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Dreaming about putting a root cellar on the ranch. There is fancy, modern outside design, https://www.foodandwine.com/news/gro...ab-root-cellar , old style do it yourself with bricks, and maybe a room in the house.
The questions here are what might one have in a root cellar which isn't so great to have around pets. What might one want in the root cellar is they have to get into making their own food for their pets.
When there are wild animals outside, from feral cats and dogs to other "natural occurring", are there elements that one might normally have in the root cellar that would be attracting them, perhaps overwhelmingly? That might be poisonous for them?
The big questions of a root cellar will naturally go into the rural forum but for now, addressing questions from the pets and animals standpoint.
Dreaming about putting a root cellar on the ranch. There is fancy, modern outside design, https://www.foodandwine.com/news/gro...ab-root-cellar , old style do it yourself with bricks, and maybe a room in the house.
The questions here are what might one have in a root cellar which isn't so great to have around pets. What might one want in the root cellar is they have to get into making their own food for their pets.
When there are wild animals outside, from feral cats and dogs to other "natural occurring", are there elements that one might normally have in the root cellar that would be attracting them, perhaps overwhelmingly? That might be poisonous for them?
The big questions of a root cellar will naturally go into the rural forum but for now, addressing questions from the pets and animals standpoint.
A basic question is, are you planning on storing foods for your consumption, or are you planning on storing food substances for your pets' consumption. Since the cats are obligate carnivores, storing food ingredients for them in a root cellar will be more difficult if you're planning on making their meals. For myself, I store flats of canned food in the basement on shelving so that I never run out, and bags of dry kibble as well. I don't have a rodent problem, but if I did I would switch to a large plastic canister system such as I use in the kitchen. (Amazon source). No bugs, no mice.
Dreaming about putting a root cellar on the ranch. There is fancy, modern outside design, https://www.foodandwine.com/news/gro...ab-root-cellar , old style do it yourself with bricks, and maybe a room in the house.
The questions here are what might one have in a root cellar which isn't so great to have around pets. What might one want in the root cellar is they have to get into making their own food for their pets.
When there are wild animals outside, from feral cats and dogs to other "natural occurring", are there elements that one might normally have in the root cellar that would be attracting them, perhaps overwhelmingly? That might be poisonous for them?
The big questions of a root cellar will naturally go into the rural forum but for now, addressing questions from the pets and animals standpoint.
I'm sorry, what an odd question! I mean, what would go in a root cellar other than what YOU put there? A root cellar, AFAIK, was just a cool spot that maintained coolness due to the geothermal qualities of being below grade.
Root vegetables can go bad in storage, but they certainly wouldn't attract any critters in that condition! Canned goods, home-canned or commercial, shouldn't be an attraction to ANYthing without being opened. Not that many fruits you'd try to store that way these days. A hundred or more years ago, you might find apples being stored that way, but I can't think of anything else. Peaches, pears - don't keep well for long. Oranges do, for a while, but they wouldn't have been a local fruit where you'd find a root cellar. Nut fruits could be kept that way, but they don't need a root cellar, they need airtight containers. And nuts would certainly attract all kinds of pests: insects or critters.
So what do we have that might be harmful to pets? Onions, garlic, grapes (as raisins) - they might all be found in storage, but when storing those, DRY conditions are more important than cool.
Was one of your obliquely worded questions about what substances you might keep in a root cellar that would pose hazards for pets? If so, the things that come to mind first include traps, pesticides, anti-fungals, or rodent baits. If your root cellar or the food storage you use inside it is so poorly designed you lose food to pests, not much point in having it. Of course, food products that might not be great for a pet to ingest (like the nuts or raisins already mentioned) would be in containers and you can select containers that keep pests and pets out.
Last edited by Parnassia; 02-01-2022 at 03:08 PM..
BTW, went to the linked site. I rather think you could do better DIY, except for the watertight properties. However, it does strike me that this sort of below-grade storage is absolutely PERFECT for one thing: homebrew! Make your own beer by the keg! LOL! Of course, you WON'T let the dogs, or cats, have any!
I'm not sure you are wording the question to find out what it is that you really want to know.
Generalization, root cellars are used for storing food, and whatever is in there is what you put in there so, don't put anything in there that is poisonous to your dogs and cats if you don't want poisonous things in there.
There will be food in there so it is possible it will attract wildlife.
I don't have a root cellar but I have a pantry and my pets are not allowed inside. The door is kept closed to keep them out.
If you have a root cellar it should have a door that keeps animals out.
As for food, not too much is bad for your pets. Raw onions, chocolate, raisins, raw garlic. Very few animals will eat raw onions or garlic, so that probably is not dangerous. Dogs will eat chocolate and raisins,so if you store those use a container with a hard to remove lid.
I have mouse poison in my pantry because the food attracts mice. The poison is in special containers that mice can enter but dogs and cats can not open. Just in case my dogs who are not allowed into the pantry get inside there somehow.
Last edited by oregonwoodsmoke; 02-02-2022 at 12:27 PM..
....... What might one want in the root cellar is they have to get into making their own food for their pets. .........
I home cook for my dogs and I buy brown rice, oatmeal, pearl barley, and noodles in 25 pound bags. Those are stored in metal trash cans with tight fitting lids to keep the mice out. They will store for a decent amount of time if they are keep cool and dry.
The brown rice and the oatmeal will get stale and go off after awhile, but I have no problem using up a 25 pound bag before it goes off flavored.
At Thanksgiving, I buy 160 pounds of yams and cook and freeze them. If you have a root cellar, they would probably store fresh for 2-3 months. The rest could be canned or frozen.
There is no easy way to store meat for pets besides freezing, but you could do a lot of extra work and can it or dehydrate it. Canned meat could store in the root cellar but dried meat probably not. I actually store my dried meat in the freezer. Dried meat is usually preserved with salt and you don't want to give a lot of salt to your pets, thus, I dry it without salt and freeze it so it doesn't spoil.
White rice keeps for a long time and it provides calories for pets but other than that it isn't full of nutrition. But it can be stored for a long time and dogs will eagerly eat it.
If you are feeding cats, they basically need meat and you can't store that in a root cellar unless you can it first. But hey, get a deer and can all the venison and after that it can be stored in the root cellar for the cat.
Unless it is a house-only cat, it will catch a lot of its own food.
Last edited by oregonwoodsmoke; 02-02-2022 at 12:26 PM..
I have mouse poison in my pantry because the food attracts mice. The poison is in special containers that mice can enter but dogs and cats can not open. Just in case my dogs who are not allowed into the pantry get inside there somehow.
Might want to re-think the poison. If a mouse finds the poison, then consumes it, it'll die. If one of your animals finds that stinking carcass before you do, they may consume the poisoned mouse. Then the poison may be in your animals. Depending upon the dose, this could cause a real problem for your pet. Don't want to see anyone's pets poisoned.
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Was one of your obliquely worded questions about what substances you might keep in a root cellar that would pose hazards for pets? If so, the things that come to mind first include traps, pesticides, anti-fungals, or rodent baits. If your root cellar or the food storage you use inside it is so poorly designed you lose food to pests, not much point in having it. Of course, food products that might not be great for a pet to ingest (like the nuts or raisins already mentioned) would be in containers and you can select containers that keep pests and pets out.
