someone almost scared me out of my hammock

**dakotaross** · 10-13-2010, 10:45

Originally Posted by weedeater64

27 lb. flathead catfish, lake Texoma, Oklahoma side.

That's not the most worrisome part of the story though. Next morning I found fresh big cat tracks not 20 yards from my tent. *shiver*

Flathead cat tracks?!?

**Cannibal** · 10-13-2010, 11:00

Originally Posted by optimator

Ask Cannibal about the raccoon

Doing unspeakable things (in a family forum) to my SG 9x9 tarp.

I've also had squirrel carnivals going on along the ridgeline of an HH, gators sleeping under my tarp, bear snouts against my tarp, and even donkeys biting my butt through the hammock cause they want some attention.

Honestly, the AT was the most peaceful place I've hung my hammock yet. A few questions in camp, the occasional prank from other hangers, and a bed that smells awful are the worst things about hanging on a thru. Well, that and deciding to spend a night at a hostel only to discover they have no pads or mattresses on the bunks. That actually sucked pretty hard a few times, but it did keep me out of town and on the Trail where I belonged.

**Just Jeff** · 10-13-2010, 13:46

I've had raccoons run underneath me, but the only time I've been scared was a lightning bug on my Smokies hike.

**nonamesleft47** · 10-13-2010, 13:57

I was hanging this past weekend at my farm in the mountains. It's fairly isolated and I go just inside the woods and hang rather than sleep on the crappy bunk beds in the cabin. At around 3 am I woke myself up snoring. I could still hear the echo of my snore going down the hollar. The first thing I thought was "I wonder what the animals think that is?" My second was "Hope it doesn't sound like a skunk ape mating call."

Several mornings in the Boundary Waters I woke up thinking some trixter was pelting my tarp with rocks. Turns out I was hanging under a red squirrel feeding area and they were tossing pine cones at me.

**creativeKayt** · 10-13-2010, 17:09

So far, I've only had raccoon visitors during my first hang at Fort Stevens this past weekend! Totally amazing!!! The experience is one of many reasons I'm hooked with no remote possibility of turning back to ground-dwelling.

**SNIPERFX** · 10-13-2010, 18:55

i woke up to my wife this morning.....scared the hell out of me...lolol

**heathenchef** · 10-13-2010, 19:25

Back in June during our section hike in the SNP I had two encounters. First, we were hanging near the falls on the Jones Run trail. I sorta woke up thinking something was crawling on my bug net and I pushed up to swipe it off and made contact with something large and vaguely wet that then pushed back poking me in the cheek and swinging the hammock. Then I heard the grunt and the loud huffing and breathing. I yelled and grabbed my headlamp to see a bear making tracks away from me. Only problem was it ran into my daughters's hammock causing her to scream. Needless to say sleep time was over for the night and we got a VERY early start hiking that day, lol.
Later that week up near Big Meadows I woke up to find a racoon under my hammock checking out my camp shoes.

**NickJ** · 10-14-2010, 17:44

Originally Posted by jtbradyl

There are all kinds of critters one needs to be wary of. In parts of India and Southeast Asia monkeys could be a problem. And to crocodiles an occupied hammock means a gourmet treat.

I was in the Cedar Forest in the Moroccan Mountains recently and whilst cooking dinner in the trees one of the guys was sitting on a tree stump eating a banana. A Barbary ape walked up to him, punched him right in the eye, stole the banana and ran off