Go Buckets and Resident Mice

We had a problem with woodland mice at the Trails Barn this past winter.  Seems like when it comes to choosing to hunker down in the woods during Winter, or take refuge in a new weather tight Trails Barn, some of the lightweight mice choose the Barn.  And within that Barn they really liked our nice weather tight, dry 5 gallon plastic buckets that we use for trail work parties; especially the ones with warm extra soft cushy gloves for the trail volunteers.  

So, without looking at pictures of the old existing buckets, and their mousification.  Here are the new Go-Buckets.  We tossed out several pairs of old gloves that the mice had used for their Shelton Air B-n-B.

We washed out, vacuumed, and bleached the old buckets before they were relegated to crushed stone hauling duty.  New buckets, with lids, were purchased, and the Bucket Boss sleeves were reinserted, after cleaning.  The result is two new Go-Buckets with the following gear:

One bucket has a first aid kit, the other needs one.  One bucket had 2 pair of pliers, the other none; we spread them out.  One bucket had 10 pair of safety glasses, the other none, so we put a couple in each bucket.   You get the picture.  We put 3 pair of NEW and CLEAN work gloves in each bucket.  We also added key ingredients such as zip ties, duct tape, electric tape, WD-40, flagging, hand pruners, pliers, chainsaw multi-tool, tape measures, note pads, pencils and other writing implements, folding hand saws, and other implements of destruction.

Stuff in Bucket #2.

Stuff in Bucket #1.

Typical stuff in the outside pockets.  We try to be prepared, but you never know what's needed.

So, it may seem silly but we are de-mouseified going into the Spring 2024 season, kinda.  We may need to add some stuff, but we have some supplies for trails volunteers at work parties, in case they forget to bring their own gear.  Everybody should bring their own stuff, but we try to have extra supplies on hand, just in case it's needed.  We recommend that you bring safety supplies, water, snacks, gloves, and appropriate work boots to all the work parties.  You'll be happier, and so will we.