My HORRIBLE luck!!!

**Jhp45auto** · 12-03-2016, 08:12

Sorry to hear about the damage, but what a great story you will be able to tell! Woke up once myself to a raccoon tickling my butt as he was going through my pack under my hammock. But not as scary as looking into those determined little eyes attached to pointy teeth eating your gear

**Campdavid** · 12-03-2016, 08:16

You mentioned that no one is going to want to camp with you if your luck doesn't change. Actually, smart campers seek out folks like you. The way I see it if we were camping together all the woodland creatures would be so focused on terrorizing you, I could sleep in peace.

It's like the, "you don't have to outrun the bear, just outrun the slowest member of your group." :-)

We used to have a "bad luck in the woods" guy in our group. Back in our ground dwelling days he'd be the one whose tent would flood, raccoons would eat his stuff, all that.

So find some folks with a similar philosophy and you'll never camp alone!

**millergear** · 12-03-2016, 08:29

On the bright side, it wasn't a skunk!

**Chesapeake** · 12-03-2016, 09:37

Originally Posted by Campdavid

You mentioned that no one is going to want to camp with you if your luck doesn't change. Actually, smart campers seek out folks like you. The way I see it if we were camping together all the woodland creatures would be so focused on terrorizing you, I could sleep in peace.

It's like the, "you don't have to outrun the bear, just outrun the slowest member of your group." :-)

We used to have a "bad luck in the woods" guy in our group. Back in our ground dwelling days he'd be the one whose tent would flood, raccoons would eat his stuff, all that.

So find some folks with a similar philosophy and you'll never camp alone!

Well that guy is definetly me. The only bit of good luck I've had is back in the summer when the branch fell where my rig had been just that morning before it started to storm. It came down right on the string of rope lights I accidentally left up. Had my stuff still been there, it would have tore right through my tarp most likely.

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**donig** · 12-03-2016, 09:50

Well, so counting the kamikaze branch taking out your lights, possum makes THREE. You are good until the next terrible triplicate of bad luck!

**TominMN** · 12-03-2016, 09:50

There's a state park here that I've only camped in twice. Each night there was a tornado.

I recommend, if I ever camp again at that state park, that you not be there!

**Chesapeake** · 12-03-2016, 09:54

Originally Posted by Jhp45auto

Sorry to hear about the damage, but what a great story you will be able to tell! Woke up once myself to a raccoon tickling my butt as he was going through my pack under my hammock. But not as scary as looking into those determined little eyes attached to pointy teeth eating your gear

That could be good or bad depending on how you are lmao. Sorry, I had to..... I'm sure it scared the hell out of you though,as it would me. That's gotta be a scary and weird feeling all at the same time! Instant clench tighter than a ducks, well you know. Yeah, its eyes are the worst part I think. The teeth are bad, but when you look into those beady little eyes and into its dark, empty, demon soul , you instantly feel its evil nightmarish intent. Lol

**Woodsie8** · 12-03-2016, 13:02

Oh my gosh, I too am a Home Health Nurse, and have stories that will fill a book, but never have seen a house with possums!

Originally Posted by Dublinlin

This cracked me up! Just goes to show there is always a bright side...and NOT having to get a possum extracted out of your ear is surely a good thing--LOL!

Your story is worth a mint and now your hammock has genuine battle scar character! Your experience brought back to memory something I saw nine or ten years ago...I'd just become a Home Health Nurse in the Ozarks in one of the poorest counties in the country. One day I went to someone's home to put them on service. The smell was horrific, but I attributed that to the six or seven cats in the home who seemed to treat the carpet as their own personal litter box. Then, about ten minutes after arriving, I was accosted by a hideous possum hiding under her table. She grabbed a broom and began shoving it at the hissing possum and commented quite nonchalantly, "They keep getting in through the holes in my floor. I had to chase 15 of them out last night. My cats are scared of them!" I'd heard of roach infestations and rat infestations, but THAT was the first time I'd seen a home infested with possums! I spied four more of the hideous beasts lurking in her house before I left that day. They acted pretty darn territorial in that house!

**Chesapeake** · 12-03-2016, 14:21

I think its cool when everyone chimes in on a thread with their own story or little quip. That's exactly why I post all the stuff I do, to get different perspectives and to hear how everyone else does it. Its almost like hammocks Anonymous... Hi, I'm Marshall and I'm a hammock gear addict lol. My wife doesn't get it so I gotta share it someone right? Who else would understand why I need different TQ's & UQ's for 3 season and winter? Or how scarey the thought of an opossum tearing up a brand new HG 0° down UQ and biting holes in your new hammock while in it half asleep is? When I told her she said" well your the stupid one for sleeping on a bag of feathers that smell like its dinner!" A bag of feathers? That's blasphemy! Its like saying its too cold to hang in the winter or that tents are better, unless you've done it, you wouldn't understand. Haha

**SilvrSurfr** · 12-03-2016, 14:59

I'm not sure about that "goose down attracts predators" idea - sounds a bit far-fetched. If that were the case, we'd be hearing about it from every down sleeping bag and quilt user known to man.

Besides, the possum chewed on the hammock, not the quilts, correct? Possums are attracted to carrion (did you have something dead in your hammock?), or it could even have been your body odor (time to take a shower!). I live near a swamp, have plenty of possums around, and can vouch to their curious nature; I can't count the number of times a possum has walked up to me and sniffed my leg as if I were a meal of some sort (they are not very bright).

It would be a revelation to to find out that goose or duck down did attract predators. You couldn't even switch to wool, because predators would be equally attracted to sheep! I can see the headlines now: Mountain lion attacks man in hammock because the mountain lion mistook him for a sheep."