View Full Version : This is gona be a dumb question but...
BumpJumper
09-22-2007, 18:50
Has anyone EVER had a critter bother them while HH from the trees? I have only HH once so far and I did wonder what Rickie Racoon was doing under me.
If this is a problem, are there any solutions to it?:confused:
Not a dumb question at all. I hammock a lot and have yet to have any critters bother me. I've heard them around the campsite but not close to me.
I had a black bear sniff at me. I woke up hearing the sniffing and snorting as he/she was pushing into my shoulder. It ran away when I yelled some expletives.
Russb, is the "b" for Bear Burrito? :)
I had a black bear sniff at me. I woke up hearing the sniffing and snorting as he/she was pushing into my shoulder. It ran away when I yelled some expletives.
I woke up one morning around 2 and heard someone walking around my hammock. I figured it was a hiking buddy taking a late night nature call. Woke up in the morning and saw bear prints under and all around my hammock. The prints under my hammock must have been when he got under my tarp and stuck his head into my hammock. Thankfully I didn't wake up then. Him making noise walking away woke me up.
Ive had some sort of small critters roaming around underneath me. My disclaimer is that I was on my farm, its not woods, but its pretty rural. Just last month I installed one of those digital cameras that is set off by motion sensors. I had thrown out some corn-gone-bad into one of the fields just in front of the camera.
Boy was I ever surprised when I removed the first card from that camera!!!
Rabbits (lots). Raccoons, the whole family. Skunks (this could be bad!) Deer (a good sign as fall is approaching!). Crows came in the daytime. A small pack of dogs (1 wearing a collar). 3, yes Three coyotes at the same time!! and the a$$ end of a bobcat was seen leaving the area!
All this really makes me wonder was was really creeping around me at night!!
bigcranky
09-22-2007, 22:31
I had a black bear sniff at me. I woke up hearing the sniffing and snorting as he/she was pushing into my shoulder. It ran away when I yelled some expletives.
This happened to us, too, with three hammocks hanging in a grove of trees. Also, Dragonfly had a flying squirrel land on her hammock while she was in it. A quick backhand slap and he went flying again.
I do admit on occasion to feeling like a piñata hanging there.
A quick backhand slap and he went flying again.
Now that was good for an out-loud laugh!!
BumpJumper
09-23-2007, 01:23
I see my question wasnt so dumb afterall.
I wonder if you can put out moth balls to keep the critters from going under your hammock. It works for snakes.
I dont really worry about it. Well, the skunk does give me some concern, but thats about it... And before I put my shoes on, I do a quick ckeck inside to see whats nestled in for the time... I think the bugs bother me more than the critters!
I don't worry about it either. I put my boots into my pack cover I rig up as a gear hammock, so they too are off the ground and under the tarp.
Question:
If you've woken up to a bear sniffing around your hammock, how the heck do you get back to sleep???
I'd have to pack the sucker up and head out for some night hiking.
I've had WAY fewer animal interruptions in a hammock - not that it couldn't happen, but I used to spend a lot of time in the tent wondering "what's that noise?" and don't do that at all in the hammock.
But now that I've read these posts...
I was in my hammock and my daughter was sleeping in a tent nearby. I had heard an owl and coyotes early in the night. It was around 4:00 am that I was awakened to a stick snapping and I heard the sound of peeing. My first thought was the coyotes, so I let out a growl. My growl frightened my 9 yo daughter who made a bee line back to the tent business unfinished. It was just a sleepy blur.
Egads
saimyoji
09-23-2007, 15:55
My first thought was the coyotes, so I let out a growl. My growl frightened my 9 yo daughter who made a bee line back to the tent business unfinished. It was just a sleepy blur.
Egads
HA. :D How did you explain it in the morning?
toddhiker
09-23-2007, 19:22
You all couldn't wait 'til I get back from a thru of the FHT, could ya?:eek:
I've had deer and armadillos up close, and other undetermined noisemakers around the hammock, that's it.
boarstone
09-23-2007, 19:33
Has anyone EVER had a critter bother them while HH from the trees? I have only HH once so far and I did wonder what Rickie Racoon was doing under me.
If this is a problem, are there any solutions to it?:confused:
You don't DEAL with it, just lay quiet, they will go away...I've had skunks visit me in my hammock in the mid-day...in my back yard...just lay quiet...and I've had skunks/raccoons draw their tails against the bottom of me on their way thru...while in my hammock on trail. Now if it was to be a moose, there might be another approach to this issue...as far as the BOTHER...no..let'em alone and they will let you alone...
Not a dumb question. Until you learn what goes 'snap' in the night, you don't know, right? So ask away.
I've heard deer and boars walking around me at night while hanging, and something makes a lot of noise in one place i camp frequently (probably an armadillo. whatever it is, it stays just out of light range.) But I've never been bothered physically by animals. I worry a lot more about people (which is why i stealth camp most times.)
BumpJumper
09-24-2007, 21:55
I dont know...the unknown would really creep me out. And to have something rub its TAIL against my TAIL would cause severe dehydration on MY part....
dixicritter
09-24-2007, 22:03
My oldest son said he had some squirels playing around on his tarp at the last Hammock Campout in Hot Springs during the night. Didn't seem to bother him too badly.
I am not sure it matters whether you are tenting or hammocking - a large animal outside your shelter can be a little unnerving. Then I remind myself: they say animals are more afraid of us then we are of them - that's what they say. Of course there is nothing more frightening then being awakened by the sound of ATVs at 1:00 am followed by gunfire.
I agree with you Tin Man.
I Packed up one night after hearing gunfire near my campsite. It was not hunting season. I was about a mile from a road. Too close to the drunk redneck crossing.
Egads
Wise Old Owl
09-26-2007, 00:41
I made the mistake of dumping grease off too close to the tent one night in Maine and discovered Skunks love the smell! Although it was 8 feet away, they were investigating everything. There were more than 5 adults all night long...Two of them were the size of small dogs or larger than the average cat. The flyscreen was all I needed to observe them and the snoring didn't bother them. They are unflappable. Enjoy the night and they won't bother you. This was not my worst experience.
Mark
Cannibal
09-26-2007, 08:59
I have 4 insane squirrels at my house. They have no problem with the Warbonnet hammock, the ENO hammock, or any of my homemade hammocks. But, the SECOND I put up the Hennessy they feel inclined to do sprints across the ridgeline. Weird as heck!
crinklroot
09-28-2007, 22:37
Years ago a friend of mine was sleeping on the ground and what we believed were three shrews went in the mummy bag with him to keep warm (it was a pretty cool nite). After watching them exit around the hood opening when he was startled awake, I always sleep feeling gratitude that I'm up in the air in my hammock. I may hear nocturnal visitors; but, critters have never tried getting in the hammock with me - that I know of.
good luck.
Socrates
09-28-2007, 23:56
I heard a few noises outside my tent, but I just locked up with silence and listened carefully... My rule of thumb was to wait for the walls of my tent to move, which means an "escalated" feeling... If that happened, I had a lil sumthin to take it to the next level, human or animal... But I won't say what my lil sumthin was due to uh, legalities. ;)
Wise Old Owl
09-29-2007, 01:07
I have tried the Bivy’s, I have tried the Tarps, and I have slept on the ground with just a bag. I will never, never, never, get used to all the f-ing bugs & spiders crawling all over my face at night. I put on a Mosquito Head Net (Near useless) and woke up one night to a katydid perched on the “49 Right” runway of my large nose! I understand they are attracted to the exhaled carbon dioxide, but how do people get used to it? Even if you “lather up in Repel or the near stupid “Avon skin so soft” they still come to dinner in the dark. I will never forget a great episode of Ren & Stimpy waking up after sleeping outside and Stimpy is a Chi wa wa pin cushion of bleeding mosquito bites! Last week I was collapsing my tent and clearing it after a good rain storm and as I pulled the top Rain fly, out leaped several large Brown Recluse Spiders. Now, I am not afraid of spiders, but have you folks Google images of Recluse Spider bites? I can put up with just about anything; I just don’t understand how the ultra light folks do it with comfort! If we are going to talk about critters, a Skunk, Porcupine, Possum, and Coon they just doesn’t measure up. And speaking of Coon in all the years of hiking, two weeks ago I ran into a clearly rabid baby Racoon on the trail and I gave it wide berth, but could you imagine that getting to you in your ultra light tarp and bag? Has anyone thought about this? I’m not whining here, but I do have priorities, and don’t mention Deet after this post. And yes, I posted this to be funny and thought provoking so please do not take this post to be too seriously.:eek:
Ramble~On
09-29-2007, 04:47
A bear bit a guy in the leg while he slept in his hammock. I'm not positive but I think it happened the same year the woman was killed by a bear in GSMNP. The guy claimed to be an avid outdoorsman and he claimed fault and asked that no harm come to the bear. He had cooked two near his campsite and he said he had wiped grease on his pants several times.
He was wearing the pants when the bear bit him.
I know I have spent many nights in campsites/shelters that were ripe for animal encounters...foodbag not hung, trash nearby, food odor all over the place, food scent all over me and my clothes....I wonder why there haven't been more things going bump in the night around me...and then I realize that I have two stinking feet, socks and boots near me which is drowning out all other smells, causing leaves and other vegetation to wilt, moths to die in mid flight, Whip-or-wills to become silent....and that isn't to mention my stinking clothes or the rest of my nasty, stinking self.
:D Then of course is the trumpet.........and if I've been chowing down on my normal backcountry fare.....:eek: Wow! I feel sorry for the poor little wood critters around me...and err...ummm...I sleep pretty good in the woods.
dessertrat
09-29-2007, 16:44
A bear bit a guy in the leg while he slept in his hammock. I'm not positive but I think it happened the same year the woman was killed by a bear in GSMNP. The guy claimed to be an avid outdoorsman and he claimed fault and asked that no harm come to the bear. He had cooked two near his campsite and he said he had wiped grease on his pants several times.
He was wearing the pants when the bear bit him.
I know I have spent many nights in campsites/shelters that were ripe for animal encounters...foodbag not hung, trash nearby, food odor all over the place, food scent all over me and my clothes....I wonder why there haven't been more things going bump in the night around me...and then I realize that I have two stinking feet, socks and boots near me which is drowning out all other smells, causing leaves and other vegetation to wilt, moths to die in mid flight, Whip-or-wills to become silent....and that isn't to mention my stinking clothes or the rest of my nasty, stinking self.
:D Then of course is the trumpet.........and if I've been chowing down on my normal backcountry fare.....:eek: Wow! I feel sorry for the poor little wood critters around me...and err...ummm...I sleep pretty good in the woods.
The black bear just did a test bite, I guess. The thing that would worry me about sleeping in a hammock is its resemblance to bear-bagged food, at least in the eyes of a bear, perhaps, who is used to finding the food hanging from a rope.
Isn't there some way to hoist yourself way up high in the tree once you're in the hammock? A set of pulleys might do it. . .
Shadowmoss
09-29-2007, 19:02
My oldest son said he had some squirels playing around on his tarp at the last Hammock Campout in Hot Springs during the night. Didn't seem to bother him too badly.
Wait... What?!? I was hanging right next to him! Ok, I'm going to make a bug net for the Treklight double for sure now. I don't need critters crawling into the hammock with me.
dixicritter
09-29-2007, 19:55
Wait... What?!? I was hanging right next to him! Ok, I'm going to make a bug net for the Treklight double for sure now. I don't need critters crawling into the hammock with me.
Actually you were by the youngest boy Shadowmoss, have no fear. ;) My older boy was over near the father and son that were hanging side by side.
Shadowmoss
09-30-2007, 20:03
Uhhh, and by critters, I meant no disrespect to the dixi-type critters. Just caught that on re-reading.
Actually, this entire thread has convinced me that I really do want some kind of netting on my hammock at all times. It's not just the bugs that might wander in, but various other creepy crawleys.
dixicritter
10-02-2007, 09:30
Uhhh, and by critters, I meant no disrespect to the dixi-type critters. Just caught that on re-reading.
Actually, this entire thread has convinced me that I really do want some kind of netting on my hammock at all times. It's not just the bugs that might wander in, but various other creepy crawleys.
No offense taken. :sun
Gray Blazer
10-02-2007, 12:38
I've had a bear (the campsite variety if you know what I mean) invite himself into my tent while my ex-wife and I were sleeping in it. It's not an exclusive hanging thing, although, I do not like the picture in my mind of me being a swinging bear pinata.
Depends on what you mean by "Bothered".
I have had:
A squirrel walk my ridgelne.
A small bird checking out my hammock sock.
Possums having sex about 5 feet from me.
2 male Great Horned Owls having a small argument. The big one on my head tree, the small (looser of the argument) one on the tree at the foot.
I think it was a dog, walked under my hammock near daybreak one night.
All of the above in my middle of the city back yard.
Have I ever been bothered by critters, nope.
Oh yea, Snowflake ("The Flake" or "Flakey") one of my pet rats once came & woke me up while on her daily walk outside with my oldest son, but that was a treat not a bother! (My leg hanging outside, she climbed it, sat on my chest till I woke up, then she went exploring again. Yes, she explores by herself, with one of the cats usually watching over her.)
Doctari.
BumpJumper
10-06-2007, 18:17
ex-wife
Hummmm, ex?
surefoot
10-07-2007, 20:52
I had a black bear sniff at me. I woke up hearing the sniffing and snorting as he/she was pushing into my shoulder. It ran away when I yelled some expletives.
If that were me it would have run away when it stuck its head in and smelled the poo!!!:eek:
Javasanctum
10-31-2007, 20:22
EAR PLUGS... What you don't know won't hurt you.
take-a-knee
10-31-2007, 22:43
While sleeping on a GI cot (in Haiti) with a mosquito net draped over it I had a wolf spider (about the size of your palm) crawl across my face.
This is one of the many reasons that I KNEW a Hennessy Hammock was a good thing when I saw it for the first time.