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Ricky&Jack
05-09-2014, 23:21
Has anyone been kicked by a deer?
has anyone gotten lyme disease from a tick?
Has anyone ever been bit by a snake or spider?
Chased by a bear?

Im just curious what all bad encounters with wildlife have happened to AT hikers (section or thru).

ChinMusic
05-09-2014, 23:28
A whippoorwill kept me awake.

Ricky&Jack
05-09-2014, 23:33
just like a damn woody wood pecker

canoe
05-09-2014, 23:36
A whippoorwill kept me awake. That was nt in the SNP was it?

ChinMusic
05-09-2014, 23:39
That was nt in the SNP was it?
Yessir .....

I wished I had had a shotgun.

rafe
05-09-2014, 23:45
A wild turkey in southern Virginia -- burst out of the bushes about ten feet in front of me with a roar of fluttering wings and totally broke my reverie, scared the %^@#$ out of me before I realized what it was.

rafe
05-09-2014, 23:48
Cattle in the meadow north of Elk Park (19E). I'm a city boy, I had no idea how to shoo cattle away from the trail. I was kinda stuck until another hiker came by and did the deed.

canoe
05-10-2014, 00:06
Yessir .....

I wished I had had a shotgun. I remember one in the SNP kept me awake all night. We were at Blackrock shelter. That bird waited til we were almost asleep and then started sounding. Seemed like all night

canoe
05-10-2014, 00:09
A wild turkey in southern Virginia -- burst out of the bushes about ten feet in front of me with a roar of fluttering wings and totally broke my reverie, scared the %^@#$ out of me before I realized what it was. THose grouse will do the same thing.

rafe
05-10-2014, 00:24
THose grouse will do the same thing.

Close, but not as loud as that turkey. Plus, to be honest, until that moment I'd never seen a turkey fly, let alone take flight ten feet in front of me. We have wild turkeys in our back yard here in the Boston burbs. Big, ugly birds. They eat tics (so I'm told) so I'm happy to let them graze.

Sarcasm the elf
05-10-2014, 00:25
The bears seem to always run away as soon as they see my camera, it's very rude of them.

English Stu
05-10-2014, 05:09
A UK experience with a cow, which unbeknown to our group and me at the rear had a calf nearby. The cow rushed passed the group and at me. I must have dug deep in my brain and remembered if you can turn a cows head its ass will follow, with both hands I shoved my stick vertically against is neck and it passed me by at speed. Only try this in dire emergency it might not work.

Over the years as well as the great views of wildlife I have had problems with Marmot,chipmunks, bears,dogs foxes and birds that keep you awake; including a Peacock which I sought out only to find it 50 foot up a tree and out of reach of a stone.

On the AT I had trouble with kitten which wanted to play and jump in and up my Tarp. We even took it about 100yds away to the property and it was back at the Tarp before we were.

gumball
05-10-2014, 06:20
Our friend hiking in front of us kicked up nest of yellow jackets accidentally. I ended up with about four or five stings and at least two more days on the trail for an easy out. At the end of those two days, I had quite a bit of swelling and infection--so much so that on the way to the hospital, my skin was blistering as we drove.

Fun times :)

rhjanes
05-10-2014, 07:51
A wild turkey in southern Virginia -- burst out of the bushes about ten feet in front of me with a roar of fluttering wings and totally broke my reverie, scared the %^@#$ out of me before I realized what it was.

I had the same experience here in Texas. Flew out of rocks I was orienteering near



Sent from my Plactim Clatue communication device

4shot
05-10-2014, 08:03
a tick bite (which lead to Lyme's for me).

In Pa., got uncomfortably close to 2 HUGE rattlesnakes on the trail. They failed to give me an obligatory warning rattle before I saw them. In my effort to create space between myself and the first one, I backed up rapidly only to trip over a rock and land flat on my back(pack). I felt like a turtle trying to get up. Who knew there were rocks on the trail in Pa.?

At a Ga. campsite, we had three owls that kept up quite a racket through most of the night. When we got up the next morning two young "city boys" (from Philly iirc) asked if we had heard the "monkeys" howling all night long. we all cracked up. They honestly did not know what the sound was and had never heard owls before.

Damn Yankee
05-10-2014, 08:10
A whippoorwill kept me awake.

I remembered as a kid loving the sound of these but, last year I had one keep me up with his insistent whip-por-willing. Not as I remembered but it was a nostalgic time for me any how.

Patrickjd9
05-10-2014, 08:12
Mouse ran across me when I was sleeping in Tray Mountain Shelter in Georgia last week. Took a couple of whacks at it and found a dead mouse next to me in the morning.

Marta
05-10-2014, 09:17
Mobbed by yellow jackets. Got about 35 stings. I felt pretty bad for several days.

Tuckahoe
05-10-2014, 09:23
It's been many years, but back in my much younger days, oh about 1976 or so I was a we lil park ranger working at a national park out in the west somewhere. The chief park ranger was a guy named Michael Kelly.

Anyway there was a killer grizzly that summer and it killed two ladies that were camping out in the backcountry. We wanted to close the park but the superintendent wouldn't hear of it until a couple more folks were killed.

A hell pilot Don Stober, Kelly and I started hunting the bear from the air finally cornering it. The bear got Stober, but I was able to pull the bazooka from the helo's arms locker and throw it to Kelly using it to kill he grizzly as it charged us.

I haven't been back west since that time. After the incident I left the park service and be some a tier 1 spae shuttle door gunner for NASA

Starchild
05-10-2014, 09:25
Not chased by a bear but does being chased by a leech count?

A leach got me out of the water very quickly and prevented my swim once I saw him/her approaching my foot.

But really the worst were the skeeters in CT, they had all of us run through that state to prevent them from landing on us.

Slo-go'en
05-10-2014, 11:11
Yep, a nearby whippoorwill can be really annoying. Had a woodpecker wake us up at dawn in a shelter in Maine - he was pounding on the side of the shelter! A Spruce or ruffled Grouse can give you a heart attack if one flies out of the brush and into your face as your just walking along.

I made the mistake of using a game path as a place to camp in a bivy sack in Maine. Almost had a moose walk right over me.
Woke up one morning in Vermont with a Porcupine about to lick the salt off my nose.

Had a pack of domestic dogs try to keep me from leaving the RPH shelter in NY. That was probably the scariest. Having 4 big dogs block the trail, teeth bared and growling is not a good way to start the day.

I just walk over Rattle snakes laying in the trail without breaking stride. Sometimes they make a half hearted rattle as I go by. So far haven't had a Lyme tick bite me, nor have been chased by a bear (but I've seen a few run off from me). I might have been bit by a spider a few times.

Kerosene
05-10-2014, 11:16
October 2012: A junior bear followed me up from the spring at Double Springs Shelter (GSMNP) as I was about to leave from a lunch stop. We had a stand-off from 10 yards away, where he(?) clearly wanted to check out the shelter while I wanted to continue south. After 90 seconds of staring at each other (me scared *****less and him wondering why the heck I'm barking like a dog), I just grabbed the top of my open pack and angled up the trail as he just looked at me. Fastest mile of my life.

May 2007: Whippoorwill starting at 5 am outside Sarver Hollow Shelter. By the time it stopped the rain started, so I didn't even get the benefit of an early start my second day out.

April 1973: Last night of my first section hike, cowboy camping just north of High Point, we heard a lot of very weird sounds in the early morning hours. The next morning we saw evidence of deer who had sacked out just down the trail from us. It's amazing the variety of sounds that deer make.

October 2001: A big-ass huge wood rat lived in the rafters of Manassas Gap Shelter; the first night of my section from Front Royal to Harpers Ferry. Now, I can take mice running over my sleeping bag, or even run over my face, but the thought of a rat licking the salt from my hair while I'm sleeping (per the shelter journal) gave me the creeps. Fortunately, a weekender had a mini-lantern that he hung, keeping the rat to the rafters. Even so, I don't think I slept that night.

October 2001: On the last day of that section, I encountered a mountain lion about 5 miles north of Harpers Ferry. It was a breezy, blue sky day as I rounded a corner and came up over a little knoll to see the animal about 40 yards in front of me right in the middle of the trail. For some reason I clapped my hands, causing the animal to glance my way and then lope (clearly feline with a long tail and correct coloring for a puma) off into the adjacent woods line. Once I convinced myself that that had to be a catamount (I'm from Vermont!) I kept my eyes peeled for the next hour to make sure the thing wasn't tracking me. By far my most unusual animal experience from my decades of section hiking.

Abner
05-10-2014, 11:28
Personally, no bad experiences with wildlife. On the AT---never. Those in my party---a dog was sprayed by a skunk, which was in close proximity to me, and made me gag! My daughter was bitten by a lyme disease carrying tick in the Adirondacks. Thankfully the signs were obvious and we bailed out of our four day trip, came back home, and took a decisive course of antibiotics for a month and she never had any issues with the disease.

All this being said, I have steered clear of angry snakes---copperheads on maybe a dozen occasions, rattlesnakes several times, and avoided maybe a hundred water moccasins over the course of my substantial time in the woods. There was a period of several years when I worked as a timber cruiser in South Alabama.
I had one bear "incident" at a tent camping ground in Canada. One of us had tossed an avocado seed into the bushes near our campsite. A bear came through and grunted and looking for more vittles in the middle of the night scaring us considerably. But the bear was not interested in us or our tents which we kept scrupulously clean of any food or snacks.

Solitude501
05-10-2014, 11:28
Spider Bite on the back of calf. A round 1/2" circle of decaying flesh developed, swelled up and I had to limp the rest of the way. Thank goodness for trekking poles.

rafe
05-10-2014, 11:34
Had a pack of domestic dogs try to keep me from leaving the RPH shelter in NY. That was probably the scariest. Having 4 big dogs block the trail, teeth bared and growling is not a good way to start the day.

Absolutely... packs or feral or semi-feral dogs gathered at trailheads, particularly down south. Happened at Devils Fork Gap and again arriving at Pearisburg from Woods Hole. They definitely wanted a piece of my hide.

Oh and ground bees... in Vermont, MA, and in SNP. Always carry Benadryl for stuff like that.

Moose, bear, rattlers never bothered me.

Coffee
05-10-2014, 11:41
On the AT, my most annoying "wildlife" issues have been related to insects. The eye gnats were particularly irritating last year. That was one reason for the timing of my recent hike in mid-late April, intended to take place before insects became a real problem.

On the John Muir Trail last year, I set up my shelter at Virginia Lake in late afternoon under a small grouping of trees with a view of the lake. while preparing dinner, a resident bird (not sure what type) returned to its nest which was in a branch maybe 7 or 8 feet above the top of my shelter (and I hadn't seen while setting up). I've never seen a more pissed off bird in my life. It was just "screaming" at me for maybe a couple of hours, jumping from branch to branch, then flying around the area, before it calmed down. It was more amusing than annoying since it stopped before I wanted to go to sleep.

stillatit
05-10-2014, 16:35
I may have related this before on a thread here. The old Rausch Gap Shelter in PA had the worst infestation of mice you can imagine (it's since been leveled and rebuilt). I arrived there for the last night of a section hike, glad to get out of the pouring rain. I noticed the only other hiker had set up a tent way off, and missing his reason for it, felt sorry for him since the rain was so severe–––he had to be soaked. Mice were popping up everywhere in the shelter all night long. In the morning the weather cleared and I headed off on the day-long hike to my truck. Being my last day on the trail, I celebrated by hitting a local motel for a room, shower, meal, and bed. I got all my gear out of the truck and put it in the room. When I stripped to shower, I was aghast at the dozens of not-so-little insect bites all over my chest and back, all fiery red. They looked different from chigger bites. I couldn't figure out what it was, but it wasn't comfortable. Next day I loaded everything back into my truck and headed home, a 10-hour drive to Cincinnati. I unloaded all my gear into my living room and sat down to drink some beer and watch the tube. After 2 beers I noticed something much bigger than a large insect crawling along the corner floor. From across the room it looked a little like a miniature hammerhead shark. I got up to find a mommy mouse with baby mouse in her mouth moving along the floor. Then it hit me: those insect bites were from fleas on the mice. Those critters had gotten into my pack and hitched a ride back to Ohio. They'd stayed in my pack all night long at the PA motel. With considerable satisfaction I killed them all, mommy and babies. Then I disinfected my body. I also realized the guy in the tent would rather have gotten wet than deal with those filthy mice @ old Rausch Gap Shelter.


I've had more serious experiences out west, even some survival ones, like surviving a severe overnight snowstorm @ 12,000 feet without my gear while soloing on a day hike in the High Unitas Wilderness of NE Utah. Like gum ball's friend and Marta, I was attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets on the PCT in Oregon––very painful. Once a buddy and I had our packs attacked by a pack of wild dogs when we left them against a building on an Indian reservation while hiking the highest mountain in San Diego county. I still have a Tupperware container with the dog bite teeth marks on it. Took a bad fall on black ice while soloing in Dec. in the Grand Canyon and hurt my leg. It took days to get out and get to a hospital. Out west the list could go on and on. One of the nice things about the AT is that you're never really very far from civilization, so it's just not as wild and dangerous.

canoe
05-10-2014, 17:54
It's been many years, but back in my much younger days, oh about 1976 or so I was a we lil park ranger working at a national park out in the west somewhere. The chief park ranger was a guy named Michael Kelly.

Anyway there was a killer grizzly that summer and it killed two ladies that were camping out in the backcountry. We wanted to close the park but the superintendent wouldn't hear of it until a couple more folks were killed.

A hell pilot Don Stober, Kelly and I started hunting the bear from the air finally cornering it. The bear got Stober, but I was able to pull the bazooka from the helo's arms locker and throw it to Kelly using it to kill he grizzly as it charged us.

I haven't been back west since that time. After the incident I left the park service and be some a tier 1 spae shuttle door gunner for NASA

Are you joking or are you serious. Is nt this incident what they made the movie Grizzly of? You were there? WOW

jdc5294
05-10-2014, 18:34
I was hiking and I heard what sounded like a woman screaming for her life down a blue blaze trail, threw my pack down and started bolting towards the sound. Turned out to be a marmot.

MuddyWaters
05-10-2014, 20:37
Loud owls
Mouse in tent

johnnybgood
05-10-2014, 21:45
I once had a grouchy bear stand up on his back legs and snort at me. Something about me clanging my metal hiking poles ticked him off , I guess.

Nearly got stung when a friend squashed a fallen tree limb onto a hornet's nest. My hiking bud got the worst of it , being stung 4 times. I pulled a calf muscle running back down the trail as fast as could...

jimmyjam
05-10-2014, 22:07
Got between 3 cubs and their mom near blackrock. Almost had brown pants.lol

Sent from my SCH-S720C using Tapatalk 2

BradMT
05-13-2014, 15:17
Charged by a big boar in the GSMNP June 1977...

full conditions
05-13-2014, 15:58
In Maine a moose hurt my feelings. Completely snubbed me. I don't need that.

Sarcasm the elf
05-13-2014, 18:28
It's been many years, but back in my much younger days, oh about 1976 or so I was a we lil park ranger working at a national park out in the west somewhere. The chief park ranger was a guy named Michael Kelly.

Anyway there was a killer grizzly that summer and it killed two ladies that were camping out in the backcountry. We wanted to close the park but the superintendent wouldn't hear of it until a couple more folks were killed.

A hell pilot Don Stober, Kelly and I started hunting the bear from the air finally cornering it. The bear got Stober, but I was able to pull the bazooka from the helo's arms locker and throw it to Kelly using it to kill he grizzly as it charged us.

I haven't been back west since that time. After the incident I left the park service and be some a tier 1 spae shuttle door gunner for NASA


I have to call B.S., NASA stopped using door gunners on the space shuttles back in the late '60's :D

Tuckahoe
05-13-2014, 19:01
I have to call B.S., NASA stopped using door gunners on the space shuttles back in the late '60's :D

:p:D:banana

canoe
05-13-2014, 21:22
I have to call B.S., NASA stopped using door gunners on the space shuttles back in the late '60's :D
Exactly what I thought:rolleyes:

garlic08
05-14-2014, 08:02
I dropped my pack near a Colorado stream to get water. A few minutes later I returned to my pack to find an ermine had chewed through the pack, through some clothing and a pack towel, into the food bag and had started eating my food. The damn thing did over a hundred dollars worth of damage. It didn't eat much and I was able to continue on my hike.

A few seasons earlier I walked a few feet to the beach on Puget Sound, my food within sight on a table at a campsite. A few minutes later I turned around to walk back and a couple of ravens flew off. They'd destroyed most of my food and its packaging in those few minutes, soundlessly.

On my AT hike, I left my food bag on a shelter bench for a couple of minutes while I used the privy. I opened a bag of tortillas and found mice had eaten nice circular holes in a couple of them

These are a few of the reasons I always hang my food when I'm not right next to it. I chuckle when people ask, "But what about bears? What will you do if you see a bear?"

Those damn whippoorwills--can't do a thing about them.

Oh yeah--a porcupine ate my salty socks one night near Lake City, CO. I left them out to air, and had to pack out a ball of yarn.

Marta
05-14-2014, 08:29
Ah, that reminds me...

A snowshoe hare gnawed the grip off my hiking pole as I was sleeping in my Tarptent. June 2008. Elisabeth Lake. I awoke from a dream involving chewing and teeth, opened my eyes, and was staring through the mesh into the eyes of the hare, four or five inches away.

Pedaling Fool
05-14-2014, 08:47
Snowshoe hare...:-? Wonder if that was what chewed thru both my hiking pole strap and shoe laces all in the same night under my tent's rainfly.

Kerosene
05-14-2014, 09:47
Two more:

August 1979: A family of porcupines literally attacking the Kid Gore Shelter in central Vermont. They really wanted to come into the shelter and check out any salt left on the wooden seats by perspiring backpackers. We stayed up half the night successfully fending them off with lights and small rocks from the top bunks.

June 2007: In an attempt to lighten my load, I "hung" a food cache near the Fox Creek road crossing north of Damascus. Apparently I didn't do a very good job, because it wasn't there when I arrived from Atkins a day and a half later. I finally found evidence that something (raccoons?) had grabbed it and dragged it away under a dense thicket of bushes. All that was left was an extra pair of socks, a lollipop, and a gel packet! Fortunately, I was already about a day ahead of schedule and a NOBO thru-hiker donated me a dinner to get me to Damascus without starving.

saltysack
05-14-2014, 14:25
Try Pulling a tick off your sack!!!


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Josh Calhoun
05-14-2014, 15:02
i was chased by a mean ass beaver. i also climbed a tree and petted a porcipine. true story

A.T.Lt
05-14-2014, 15:35
Yessir .....

I wished I had had a shotgun.
That happened to me at the West Mountain shelter in NY...worst night of sleep ever on or off the trail!

canoe
05-14-2014, 16:41
i was chased by a mean ass beaver. i also climbed a tree and petted a porcipine. true story but was she pretty?

turtle fast
05-14-2014, 16:52
On the North Country Trail I as followed by black bears while night hiking. On the AT I has to stop for rattlesnakes and a raccoon I think was rabid. Chased by a skunk in a rainstorm.

Sarcasm the elf
05-14-2014, 19:00
On my last hike I had a spider in my pocket...and it wasn't happy to see me.

leatherwheels
05-14-2014, 19:57
My father and I were hiking near 13 falls in NH several years ago. Something came charging at me through the brush and tall ferns, all I could see was a shot of black fur every couple steps it took. Finally a good size black lab jumped onto the trail in front of me. He was panting with his tail wagging a hundred miles a minute. At that point I proceeded to insert my heart back into my chest. The dog never jumped up on me and the owners turned the corner a few seconds later.

canoe
05-14-2014, 20:37
My father and I were hiking near 13 falls in NH several years ago. Something came charging at me through the brush and tall ferns, all I could see was a shot of black fur every couple steps it took. Finally a good size black lab jumped onto the trail in front of me. He was panting with his tail wagging a hundred miles a minute. At that point I proceeded to insert my heart back into my chest. The dog never jumped up on me and the owners turned the corner a few seconds later. That is funny

leatherwheels
05-14-2014, 21:06
Thanks Canoe. As much as it freaked me out for the short time it was happening, it is a great trail memory

Teacher & Snacktime
05-14-2014, 22:01
Perhaps it's time to break out my "trail attack" photos again!

27038 The troll tree that threatened Snacktime in PA
27039 The shark-fall (not my pic, so not sure where this is)
27040 The mini-jaws that threatened my foot at Harriman Park
27041 The newest threat: the attacking Gator in GSMNP

canoe
05-15-2014, 01:13
great pics. esp the first two.

Odd Man Out
05-15-2014, 09:27
In SNP we were camping somewhere near Old Rag. There was a fire circle where we cooked supper. We tented in a clearing about 40 yards away. After supper, we went back to the tent area to put stuff away. We then went back to the camp fire to enjoy that to find a skunk warming himself by our fire. So we sat on a log, in the cold, in the dark for about 10 minutes watching the skunk enjoy our camp fire. He eventually wandered off and we reclaimed the fire circle. A short while later we heard footsteps in the woods behind us. Then to the left, then to the right. The footsteps sounded quite close, but it had gotten quite dark and the we could not see what was there. My friend gently leaned over to pick up his flashlight. Shining the light we saw that we were completely surrounded by about 8 deer, standing in the cold and dark watching us enjoy our campfire.

Seatbelt
05-15-2014, 10:33
It's been many years, but back in my much younger days, oh about 1976 or so I was a we lil park ranger working at a national park out in the west somewhere. The chief park ranger was a guy named Michael Kelly.

Anyway there was a killer grizzly that summer and it killed two ladies that were camping out in the backcountry. We wanted to close the park but the superintendent wouldn't hear of it until a couple more folks were killed.

A hell pilot Don Stober, Kelly and I started hunting the bear from the air finally cornering it. The bear got Stober, but I was able to pull the bazooka from the helo's arms locker and throw it to Kelly using it to kill he grizzly as it charged us.

I haven't been back west since that time. After the incident I left the park service and be some a tier 1 spae shuttle door gunner for NASA

That's quite a "once-in-a-lifetime" story! Amazing for a 5 year old.........

Drybones
05-15-2014, 12:04
I've never had a bad experience with wildlife, I don't consider a bee sting worth mentioning, the wife was within 6" of putting her foot down on a 4' rattler though, that's why I'm so nice and let her hike in front, also clears out most of the spider webs, just wish she was taller.

Sir-Packs-Alot
05-15-2014, 12:20
Bitten by Rattler in Georgia AT near Cowrock in 1990, Charged by a moose in Glacier National Park in 2004. The worst "attacks" of all ... of course ... have been the sleepless nights with the loud snorers on the AT27043 :)

flemdawg1
05-15-2014, 12:29
Stung by Yellow Jackets at start of trail by tracks north os Duncannon.
Had a raccoon take my pack 100 yards up the trail while spending the night at Iron Mtn Shelter.
Had a mouse/rodent fill up my boots with acorns at Spring Mountain Shelter.
Bluff charged by baby bear cub in SNP. (actually it ran in my direction and jumped in a tree, scared me though)

colorado_rob
05-15-2014, 12:34
My only "bad" experience with wildlife on the AT is seeing ELEVEN bears in three days in Shenandoah NP and not getting one single decent pic! Those puppies move out FAST when you get anywhere near them. I got 3-4 pics showing a small clump of brown fur tearing through the woods away from me. Sigh.

(PS: "eleven" include 5 total sightings, 2 solo bears, 3 times seeing a mother and two cubs).

Drybones
05-15-2014, 15:39
Stung by Yellow Jackets at start of trail by tracks north os Duncannon.
Had a raccoon take my pack 100 yards up the trail while spending the night at Iron Mtn Shelter.
Had a mouse/rodent fill up my boots with acorns at Spring Mountain Shelter.
Bluff charged by baby bear cub in SNP. (actually it ran in my direction and jumped in a tree, scared me though)

Those little bandits do some interesting things, they ate a cigar and candle that I left on a table and chewed my plastic mug up one night on the Pinhoti. I was camping on a large island on Philpot Lake in VA and returned to camp and must have interrupted the little fellow while he was eating my loaf of bread, he tried to carry it with him but left a trail to follow when a slice fell out every 20 or so yards. I followed him until he ran out of bread and I lost the trail.

waasj
05-15-2014, 21:52
Got stung by a yellow jacket 30 feet from the car after completing the Standing Indian loop. Not sure if that counts since I was off the trail, but that's all I got at this point. Shelter mice don't count as wildlife .

waasj
05-15-2014, 21:55
Barred owls are called monkey owls in some areas.

Kookork
05-15-2014, 22:21
While hiking AT a huge grizzly bear suddenly charged at me , so I instinctively ran down the hill scared to death. Then I remember I should not/could not escape from a bear attack by running and better stand my ground but suddenly I realized there is no Grizzly bear on AT so I stopped and told the bear" Hey bear, we don't have Grizzly on AT". The bear stopped , then felt ashamed and turned back and told me:" Sorry, wrong trail".

Wise Old Owl
05-15-2014, 22:49
:p:D:banana


Nah mate they use door gunners when they get towed thru bad neighborhoods.

Wise Old Owl
05-16-2014, 00:09
Barred owls are called monkey owls in some areas.


Yea lets hope that doesn't catch on....

Sue_Bird
05-16-2014, 18:02
AT thru-hikers from 2009 will remember this legendary story:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpxNOmJxQUY


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkBAJDnesiE

As told by Prairie Dog, Angry Beaver, and recorded by Check Six. We actually heard it via word-of-mouth (Shenanigans) a few hundred miles up the trail from these guys....

THE DARKNESS!
AT09
LT11
PCT12
CDT15 hopeful

Another Kevin
05-16-2014, 21:32
One rainy night, I hung my skivvies under my rainfly in hopes that they wouldn't be quite as wet in the morning. A porcupine came in under the fly and made off with them. It drove me off the trail the next day because going commando under wet hiking shorts was getting me horribly chafed on the you-know-what, and there would have been real trouble in a sensitive spot if I didn't get some sort of medication and some wicking material on it.

Journal from that trip (http://dftscript.blogspot.com/2012/07/trip-report-rusk-mountain-2012-07-20.html)

Ricky&Jack
05-21-2014, 15:23
had my first overnite hike with my dog lastnight. We did Amicalola to Black Gap Shelter. 3minutes after we left Black gap this morning, and headed back, we saw our first bear.

Luckily I was able to make a video of it. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1493825104163290&set=vb.100006074443162&type=2&theater

Not bad for our very fist overnite hike together.

icemanat95
05-22-2014, 14:32
Worst experiences:

Snakes: Rattlesnakes along the trail on a cliffside in PA. There were four of them spaced out along a ledge at about shoulder height, basking in the morning sun. When my hiking partner Bloodstone and I walked into the cleared area, they woke up and warned us alarmingly. That was a bowel loosening (though not venting) experience.

Mice: My brand new Montbell Goretex jacket got a hole chewed through the inner mesh pocket to access the trail mix I had stupidly left in the pocket. Shelter mice here.

Mice: Shelter mice kept running across my face and forehead as I was trying to sleep in one shelter. That mouse was caught mid passage, crushed in hand and tossed out of the shelter.

Mice: One shelter was pretty well infested and the mouse dander (I assume) was making it damned near impossible to breathe, so I flipped around head outwards and breathed easily the rest of the night.

Deer Flies: In the NY/CT/MA area the deerflies got so bad that I lost count of how many I was killing on a daily basis. Probably around 100 or more per day.

Aside from the deer flies, nearly all of these are manageable issues brought about by human activity and preventable by modifications of my behaviors, or maintaining higher situational awareness.

For ticks I highly recommend getting Tick repellent clothing, getting your chosen clothing treated with tick repellent treatments, or spraying your clothing (after washing and drying and well before wearing) with a permethrin based tick repellent. This will solve most of your tick problems (though not all). I work in tick infested brush and rarely have to remove ticks from my clothing and haven't had one dug in in years.

Snakes are terrified of humans and we are too big to eat. They rarely strike unless surprised and cornered/threatened. If you can avoid this, you won't have an issue. Study snake behavior and learn about them to learn how to avoid them.

Poison Ivy is the next most common issue. It's not animal wildlife, but it's a more common problem than any animal. I found that hiker dirtiness is pretty good protection, as is heavy sweating. But whenever I really got into it, I washed pretty quickly afterwards using wet-wipes. Seemed to control things pretty well. There is pre-exposure ointment available that works pretty well also.

No Directions
05-22-2014, 18:42
My worst experience was also my best experience. While camping at Mt Rogers during the Perseids Meteor Shower we left the tent door tied back so we could watch the meteor shower while lying in our sleeping bag. A baby pony tried to get in the tent with us. Not once but all night long. Even a baby weighs a couple hundred pounds and I was afraid he would step on us or fall on us. He would stick his head in the door then raise up, almost tearing the top off the tent. This and his running around close to the tent at top speed in pitch black darkness made for a restless night.

Sarcasm the elf
05-22-2014, 23:19
had my first overnite hike with my dog lastnight. We did Amicalola to Black Gap Shelter. 3minutes after we left Black gap this morning, and headed back, we saw our first bear.

Luckily I was able to make a video of it. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1493825104163290&set=vb.100006074443162&type=2&theater

Not bad for our very fist overnite hike together.

You're quite lucky. I have yet to see a bear on the trail while hiking with a dog. Bears are usually terrified of them.

Ricky&Jack
05-22-2014, 23:22
my dog looked at it and i think after a second he forgot he was looking at something..... the bear ran about 20feet away when he saw us. then just looked while i recorded it

i guess it helps that Huskies dont bark.

shakey_snake
05-23-2014, 00:24
My father and I were hiking near 13 falls in NH several years ago. Something came charging at me through the brush and tall ferns, all I could see was a shot of black fur every couple steps it took. Finally a good size black lab jumped onto the trail in front of me. He was panting with his tail wagging a hundred miles a minute. At that point I proceeded to insert my heart back into my chest. The dog never jumped up on me and the owners turned the corner a few seconds later.

Imagine if you were a bit jumpy with some bear spray and when they came around the corner you had to explain to them why you maced their dog. :D lol.

lemon b
05-23-2014, 08:29
Almost the same as Kerosene's 1997 Porcupine attack. Not very far from his adventure, Happened at Wilbur Clearing Shelter. "The attack of the porcupines. Sometimes it seemed like at least a half dozen t a time. Early 80's in the early fall months. gave out a few bloody noses. No on got an sleep. It was like wave after wave. Someone must have split some salt. Our weapon of choice was a shovel. Almost forced me to make a night time retreat viva money brook trail to Hopper, to Sperry Road. My friend Ranger Bob said it happened regular that year and was just mother natures way of keeping the part crew out. Road crossing nearby. Bob and I got real chuckle out of the matter.

saltysack
05-23-2014, 10:25
Just yesterday while hiking down standing indian I slipped in bear sh** & ripped my new trail runners on a rock!! Dam bears dumping on trail .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

canoe
05-23-2014, 11:25
You're quite lucky. I have yet to see a bear on the trail while hiking with a dog. Bears are usually terrified of them.
Really? Our very first long distance hike we saw 8 while hiking with a dog. What kind of dog do you have? A bear hound? Now of course we were hiking SNP

canoe
05-23-2014, 11:28
Almost the same as Kerosene's 1997 Porcupine attack. Not very far from his adventure, Happened at Wilbur Clearing Shelter. "The attack of the porcupines. Sometimes it seemed like at least a half dozen t a time. Early 80's in the early fall months. gave out a few bloody noses. No on got an sleep. It was like wave after wave. Someone must have split some salt. Our weapon of choice was a shovel. Almost forced me to make a night time retreat viva money brook trail to Hopper, to Sperry Road. My friend Ranger Bob said it happened regular that year and was just mother natures way of keeping the part crew out. Road crossing nearby. Bob and I got real chuckle out of the matter. Huhhh could you say that again. I did nt quite get it

Sarcasm the elf
05-23-2014, 13:07
Really? Our very first long distance hike we saw 8 while hiking with a dog. What kind of dog do you have? A bear hound? Now of course we were hiking SNP

I have not yet hiked SNP, however from what I've heard the bears there are incredibly habituated to people and pets. I'm sure you're aware that seeing 8 bears in one section isn't typical for the A.T.

rafe
05-23-2014, 13:39
I have not yet hiked SNP, however from what I've heard the bears there are incredibly habituated to people and pets. I'm sure you're aware that seeing 8 bears in one section isn't typical for the A.T.

Some folks are better at spotting them than others. I was walking behind another hiker for a while in SNP and he kept saying "there's another one" while I missed them all. I did have one genuine, close-up bear encounter on entering the park, and that was my only bear encounter, ever, on the AT.

RangerZ
05-23-2014, 18:06
WILD VICIOUS FERAL billy and nanny goat vic Ed Garvey shelter. I barely escaped with my life.

canoe
05-23-2014, 19:31
I have not yet hiked SNP, however from what I've heard the bears there are incredibly habituated to people and pets. I'm sure you're aware that seeing 8 bears in one section isn't typical for the A.T. Yes i am aware of that...that is why i stated where i was. we did have a pair of mature bears follow us up the mt for a 1/4 mile. really freaked my wife out until i had enough and chased em off

akrewson
06-30-2014, 00:05
Second-hand story, but cautionary:
Story I heard a couple of days ago in Blacksburg from two hikers with one medium-sized, well-muscled dog:
(One hiker said he was an accountant, so you know he wouldn't lie, right?)
The group was near the Watauga Lake shelter and saw signs saying no camping because of bear activity. They camped about a mile and a half away instead.
Two bear cubs came to check them out. They threw rocks to scare away the cubs, to no avail.
So they decided to let the dog chase the cubs away.
Bad idea.
The dog ran the cubs into the woods and disappeared himself. A few minutes later, they heard a yelp and a growl.
The dog came running back to the campsite, followed by Mama Bear.
The hikers again threw rocks and scared her off.
Close call, happy ending, this time.

Sarcasm the elf
06-30-2014, 00:30
Second-hand story, but cautionary:
Story I heard a couple of days ago in Blacksburg from two hikers with one medium-sized, well-muscled dog:
(One hiker said he was an accountant, so you know he wouldn't lie, right?)
The group was near the Watauga Lake shelter and saw signs saying no camping because of bear activity. They camped about a mile and a half away instead.
Two bear cubs came to check them out. They threw rocks to scare away the cubs, to no avail.
So they decided to let the dog chase the cubs away.
Bad idea.
The dog ran the cubs into the woods and disappeared himself. A few minutes later, they heard a yelp and a growl.
The dog came running back to the campsite, followed by Mama Bear.
The hikers again threw rocks and scared her off.
Close call, happy ending, this time.


I'm skeptical of that story. Cubs checking out hikers and a well muscled dog? A mama bear standing up to one? That would be highly unusual behavior for eastern black bears

Dutch1976
06-30-2014, 02:17
A smooth talkin' moose stole my girlfriend.