I shrew wish that hadn't happened

Wayne · Oct 28, 2018

Took a trip to a friends house and brought my large format gear, packed neatly away in padded compartments of a backpack. I hadnt used it in many months, sadly. I left the gear in the car at night, so i wouldnt have to lug it up and down the stairs to my room every day.

It wasnt until Day 5 that I actually used it. I took a few 4x5's and when I went to return the gear to the pack I noticed a folded paper towel in one compartment and something that looked like little tiny legs in the folds. There was also something that looked like an elastic band from a cheap dust mask. Naturally my first thought was WTF????

A dead shrew. I have no idea what the paper towel and elastic band were doing in there, but it almost looked like someone had picked up the dead shrew with the paper towel and placed it in the compartment. But more likely, the paper towel was put in there by me for some reason many months ago and the shrew found it a comforting place to die.

Do you know what dead shrews smell like? Shrews smell bad even when alive., so think dead rodent and rancid rat piss. Thats what my dark cloth and backpack smell like now. My own little Halloween nightmare.

BrianShaw · Oct 28, 2018

Eeeeeeewwwwww.

winger · Oct 28, 2018

BrianShaw said:
Eeeeeeewwwwww.

+1.

And now I'm going to double check all of my camera bags just in case.

BrianShaw · Oct 28, 2018

Always look carefully at mine before sticking my in hand. We have black widow spiders that love dark places.

But a shrew.... eeeeeeewwwww.

Helios 1984 · Oct 28, 2018

Give it a Viking funeral.

BrianShaw · Oct 28, 2018

Or a submariners funeral. Flush.

Ces1um · Oct 28, 2018

@Wayne You win best post of the day!

BrianShaw · Oct 28, 2018

Ces1um said:
@Wayne You win best post of the day!

That’s true even though the day isn’t over yet!!!!!!!

Old-N-Feeble · Oct 28, 2018

Where's the 'puke' emoticon when you need it?

Rick A · Oct 28, 2018

Vaughn · Oct 28, 2018

I had to chase a chipmonk out of my camera pack in Zion. I was at a popular place (Scout Lookout) and it jumped in as I took my light meter out of it. Cheeky devil. They were really working the crowd! I worry more about coming home after an extended trip and finding rats have taken over my kitchen. That is a mess.

Svenedin · Oct 28, 2018

Poor little shrew. He was trying to make a little house in the paper towel.

Ces1um · Oct 28, 2018

Svenedin said:
Poor little shrew. He was trying to make a little house in the paper towel.

Obviously that course of action wasn't particularly..... wait for it.... shrewd.

Theo Sulphate · Oct 28, 2018

Maybe it was looking for silica gel to eat; they cannot read the warnings.

Are you sure it was dead? Shrews enter a state of torpor for the winter and appear emaciated. If it's alive, you could try to tame it.

Svenedin · Oct 28, 2018

Ces1um said:
Obviously that course of action wasn't particularly..... wait for it.... shrewd.

You’re right. He shrewed have built his house elsewhere.

Ces1um · Oct 28, 2018

Svenedin said:
You’re right. He shrewed have built his house elsewhere.

hehehe. Good one!

mshchem · Oct 28, 2018

Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a pannic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!

I'm truly sorry man's dominion,
Has broken nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An' fellow-mortal!

I doubt na, whiles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen icker in a thrave
'S a sma' request;
I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,
An' never miss't!

Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin!
It's silly wa's the win's are strewin!
An' naething, now, to big a new ane,
O' foggage green!
An' bleak December's winds ensuin,
Baith snell an' keen!

Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste,
An' weary winter comin fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell-
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro' thy cell.

Thy wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,
Has cost thee mony a weary nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole the winter's sleety dribble,
An' cranreuch cauld!

But, Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

Still thou art blest, compar'd wi' me
The present only toucheth thee:
But, Och! I backward cast my e'e.
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear![5]

GRHazelton · Oct 29, 2018

BrianShaw said:
Always look carefully at mine before sticking my in hand. We have black widow spiders that love dark places.

But a shrew.... eeeeeeewwwww.

You think black widow spiders are bad? How about the brown recluse spider. Here ya go! https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/spider-bite-brown-recluse-spider-bite-treatment#1

Doremus Scudder · Oct 30, 2018

Vaughn said:
I had to chase a chipmonk out of my camera pack in Zion. I was at a popular place (Scout Lookout) and it jumped in as I took my light meter out of it. Cheeky devil. They were really working the crowd! I worry more about coming home after an extended trip and finding rats have taken over my kitchen. That is a mess.

A bit off-topic, but Vaughn reminded me of the time I played chipmunk taxi... Unbeknownst to me, the critter had climbed into my pack and made itself comfortable. Only a few miles down the trail did I notice some faint scratching sounds... Upon opening the pack, it came barrelling out at top speed.

And Vaughn, you spelling reminds me of the old joke: At the monastery fish-and-chips dinner, someone asks one of the brothers: "Are you the chip monk?" "No," he replies, "I'm the fish friar" (insert your favorite ba-da-bing here...)

Theo Sulphate said:
... Are you sure it was dead? Shrews enter a state of torpor for the winter and appear emaciated. If it's alive, you could try to tame it.

Taming of the Shrew?? You could name it William...

Best,

Doremus

Vaughn · Oct 30, 2018

GRHazelton said:
You think black widow spiders are bad? How about the brown recluse spider...

BTDT...well, possibly a recluse as I never saw it while taking down the family tent, but something bit the top of my foot. By the time I could look down whatever bit me was gone. No big deal. Next day it looked like I had a pimple on top of my foot. In the few days it grew until I had a hole on the top of my foot the size of a 50 cent piece. I went to the doc because I was worried the hole would keep getting bigger. My foot was swollen, but what ever the poison was, it killed all the nerve cells, so it did not hurt at all. I kept it clean and bandaged, and the skin and nerves all grew back, not even a scar. It was all a bit strange.

I'll wait for the Beer Bishop....

BHuij · Oct 31, 2018

Theo Sulphate said:
If it's alive, you could try to tame it.

Best reply on here.

fdonadio · Oct 31, 2018

BrianShaw said:
We have black widow spiders that love dark places.

Have you heard about the Brazilian wandering spider?

Theo Sulphate · Oct 31, 2018

fdonadio said:
Have you heard about the Brazilian wandering spider?

"A tiny needle-like device inserted into each rat’s penis... "

Not something I'd list on my résumé / CV.

Arklatexian · Oct 31, 2018

Wayne said:
Took a trip to a friends house and brought my large format gear, packed neatly away in padded compartments of a backpack. I hadnt used it in many months, sadly. I left the gear in the car at night, so i wouldnt have to lug it up and down the stairs to my room every day.

It wasnt until Day 5 that I actually used it. I took a few 4x5's and when I went to return the gear to the pack I noticed a folded paper towel in one compartment and something that looked like little tiny legs in the folds. There was also something that looked like an elastic band from a cheap dust mask. Naturally my first thought was WTF????

A dead shrew. I have no idea what the paper towel and elastic band were doing in there, but it almost looked like someone had picked up the dead shrew with the paper towel and placed it in the compartment. But more likely, the paper towel was put in there by me for some reason many months ago and the shrew found it a comforting place to die.

Do you know what dead shrews smell like? Shrews smell bad even when alive., so think dead rodent and rancid rat piss. Thats what my dark cloth and backpack smell like now. My own little Halloween nightmare.

From what I think I know about shrews, they must eat often or they die. Sounds like it got into your gear looking for food, could not get out and quickly starved to death. It was a mammal snd most mammals do smell after they die........Regards!

RalphLambrecht · Nov 1, 2018

Wayne said:
Took a trip to a friends house and brought my large format gear, packed neatly away in padded compartments of a backpack. I hadnt used it in many months, sadly. I left the gear in the car at night, so i wouldnt have to lug it up and down the stairs to my room every day.

It wasnt until Day 5 that I actually used it. I took a few 4x5's and when I went to return the gear to the pack I noticed a folded paper towel in one compartment and something that looked like little tiny legs in the folds. There was also something that looked like an elastic band from a cheap dust mask. Naturally my first thought was WTF????

A dead shrew. I have no idea what the paper towel and elastic band were doing in there, but it almost looked like someone had picked up the dead shrew with the paper towel and placed it in the compartment. But more likely, the paper towel was put in there by me for some reason many months ago and the shrew found it a comforting place to die.

Do you know what dead shrews smell like? Shrews smell bad even when alive., so think dead rodent and rancid rat piss. Thats what my dark cloth and backpack smell like now. My own little Halloween nightmare.

time for a new backpack; cannot continue with the stench of death.

I shrew wish that hadn't happened

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency