Animal Protection in a Hammock

[Dublinlin]

I bring a huge dog or two. They are excellent at deterring raccoon raids! And I sleep quite soundly at night, comfortable in the knowledge that my dogs don't. Shiny white teeth tied under our hammocks are awesome personal protection.

(We are camping now. Rem (the only shepherd with us this trip) barked viciously for thirty seconds last night at 11 pm. That's all it took to make a whole tribe of curious raccoons scatter. They never came back and there wasn't so much as a peep out of Rem the rest of the night.)

[SwingingInTheBreeze]

Studies have shown without coffee, man vs pig battles favor the hog.

I know a guy that once successfully fought off THREE wild boars after having only one sip of his coffee.


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[alifeoutdoors]

Don't even get me started about hogs. Most people don't know they have a blood lust and will eat anything that moves, if it bleeds (and sometimes if it doesn't). My dog tripped over an electric fence and was attacked and eaten alive by hogs. Needless to say, it's one of my most distinct memories as I witnessed the whole thing.

While I find that hogs are omnivores on the web, I find no mention of their blood lust. If you've ever lived on a pig farm you don't need to google it to know it's true. And anyone who's camped with me knows that I've gotten some measure of revenge against the hogs who killed my dog. They may have lived (you can't kill the livestock), but not without a little reminder that I didn't appreciate what they did.

This is one of the most horrible things I've ever read. My condolences Silvr, that would give me nightmares till my dying day.

[Singingcrowsings]

I wake myself up yelling "Leave me alone, I'm trying to sleep!" It seems that does the trick.

[MrsKD]

Hogs do cross my mind. Especially down in FLA where we've run across them. I put my Chihuahua in my pack. Nasty boogers. Now, I just tell my parents they have to come see me. And I've worked on my tree climbing skills.

[OneClick]

IBTL!

[alifeoutdoors]

IBTL!

Rotfl

[akaCat]

IBTL!

Surely offending posts would just be removed? I hope? I've been enjoying reading about people's critter encounters.

So far I've only hung inside my home, so my only worry with 4-legged critters is my cats. I woke up with two of them on top of me this morning -- that's a rare occurrence, especially since it was the alarm that woke me. Usually the addition of two cats would lead to hijinks, which would lead to no sleep.

If I ever discover a 2-legged critter in my home, I hope to have the presence of mind to throw my feral cat at them. The cat will enjoy the bloodshed and screams -- I'm the only human he tolerates.

[OutandBack]

Surely offending posts would just be removed? I hope? I've been enjoying reading about people's critter encounters.

snip...

That is correct there is no reason to lock this thread.
If c4g can't follow our simple rule he/she can just move along.

[Chard]

Critters

"Heed no nightly noises! For nothing passes door and window here save moonlight and starlight and the wind off the hill-top"

I've always figured that anything wanting to take a bite out of me would approach so stealthily that I wouldn't hear it anyways. Anything critters you hear lumbering through the forest likely pose no threat unless you've pitched your hammock on a game trail. That being said, like many of us, I do camp in black bear country and usually have my bear-spray in the hammock shelf (WBBB) and my fixed blade knife hanging (Fallk.S1) with my headlamp from the ridgeline directly over my head. I just want to be able to cut my way out of the hammock in the event that I get chomped by a bear, tangled in a moose's legs or have my zipper jam when I really, really, I mean really, have to pee.

Other than that, I put all of my day clothes in my pack and have a separate change of clothes to sleep in. Keeping camp odours to a minimum is the key. Either that or just hang a salami over one of your buddies' hammocks.

There was a discussion about the best defence against black bears on youtube (I'll try to post the link) that basically came to the conclusion that other than having a group of people armed with bear spray and forming a wall facing the bear, the best personal deterrent was bear spray. Ease of deployment and accuracy were the main reasons. Firearms weren't particularly effective, particularly in the close range high speed encounters you're likely to deal with.

People
Fortunately I have never camped anywhere where I have been even remotely concerned with dangerous people. The issue rarely comes up here in Canada, but seems to be a major concern in other parts of the continent. That being said, I'd exercise reasonable caution if I had to pull over on a country road or at a remote trailhead and sleep in/by the car. I remember someone mentioning something a while back about always camping a little ways away from their car in case any undesirables came around looking to cause some mischief, at least they wouldn't be able to add assault, murder or worse to their crimes. Makes sense to me.

But that's just my two cents.