Nibbled in the Night?

[WolfCrafter]

Hi all, there was a thread recently about seeing wildlife I'n the night so this sort of runs parallel to that thread but with a different question attached!

Has anyone been 'Nibbled I'n the Night'?.. (now before the jokes start..I'm referring to natures wildlife!!)

Now I'm not talking about food bags, sweaty socks left out kit stuff! I mean actually 'Nibbled' on exposed body parts!
A cold nose sticking out of a balaclava, a stray toe sticking out of a sock hole etc etc!

It's just that at the weekend, while under my tarp I'n Thetford forest, I could of sworn there was a badger about a foot from my face! I made a 'small' noise to make him aware of my presence, but by the time I fumbled for my head torch it was gone! The next morning I found fresh badger tracks 10 feet away where he had been rooting for grubs!
Now it never nibbled me, but I certainly spent the next 10 minutes, thoroughly licking my lips to make sure there was no honey or peanut butter type residue left for him to get a good taste of!!

 

[DavidJT]

Only by Mosquitos!

 

[bojit]

The dreded midge

and mosquitos while working on flanders moss
between Stirling and loch lomond .
Mosies and horse fly in Canada.

Craig.............

 

[lannyman8]

the list:

1. midge (they love me, i must taste like ale pie)
2. mosquito (not very often)
3. cammel spider (when i was in Iraq)
4. scorpien (little white bugger got me x 2 when in afghanistan)
5. Millipede (when i was half asleep and forgot to check my boots in afghanistan)

the Millipede was the worst but does not realy count....

chris...

 

[SimonM]

Slugs...they leave perfect circular bites.

Simon

 

[R3XXY]

Camel spider ???? As a seasoned arachnaphobe that would mentally scar me for life, eugh.

 

[jackcbr]

Almost nibbled by a desert fox out in Egypt. Had my feet out whilst sleeping out and found the little fella had got a whiff of the chicken we had for supper. Always thought my feet were cheesy, not meaty!

 

[backpacker]

Sometimes get bitten by the dreaded mosquito, I think the worst bite I got was from a spider about a year ago in this country, working in the baggage hall in Gatwick I was carrying out some checks on the baggage belts and left my clip board by one of the columns, I went back to retrieve it and as I did I felt something bite me, I brushed this small spider from my arm and thought nothing of it, I went home to bed and woke up with a lump on my arm about one and half inches in diameter and about three quarters of an inch high I felt a bit lethargic, I burst the lump quickly washed it with salt water and dressed it and went back to bed and woke up about 2 hours later, when I got to work I was told to go on a web site 'Spiders in the uk' or something like that to identify the spider for health and safety reasons.

There are two spiders that are members of the Black Widow Family which are found in England which are called 'False Widow' and 'False Widow 2' I was bitten by the 'False Widow 2' which is the venomous type.
This year due to the hot weather we have had during the summer they have been very common up north.

 

[PaulSanderson]

ha ha great thread!! I have been bitten by the midge, a swan, an injured great tit and even a cow!! Although im sure the last one was by accident. I havent been bitten by anything whilst asleep (that i am aware of)!

As for the camel spider thing...used to "play" with them when doing a stint in the desert...a stick and a tennis racket is all you need for protection, oh, and a mate who's slower and dumber than you! (I was younger and a lot more foolish in those days!)...

 

[calibanzwei]

Ticks. A good 2 dozen of so, head to foot. Had an interesting time at 4am flicking them off me.

 

[lab72]

Had a fox trying to pinch my socks one night

 

[bearbait]

I had a bear encounter whilst asleep in my tent (a Golite Hex 3) which is a single pole teepee tent. The Black bear came and trampled on the tent and was trying to feel me through the tent. He (she?) held me down on the ground for a few moments, but no damage to me, the tent (apart from half the pegs pulled from the ground), or the bear. I reckon my snoring was probably disturbing his/her supper!

 

[Snowfire]

Woken on a campsite in France by a ripping sound and the tent violently shaking. Two parallel tears in the flysheet about 4" long and 2" apart. There was plenty of food waste around so possibly a fox although I'd have thought the bins would be an easier meal than me!

 

[Shewie]

I got bitten by a little red spider in France years ago whilst camping, my whole forearm swelled up to twice the size and I couldn't make out any of my knuckles.

 

[DavidJT]

I had a bear encounter whilst asleep in my tent (a Golite Hex 3) which is a single pole teepee tent. The Black bear came and trampled on the tent and was trying to feel me through the tent. He (she?) held me down on the ground for a few moments, but no damage to me, the tent (apart from half the pegs pulled from the ground), or the bear. I reckon my snoring was probably disturbing his/her supper!

Jesus! You didn't wake up?

 

[bearbait]

Jesus! You didn't wake up?

Oh! Believe me: I DID wake up. My snoring stopped so the bear went back to supper. Punching his/her paw twice might also have helped it return to feeding - but was probably just the equivalent of a gnat bite to him/her. (And BTW my name's not Jesus! Maybe it was another post you were reading?) I didn't sense any animosity from the bear; just an inquisitiveness, perhaps because I was the only tent in the neighbourhood!. I once had another bear walk through my camp while I was reading by the fire, about as far from my fire as I was, with scarcely a glance at me as he/she passed through going about its lawful business. So the bear was obviously quite used to both people and fires. For interest/info the first event was in Revelstoke, British Columbia, the second on the Silver Trail in the Yukon Territory...and my camps in bear country are always "Bear Aware". I'm still getting my head around bears: some leave the area as soon as they see you; others are inquisitive, others quite disregarding. Not met an agressive one yet and my ambition is not to meet an agressive one.

I turned up to hike some of the historic Iditarod Trail in Alaska and this warning was at the trailhead. Takes the edge off the day!

Not quite sure was was crossed out on the sign: "Actively defending hiker kill" perhaps?

 

[Jericho]

Camel spider ???? As a seasoned arachnaphobe that would mentally scar me for life, eugh.

One of the few times I've heard me Ma swear was when she saw a picture of one of them!

 

[DavidJT]

Ykes Bearbait, I can see where you got the inspiration for your user name. I would be absolutely cr**ping myself if that happened in the night!
"Remember you're lunch" springs to mind. Would love to explore Canada, but the bear thing does worry me, even though I know that if you are sensible I know the risks are small.

 

[Robbi]

just googled camel spider !!....dear gods !! i am NOT going to sleep tonight !! hideous monstrous awfull thing !!

 

[WolfCrafter]

Well I'm glad I'm I'n the UK with all these bears, scorpions spiders and such roaming the nights! I'll square up to a Badger any day!! :0)

I'm off to Norway/Finland next year! Anything to worry about over there? I know bears are I'n Russia and even Wolves returning as far I'n as Germany now! Has anything made it back up and round to the North again??