Ah, the great outdoors...
 
We make a annual sojourn to the deserts of the southwest and have taken
(oddly enough) a 3 year old male with us.
 
Heat is always the main issue and we found one of those "swamp coolers"
that are so prevalent in the southwest in a very small (12"X8"X10" or so)
package.  And it works well in low humidity situations.  Functions on
evaporative cooling.  It runs on 110v but a small inverter will run it all
day on a regular car battery without running the battery down (it has a 20W
fan...that's it!).  You can also use ice in a towel over the cage so that
the cold air sinks as it cools...but we have only had to resort to that
once or twice.  Try not to let the temp go over high 70's/low 80's for the
critters environment...oh we let him out in sand dunes to poke around and
burrow like a sand worm, but only if the sand and surrounding temps are low
(morning or overcast).The key is to keep the furt cool while letting it
have a great time exploring.
 
Other things to consider are spread of heartworm via mosquito, ticks,
fleas etc and attendant diseases spread by same.  And also the very real
possibility of escape...a death warrant to be sure.  Even under strict
supervision, they can get into trouble...ours went down a convienient
burrow that was hidden in a bush and didn't come back out for long enough
that I was going to start excavating the hole to find him...but he
eventually reappeared...the burrow probably didn't have other runs or
entrances (Whew!).
 
And, while I don't want to to make camping with your buddy sound like a
truly risky deal...I do know of someone who had their snoozel out in a
yard and a raptor swooped down and made off with the poor little guy...BUT
odds are odds and the odds are with you if you take care to scope out the
surrounding environment where you set up camp.  Common sense stuff
mostly...Big fish, little fish and the like.
 
We truly enjoyed taking ours camping, but remember...it's like taking a 2
year old...and a smart one at that!
 
putorius and the 11 conniving carnivores.
[Posted in FML issue 3379]