Critters while hanging

[LuvmyBonnet]

I haven't had any experience with any major predators. Animals usually don't want anything to do with people. They want your food not you.I think that there isn't much out there that could take me out. I usually camp with a firearm and I'm considering adding a nice slingshot as well.

[KayakTripper]

I tend to sleep well at night hammocking, occasionally i will wake to the sounds of critters although i make certain to hang my food, my garbage and do my cooking all in seperate areas as to not attract critters to my camp site. I do this on every trip i go on religiously. Another practice i use is not to stuff my hammock or sleeping bag in my pack with my food, in case of a spill. Doing this puts me in a good mind set to get a good nights sleep. However on my last trip my neighbor didn't think this was all necessary and woke every night to raccoon's in his food and ravaging his kayak. I only woke 1 night to a pack of coyotes howling, but they were across the lake, so back to sleep.

[LuvmyBonnet]

That's why I carry one! Just for critters. Brave raccoon? Just needs a little kiss on the bum from a dried bean. He'll leave well enough alone after that.

Any recommendations on one? I can't own one that has a wrist support because apparently they are illegal in New York. Ridiculous!!!!

[OutandBack]

slingshots are getting abit off topic guys do you think we could get back to the OP's question.

[gospidey]

Speaking of bear burritos, here's a cartoon I did about that:
hungry bears.jpg

[gunner76]

The only animal that I have had come around my hammock was The Terminator's Lab who discovered that my hammock was just the right height to scratch her back on as I hound out one night. I have watched many a lizard climbing the pine trees where I have hung in the area,

At the Fat Butt Hang a couple of weeks ago we did have a raccoon get into a trash can in the camp area. Made enough noise to wake me up but I decided I had no desire to get out of super comfortable hammock to try and chase it off and went back to sleep.

[SilvrSurfr]

My oldest son showed great composure on one of his first wilderness hangs up in the Adirondacks. We were camped on an island at Lake Lila, and there were some crazy red squirrels. They stole anything that wasn't secured - granola bars, snacks, everything. Once we secured the food, they stole my Bahco folding saw and tried to take it up a tree.

Once everything was secured, food and non-food, they started running across our tarps for entertainment. I happened to look over at just the right time to see a red squirrel enter my son's hammock and bounce off the bugnet (and my son) for several seconds. My son was reading a book and didn't even flinch. He was more like, "Oh look, it's that darned red squirrel again."

[bradray]

I do wonder how much I need to worry about spiders. While packing up a table on a trip near Sedona AZ we had a Brown Recluse spider run over the hand of the scout helping clean up camp. I killed it and we spread it back out to identify it. We kept our kitchen far from our tents, but that same night before we had a skunk hang our near camp for a while. I didn't hear about a supposed bear until the next morning and the boys showed me where they saw it and showed the grass matted down where they said it was. I have had a few moments of fear waking up to movement in the bushes really close by, but nothing has ever happened so I keep hanging myself up like the bear-ito that I am.

[WalksIn2Trees]

My oldest son showed great composure on one of his first wilderness hangs up in the Adirondacks. We were camped on an island at Lake Lila, and there were some crazy red squirrels. They stole anything that wasn't secured - granola bars, snacks, everything. Once we secured the food, they stole my Bahco folding saw and tried to take it up a tree.

Once everything was secured, food and non-food, they started running across our tarps for entertainment. I happened to look over at just the right time to see a red squirrel enter my son's hammock and bounce off the bugnet (and my son) for several seconds. My son was reading a book and didn't even flinch. He was more like, "Oh look, it's that darned red squirrel again."

I did have a squirrel invasion once. I was out hiking for most of the day and came back to find my protein trailmix boosted oatmeal everywhere in my gear hammock

[jackh]

It's definitely a mind game for me. The four legged critters don't worry me nearly as much as the two legged ones. I was canoe camping with some friends on a small island last year. I was in my tent by myself and woke up to the sounds of muffled footsteps and voices in camp. I immediately thought it was someone coon hunting on the island coming into camp to rob us. I was sweating bullets thinking about what I was going to grab as a weapon to protect my gear. I ripped open the tent door and it was my buddies killing a water moccasin in camp.

Down here there isn't really anything to be afraid of. Everything is more scared of me than I am them. But the mind plays tricks.