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Thread: Critters in Sap

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Rock Creek, NC
    Posts
    5,807

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

    "Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!

    1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
    A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
    Four chainsaws and no chickens!

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Cornwall, CT
    Posts
    356

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    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.
    1980 - 6 taps, stone fire pit, drain pan evaporator, 1 pint of syrup
    2016 - 55 taps on 3/16 and gravity, new sugar shack, 2x3 Mason XL, 16 gallons of syrup
    2017 - 170 taps on 3/16, 2x4 Mason XL, NextGen RO. 50 gallons of syrup
    2018 - 250+ taps on gravity and buckets, 2x5 Smokey Lake arch and Beaverland pan.
    2019 - 250+ taps on gravity. A few buckets. 35 gallons of syrup.
    2020 - 300+ taps on gravity. 50 gallons of syrup.
    2021 - 280 taps on gravity and 40 buckets. 35 gallons of syrup.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    hills west of Jeff City Missouri
    Posts
    134

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    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.
    2020: 220 trees, most smaller than 20" diameter, made 25 gallons
    remote location in western Cole County
    5/16" plastic spiles, drain into plastic buckets or sapsaks
    haul sap out of woods using atv & trailer
    wood-fired pans on concrete blocks
    one Leader Half Pint 24 x 33" plus 24 x 30 ss pan from a junkyard
    cook batch process then finish in the kitchen;
    we dont sell our syrup; its for family & friends
    see website www.mosyrup.com

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Potsdam in far northern New York
    Posts
    775

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    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??

  5. #15
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    New Hartford, N.Y.
    Posts
    2,091

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    Probably hard to see 'em, but that one had gills also. Or very small SCUBA gear.
    Interesting story. I would have been surprised too!
    2014 Upgrades!: 24x40 sugarhouse & 30"x10' Lapierre welded pans, wood fired w/ forced draft, homemade hood & preheater
    400 taps- half on gravity 5/16, half on gravity 3/16
    Airablo R.O. machine - in the house basement!
    Ford F-350 4x4 sap gatherer
    An assortment of barrels, cage tanks & bulk tanks- with one operational for cooling/holding concentrate
    And a few puzzled neighbors...

    http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/t...uckethead1920/

  6. #16
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Center, Underhill Ctr, VT
    Posts
    6,390

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Greer View Post
    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.
    Dr. Tim Perkins
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
    http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc
    https://mapleresearch.org
    Timothy.Perkins@uvm.edu

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Corinth, New York, United States
    Posts
    557

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    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.
    2021 230 Taps on vacuum
    Smokylake 2X6 pan set with auto drawoff
    Homebuilt 2 4x40 membrane RO
    Homebuilt filter press
    Rebuilt arch with under and over the fire air we have named V 2.0
    Smokylake steam bottler
    Hoods and preheater
    500 gallon vertical polytank to store sap for RO
    Adding a laser eye to my bottler for autofill/stop

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    GR, MI
    Posts
    236

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    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.

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Weston, CT
    Posts
    473

    Default Mouse in sap

    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.

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Alcona County, Michigan
    Posts
    1,134

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    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.
    CE
    44° 41′ 3″ N

    2019 -- 44 Red Maples - My home and sugarbush are for sale.
    2018 -- 48 Red Maples, 7 gallons
    2017 -- 84 Red Maples, 1 Sugar Maple, and 1 Silver Maple , 13 gallons
    2016 -- 55 Red Maples, 8 gallons
    2015 -- 15 Red Maples, 6 Birches - 3+ gallons maple syrup
    An awning over my deck is my sugar shack.
    An electrified kitchen sink and an electrified steam table pan are my evaporators.

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