First hammock, first hang and the strange noise

[kaiserb]

Years ago I bought a convertible (car). Driving home scared the crap out of me as there was so much road noise, and a passing motorist honking was quite loud. Welcome to sleeping the in wild, when you pitch a tent or sleep in a hammock you hear every noise around you. Raccoons, Squirrels, Coyotes, Deer, Cattle, Rabbit all make there own set of noises. If you are not acclimated to the noise then you are going to wake up surprised.

I heard from my children that the boogie man does not make noise so no worries...

Farm animals make noises too:

[Maytag]

Noises what noises

[sandykayak]

I was sleeping in my Brazillian hammock on a Byer of Maine stand on my quite small deck (doesn't qualify as a yard) when I heard rustling in the trees above me. 'Twas a possum. I told him that as long as he didn't do his business on me I was OK sharing the space with him. No unexpected showers or droppings.

[Bamskies780]

A few evenings ago I went out with my new, first ever hammock to try it out overnight in the yard. I found two good trees spaced the correct distance apart, the hammock went up easily, hung the head end a little lower than the foot end. Pitched my Edge tarp with relative ease, and later that evening came back out to sleep in in overnight.

Based on some others' comments, I thought I might not sleep too well the first night, but I quickly got rather comfortable (after a little struggle with the pad), and fell asleep. At about 2:30am I was awoken by a rather loud animal noise that sounded fairly close by. This video is pretty close to the sound I heard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EWzg4eiJnM

Now, that might not seem too scary, but in the middle of the night, near your hammock, in the dark, it was a bit unsettling. I suspected a deer, as there are many white tail deer all through my neighborhood, and they are often around at night. And, even though there had been bear sightings earlier in the year in the neighborhood, I was fairly sure a bear doesn't make that sound. Even so, it was unsettling. I unzipped the hammock and used my little flashlight, shining out into the darkness. Two glowing eyes shined back at me from across the yard. Although I would have probably been fine, I decided that the deer didn't sound too pleased I was in his/her territory (even though it is my yard), and also thought I probably won't be getting a restful sleep for the remainder of the evening, so I headed for my bed in the house! (and to Google the strange noise I heard)

I have reflected now on how ironic is seems that I will probably sleep better out in the (piney) woods than I will in my own yard! #scaredycat #newby #IhearHammocksAreGreatforAfternoonNaps

During my last trip in Palo Duro Canyon Tx I was awoken in the middle of the the night just to find a silhouette of a animal on the table making a mess (most of the campsites have small tables at them). When I shown my light at it I saw two eyes and was able to tell it was a raccoon. Even though it was just a medium sized critter I was unsettled for the most part but since i was very comfy and in the middle of a dark canyon I decided to burry my head in my sleeping bag and think happy thoughts. Good luck in the future with that barking deer BTW. HAPPY HANGING

[Bamskies780]

I was sleeping in my Brazillian hammock on a Byer of Maine stand on my quite small deck (doesn't qualify as a yard) when I heard rustling in the trees above me. 'Twas a possum. I told him that as long as he didn't do his business on me I was OK sharing the space with him. No unexpected showers or droppings.

Wow! That would have kept me up all night good story!

[Tarheelsue]

I have to add a 'P.S.' to this post - about five days later, one of the neighbors emailed the neighborhood at 11:40 a.m. saying he had spotted the bear (yes, we've had bear spottings earlier this year), and he was one street over from mine. Don't think I need to venture very far from my front door to be in the wild ....

[Dashinator]

As an avid hunter, I have been shocked at the wide variety of noises deer make. Tending grunts, warnings, bleats, snorts... It doesn't much matter 10 feet or 10 states from my back door, animal noises in the middle of the night always put me on edge. I suppose it's better than human noises ouside my hammock in the woods thought

[Kamper Kurt]

The noises are obviously not new to being in a hammock, but it did take a little practice to look in the blind spot behind me. I am still trying to decide if I felt any safer in a tent. The tent can give you a feeling a security, but at the end of the day is not going to stop anything large. And I tended to not camp with a tent anyway. I usually slept under the stars and brought a tarp in case of rain.

The one thing that I am a little paranoid of is snakes. Even though I would sleep on the ground in the open, I just get this picture of one either coming along and biting me on the rear end, or dropping out of a tree on to me. And that would not make a noise. I just have to push it out of my mind.

[Ladylysis]

The one thing that I am a little paranoid of is snakes. Even though I would sleep on the ground in the open, I just get this picture of one either coming along and biting me on the rear end, or dropping out of a tree on to me. And that would not make a noise. I just have to push it out of my mind.

That does it. I know snakes can get into my tent (no matter how tightly one zips up the door, the chipmunks still find a way in if one leaves a bag of peanuts inside the tent), but now I'll never never never EVER sleep in a hammock without the bugnet zipped up all the way around me - as tight as I can get it.

[Dashinator]

The one thing that I am a little paranoid of is snakes. Even though I would sleep on the ground in the open, I just get this picture of one either coming along and biting me on the rear end, or dropping out of a tree on to me. And that would not make a noise. I just have to push it out of my mind.

Thank you for giving me something new to keep me up at night...