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When you're backpacking, you want to guard your food from the animals as much as possible. One invasion could cost you all your food, not to mention a possible camp disaster.

Food should be kept in canned or tightly sealed containers to prevent their odour from attracting animals. Of course if you're in bear country, that won't be effective because bears have the ability to smell food for over fifty miles away and they can even smell it when it's sealed in an unopened can. But most other animals don't have that nasal ability, so keeping the food sealed is one positive way of guarding your food.

Another great way to guard your food is to keep it sealed tightly inside plastic containers and then placed inside a bag and put in the water out of sight and out of smell. This also keeps your food chilled if the water is cold.

Many animals such as racoons, squirrels and possums can smell the food even when it's inside plastic containers. Whether you leave these food containers inside a cooler and then leave the cooler on the picnic table or even inside the tent, they can smell it and will tear away at whatever is in their way of them getting to the food.

Another great way to guard your food is to put it inside the cooler and then hang the cooler from a high tree branch. If you leave several feet between the food containers and the tree branch, most animals will not be able to figure out how to get it down.

If you have a vehicle on the campsite and you're leaving your food while you backpack on hikes during the day, you could leave your food cooler locked inside the trunk of your car. Just remember to keep the windows closed so the animals don't get inside and tear away at the seats trying to get to the trunk.

When you are finished with your campfire, you need to cover it well with sand so that all traces of food are totally covered. This isn't that simple, though, since it's not going to be easy disguising every single crumb or drip from dinner, but it does cover up the biggest invitation of food scent.

And remove all food garbage as far from your campsite as possible. If that is not possible, then wrap it and hide it as you would the food to prevent an invitation to the animals.

Like birds, animals have the same reaction to unexpected noises, so put a noise distraction around the food. This could be several aluminium pie plates tied together that clang when they are moved, or it could be technical motion censors that make a loud noise and scare the animals off before they get to the food.

Of course, one of the best motion detectors is your dog. Since they will bark at the first sign of animal intrusion, the invaders will never make it to the food, but hopefully will flee for their own safety.

And don't forget to burn insect resistant candles when you're preparing and eating the food so you can keep the little bugs away. And since they are attracted to sweet scents such as shampoo, perfumes and hairspray, you might want to avoid using them until you return home.

Learn more about this author, Ronnie Dauber.
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