrels, porkupines, possums etc can eat away at them pretty severely, antlers are a great source of calcium and minerals for the animals especially in the winter when times are lean.
I found ones that have been chewed all the way through the main beams, this matched set would have been a nice 8 point shed set if not for the chew marks now they are antler buttons and assorted antler use products.
Hope you find a good one.
Yes the rabbitts, squirrels, porkupines, possums etc can eat away at them pretty severely, antlers are a great source of calcium and minerals for the animals especially in the winter when times are lean.
I found ones that have been chewed all the way through the main beams, this matched set would have been a nice 8 point shed set if not for the chew marks now they are antler buttons and assorted antler use products.
Hope you find a good one.
