nocturnal encounters

[spiritwalker]

A while back i vaguely remember something about a fox attacking a kid in a home...

anyways i was wondering if anyone has ever had any close encounters whilst ground dwelling in the woods. Personally apart from a shed load of harvestmen clambering over my a frame shelter and a toad in my boot nothing that i know have has been for a mooch whilst i slept.

I am sure someones woken up to a rat licking their face or a badger or something during the night?

Anyone care to share?

 

[Shewie]

I was once woken by a red deer stag that had strolled into our camp during the night. Something made a noise which woke me so I slowly peeked over the edge of my hammock to see it stood looking in the opposite direction about three feet from the end of my tarp. I held myself still enough to see it slowly carry on through camp and away round the corner out of sight.

Had a few slugs in the bivvy and one on the face when I used to be a ground dweller.

 

[resnikov]

Camping in a bush camp in Oz, I woke to hear what to me sound like a heard of elephants jumping through the camp, after a quick look around for the pachyderms and not finding any we noticed the wallabies. For something that's only about 3-4 foot tall they make a heck of a noise bounding through the camp.

 

[British Red]

Not really bushcrafty, but slept in a mates barn one night to get up for a mornings shooting. When I threw back the blanket there were three rats under it. It was a cold night so warmth I guess?

<shudder>

 

[locum76]

Camping with Dunc and Seraph on a beach near Elgol on Skye, we were kept awake by a small colony of Seals on an island just off the shore. In the dead of night they sound a lot like people chattering.

(PS: is colony the correct collective noun for seals? In this case it could have been a cacophony of seals).

 

[bojit]

Once while staying in a bothy near Dalwhinnie after a can or two
i had to go outside for a visit , so i was standing in a field about 50 yards from the front door when i herd something walking towards me .
I shouted to my brother for a torch and ran back into the bothy , once inside i shone the torch at the door to see a huge red deer stag trying to get his antlers through the door.
if i hadn`t already wet my trousers i would have done it again!
he stayed outside all nite calling , quite worring noise when it is you he is after lol !

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

 

[Retired Member southey]

Seals for me too, this time while kipping a few meter back from the tree line and beach on the Culbin side of the mouth to the Findhorn Estuary, There was a eary howl coming through the trees just as the light was dyeing and i was on my back to my hammock after watching the sunset, turned out to be the colony that like to haul out on the beach at Culbin, scared me to death, so much so I stopped and sat down for a good half an hour casting about thinking Jon D's tracker chap had gone on holiday:yikes:

It was a beautiful sound though, once I got what it was,

 

[Barn Owl]

If you camp on 'wallaby island ' on Loch Lomond then said wallabies will either try to nick your grub or sleep below your hammock.

 

[Ex Member - Sidney Bounty]

I have had a mouse climb into my sleeping bag and run down to the end and run back up and out that one kind of creeped me out...
I was happy it was not some zombie mouse that was gonna take a bit out of me....

 

[The Cumbrian]

I once got chewed by a slug whilst bivvying on St Herbert's Island. It left a circular mark about 4mm in diameter which took a surprisingly long time to heal.

Another time, on Inch Beach on the west coast of Ireland, my future wife and I were lying in post-coital bliss next to our campfire, when we heard raindrops falling on the Karrimats out of a clear starry sky. Puzzled as to why I couldn't feel any rain, I switched on my headtorch to see hundreds of thousands of sandhoppers heading towards the light of the fire, and then turning towards the brighter light of the torch. When Julia saw the mass of insects heading towards us, she leapt up and started jumping about. I still regard seeing a naked woman cavorting around by firelight as one of the finest things that I've ever seen.

Cheers, Michael.

 

[Shewie]

Lol, get any pics Michael ?

 

[Atesca]

After working the nightshift I like to pop into the woods out the back of my house and have a brew and watch the world wake up, its the absolute antithesis of my job and makes me a much happier chappie. Last week, I was sitting quietly against a tree with my mug of hot chocolate, watching the sky, turned my head and saw a fox sat not 3 feet from me, front paws either side of a now well-licked saucepan, chocolate on his nose. I never heard a thing...

 

[Paul72]

Quite a few years ago i was camped on the edge of some woods with my parents when during a very dark night we heard what sounded like footsteps around the tent and then someone having a pee right beside it. My brave dad went out torch in hand to find ....rabbits. They were big ones though...........

 

[Tetley]

lol , while ground dwelling at Middlewood a couple of years back with Flumpie we were treated to the sight of a stoat raiding next doors bin bags which were hanging from a tree next to our tarp , quite fun to watch
and one scout camp at Waddecar woke in the middle of the night to see a mole eating my chocolate coated shortbread , came up in the porch of the tent like the great escape and then filled his boots with my snack food !

 

[SimonM]

I woke up one morning to find two roe deer looking through the mozzie net of my hennessey...they were only a few feet from me and seemed quite confused to see me on their travels...

Simon

 

[gregorach]

Camping with Dunc and Seraph on a beach near Elgol on Skye, we were kept awake by a small colony of Seals on an island just off the shore. In the dead of night they sound a lot like people chattering.

I thought they sounded more like the tormented souls of the damned myself... There were a fair few hieland coos mooching around that spot too, I woke up once or twice to the sounds of bovine munching, thinking "They'd better not be at my tent"...

One time in Tassie, I was woken up in the middle the night by a noise in the tent vestibule... Looked out to find a ring-tailed possum trying to make off with my (unwashed) mess tins. Moral of the story: always do the washing up before you go to bed!

 

[ged]

Once when I was camping in the New Forest (actually in the forest - you didn't have to use the sites then if you didn't want to) a mole woke me up trying to suraface under my sleeping bag at about ear level. It made a surprisingly loud noise.

 

[bojit]

While camping in Jasper in the rockies my wife woke me early on morning
saying that something was outside the tent so i sleepily said it would just be a bear or something.
she made me get up and look , it was about 10 elk walking through the site looking for food .

if it had been a bear i would have been in the bear box with the food!

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

 

[Wayland]

I've had a mature Red Deer stag wander through my camp in the night but I still think my best encounter was lying in my hammock waiting for people to arrive by the side of Lock Achray before my first meet up.

I looked over to the water which was only about ten feet away, to see an otter with two pups, hunting in the weeds just a few feet out from the shore.

A magical moment that lasted for quite a few minutes before they swam out further into the loch.