Critters in Sap

[theschist]

Had a dead mouse in my sap tank. Should I dump it all or boil it anyhow?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Michael Greer]

I like 'em braised with a little garlic.

[buckeye gold]

I'll just answer with a response I got from an old timer many years ago......Ring as much sap as you can out of that critter and move on son.

In reality, it's only one bucket of sap. Dumping it should not be a huge loss.

[DrTimPerkins]

Dump the mouse, boil the sap. Doesn't work so well the other way around.

[DaveB]

I had that happen to me once and I dumped the sap. When living things die they release things and so I considered the sap contaminated.

[Sinzibuckwud]

Very first bucket this year, top of the hill, farthest away, can see it's 3\4 full walking up to it. MOUSE and 6 turds...dumped it out walked the bucket all the way back to clean it out. Ohh mother nature, you got me good this year. Hahaha

[lyford]

17831 found this yesterday

[Bucket Head]

Yeah, we've had a few mice and squirrels in buckets over the years. Hide the bodies and keep the sap.

[stewardsdairy]

The difference between a Vermont Sugerer and a New York Sugarer is that when a New Yorker finds a squirrel in his sap bucket he looks around carefully to make sure no one is looking and he tosses the squirrel and puts the sap in his gathering tank. A Vermonter finds a squirrel in his sap bucket and he looks around to make sure no one is looking and he carefully wrings all the sap out of the squirrels fur into his gathering bucket before he tosses the squirrel and gathers the sap.

[red dorakeen]

Don't boil it more than 5 minutes or it'll be overdone, or throw it away if you're not hungry.

[Russell Lampron]

Remove the mouse, filter the sap and boil it. The temperature of boiling sap is high enough to kill just about everything.

[Woodsrover]

Call me a prude but I'd dump it.
A moth or a few ants in the buckets are one thing but a dead mammal is another.

[unclejohn]

have had a mouse in a plastic bucket..... picked him up by the tail and let him drip a little.... and I kept the sap. Been having raccoons visiting our buckets this year, you can see their dirty little paw prints on the inside of the buckets, and the rascals don't stand the buckets back up under the tubing after they take a drink. One morning our grove looked like a big wind came thru..... half the buckets were on their side. Makes me want to switch to sapsax. Among the other critters I have had...honeybees, ants, mosquitos, slugs, and flies. A foreign object I like to see is a maple leaf floating on the sap.

[Michael Greer]

There was a centipede in one of the big tanks the other day. He was in there all day and when the level got low enough, I picked him out so he didn't get sucked up by the pump. I dropped the carcass on the floor and he ran away! How can a critter stay submerged for 16 hours and then just walk away? Don't bugs breathe??

[Bucket Head]

Probably hard to see 'em, but that one had gills also. Or very small SCUBA gear.
Interesting story. I would have been surprised too!

[DrTimPerkins]

How can a critter stay submerged for 16 hours and then just walk away? Don't bugs breathe??

Yes, they breathe. Some insects trap bubbles on their exoskeletons and can use that air to stay in the water for a long time.

[Wanabe1972]

I got you all beat. Went to my buddys farm to collect my sap one day and a half a dozen calves had gotten free and were surrounding my tank and drinking like it was free. I wish i still had the picture but my phone got destryed shortly after that.

[BoarsNest]

We've had a lot of flies this year in the sugar shack and they've been landing in the sap. I just make sure they spit out any sap before I toss them out.

[Sugar Bear]

Has not happened to me yet but if it did I would put the mouse in the frig and eat it with syrup made from the sap that did it in.

[Cedar Eater]

Seems like this question has come up every year since I joined this site. Apparently the mice aren't getting any smarter as the dumb ones drown themselves.

[HannahL]

Sounds like a new dish, Sweet Marinated Rodent, tastes like chicken from the local Chinese restaurant!

[MWill]

There was a centipede in one of the big tanks the other day. He was in there all day and when the level got low enough, I picked him out so he didn't get sucked up by the pump. I dropped the carcass on the floor and he ran away! How can a critter stay submerged for 16 hours and then just walk away? Don't bugs breathe??

Oh, they breathe for sure. There's an article on pestcontrolhacks (https://pestcontrolhacks.com/get-rid-of-house-centipedes/) about these critters. Might be worth looking.

[Michael Greer]

I'm reviving this old thread because of something new. For the first time ever, we had SLUGS in the buckets!! That's just wrong! It's bad enough that the little brown moths showed up on the very first run, and that the big black flies came along just a week later, but slugs...yuck! Our changing climate is going to ruin everything.

[Ed R]

I had a couple of slugs as well on my last gather along with a few young night crawlers.

[spud]

No need to fear. The slugs will just enhance the flavor. A skunk in the sap would be a game changer. :)

Spud

[Michael Greer]

Yeah, Imagine the labeling, Eau de Slug. Clings to your pancake. Mmmm

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Not to divert the thread but"slugs" in the bucket reminded me of a story that our farm insurance agent told us where years ago he had a claim from a farmer who in the spring found that someone had shot a hole in the bottom of all his buckets. They were stacked and laying on their side under a shed and every stack had been shot through.

[Andy VT]

I came here to see if I can salvage the bucket (one of those light blue sap buckets that hangs on the tree).
I guess I'd have to conclude the answer is "yes"!
I did toss the sap. And I also did not keep the chipmunk.

[DrTimPerkins]

I did toss the sap. And I also did not keep the chipmunk.

The joke I've heard (with apologies to all)...

If you're from MA or CT, you take out the squirrel, dump the sap, wash the bucket and start over.

If you're from ME or NY, you keep the sap, dump the squirrel, and just rehang the bucket.

If you're from VT or NH, you wring every drop of sap out of the squirrel into the bucket and keep the sap.

If you're from WV, you keep the sap, cook the squirrel and dip it in syrup when you eat it.

[antelope76]

I’ve had 1 red squirrel in my buckets over the last 12 years of doing this. This year I’ve had a chipmunk and 4 mice so far.