WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 46
  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-17-2015
    Location
    Canton, Georgia
    Age
    51
    Posts
    683
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default Has anyone ever been attacke dor harassed by wildlife in a hammock?

    I have heard tent stories of mice and raccoons and the occasional, yet terrifying, bear intrusions, but I haven't heard of any hammockers getting messed with yet.
    " Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. "

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-17-2015
    Location
    Canton, Georgia
    Age
    51
    Posts
    683
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default

    Sorry for the typo above. Fast mind... fat fingers.
    " Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. "

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    12-19-2005
    Location
    Knoxville, TN
    Posts
    3,715
    Images
    3

    Default

    i have not........

    but last year, a kid along hazel creek in the GSMNP had an incident with a bear..............he was sleeping in a hammock----the kid and not the bear.....

  4. #4

    Default

    I was hammocking on the hill above my back field a couple of years ago when I heard hooves approaching. A deer, I thought (there is a small herd in the neighborhood), and decided to see what would happen. Well, the deer actually bumped into the hammock, and was he/she ever surprised. I said, "Would you please get out of here?" and the deer snorted and ran off.

  5. #5
    Hiker bigcranky's Avatar
    Join Date
    10-22-2002
    Location
    Winston-Salem, NC
    Age
    61
    Posts
    7,937
    Images
    296

    Default

    When we used hammocks, my wife was a wildlife magnet. Flying squirrels landed on her hammock more than once, and she had a bear walk under her hammock, snuffling around camp one night - it brushed against her back, moving her and the hammock.

    Needless to say, she's more of a tent person now.
    Ken B
    'Big Cranky'
    Our Long Trail journal

  6. #6
    imscotty's Avatar
    Join Date
    11-13-2011
    Location
    North Reading, MA
    Age
    64
    Posts
    1,271
    Images
    7

    Default

    Swarms of mosquitos have tried to attack, but so far the netting has kept most of them out. I purposely got the double layer Warbonnet because I understand the bloodsuckers can sometimes penetrate the single layer.

  7. #7
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-17-2015
    Location
    Canton, Georgia
    Age
    51
    Posts
    683
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by bigcranky View Post
    When we used hammocks, my wife was a wildlife magnet. Flying squirrels landed on her hammock more than once, and she had a bear walk under her hammock, snuffling around camp one night - it brushed against her back, moving her and the hammock.

    Needless to say, she's more of a tent person now.
    OMG!! That's exactly what I was envisioning!! I am a tenter, but my husband hammocks and I have been weighing the options and considering going above ground, but it feels like you would be such an easy target for just anything that wanted to mess with you. Imagine if Peachpeak had been in a hammock. Would the bear have totally ignored him or would he have been a kabob?
    " Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. "

  8. #8
    Registered User
    Join Date
    02-05-2009
    Location
    Delray Beach, Florids
    Age
    73
    Posts
    1,359

    Default

    This was the entry from my thru a few years back...Bearfence shelter in SNP
    Right before dark another SOBO thru named Nancy Drew showed up. He earned that trailname from other hikers by solving some mysteries back in Maine. He set up his hammock 50 yards above the shelter. He did not stay up there very long. About a hour after dark we were all rousted by Nancy Drew, he was having big time bear trouble.(bears #12&13) The half grown young bear had climbed the tree that one end of his hammock was tied to. When he got out with his flashlight the big momma bear was 10 yards away and stood up on her back legs. At that point he decided to come for help. Several of us with lights and a smoking stick from the fire went up to his campsite. I waved the smoking stick around and the others gathered up all his gear and we retreated to the shelter. I re stoked the fire while Nancy Drew set up inside the shelter.

  9. #9
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-17-2015
    Location
    Canton, Georgia
    Age
    51
    Posts
    683
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default

    Yep. Tents are fine.
    " Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. "

  10. #10
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-31-2013
    Location
    Asheville, NC
    Age
    62
    Posts
    585
    Images
    2

    Default

    Not sure what difference a tent makes over a hammock. If something wants to get you a tent wall makes no difference.
    Remote for detachment, narrow for chosen company, winding for leisure, lonely for contemplation, the Trail beckons not merely north and south, but upward to the body, mind, and soul of man.


  11. #11
    Springer to Elk Park, NC/Andover to Katahdin
    Join Date
    01-04-2006
    Location
    Northport, Alabama
    Age
    76
    Posts
    1,363
    Images
    14

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Lnj View Post
    OMG!! That's exactly what I was envisioning!! I am a tenter, but my husband hammocks and I have been weighing the options and considering going above ground, but it feels like you would be such an easy target for just anything that wanted to mess with you. Imagine if Peachpeak had been in a hammock. Would the bear have totally ignored him or would he have been a kabob?
    Yep those thin silnylon tent walls cannot be penetrated by bears. Of course the can sit on them and collapse them on you as one did mine years ago.
    I am not young enough to know everything.

  12. #12
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-17-2015
    Location
    Canton, Georgia
    Age
    51
    Posts
    683
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default

    True, but a hammock just looks and feels way more exposed to me. Like a bear burrito. At least in a tent, there is the illusion of a wall dividing you from what's outside. The illusion is comforting.
    " Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. "

  13. #13
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-17-2015
    Location
    Canton, Georgia
    Age
    51
    Posts
    683
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default

    I know... I will booby trap my tent! I will put jingle bells all around it so when I hear the bells ring, I know I have a visitor and I should start yelling, and hopefully I will discourage any further examination.
    " Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. "

  14. #14
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-12-2015
    Location
    Newark, DE
    Age
    64
    Posts
    566

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by SteelCut View Post
    Not sure what difference a tent makes over a hammock. If something wants to get you a tent wall makes no difference.
    Along these lines I was questioned for leaving my tent's vestibule open recently. I am think if the bear can see you are you in any more danger than if he just sees a tent? That nylon is not going to keep him out if he wants in. Agree? or do you close up?

  15. #15
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-17-2015
    Location
    Canton, Georgia
    Age
    51
    Posts
    683
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default

    I close up. Not to keep anything from seeing me, as much as me not wanting to see anything. No glowy eyes in the dark for me please. I do have a dog with me this time, so I am sure she will smell any visitors coming long before they get close enough to touch. Maybe the barking will deter any confrontations.
    " Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. "

  16. #16

    Default

    I set up too close to a wasp nest one time and got 3 stings.
    Find the LIGHT STUFF at QiWiz.net

    The lightest cathole trowels, wood burning stoves, windscreens, spatulas,
    cooking options, titanium and aluminum pots, and buck saws on the planet



  17. #17
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-02-2011
    Location
    Neptune Beach, Fl
    Age
    49
    Posts
    6,238

    Default

    Does the wife count?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  18. #18
    Registered User canoe's Avatar
    Join Date
    04-29-2012
    Location
    Tyner, NC
    Age
    67
    Posts
    949

    Default

    I think the young man attacked by a bear in the smokies was in a hammock. He had some major facial injuries.

  19. #19
    Registered User canoe's Avatar
    Join Date
    04-29-2012
    Location
    Tyner, NC
    Age
    67
    Posts
    949

    Default

    That attack was last year.

  20. #20

    Default

    During my AT hike I discovered I had shared the night with a mouse in my hammock. I'm just glad I discovered it after getting out in the morning. If I had discovered it during the night I probably would have had cardiac arrest.

Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •