Unexpected Visitors

[Jennifer]

I'm sure every has had those unexpected or let's say unwanted 4 legged visitors, last week when we were camping we got some, in the form of a mother raccoon and her 3 babies, they were all over our campground during the day and at night. The neighboring campers said that one of the babies had crawled into our daughters playpen and started to cry when it couldn't get out and the mother raccoon came and helped  it out, I wish they would of got a picture of that, their kids thought the screaming was me and my husband arguing    but we were swimming and not even there.   I have pictures of them hanging in tree together, I will try and get them posted soon.  Does anyone else have a wildlife camping story?

[algoan]

LOL, cute photo!  Actually my story involves those darn raccoons too.  Several years ago, I went camping with several girlfriends of mine at Raccoon Lake (Indiana).  I woke in the middle of the night for a quick potty break and as I emerged from the tent, my flashlight beam flashed across the picnic table.  My friends and I weren't the most experienced campers and had no idea that raccoon fingers were so nimble... but I found out that they are more than capable of opening ice chests because when my flashlight beam hit them, we had four ice chests lined up, with raccoons sitting in three of them!

One of my friends had brought a cold veggie dish that she was very proud of.  One of the raccoons was sitting in the middle of the tupperware container, eating the veggie salad with both hands.  It would have been a very funny sight if I hadn't been so scared at the sight that I almost wet my pants! LOL

So I hurried to the potty, then slept the rest of the night in my car. 

The next morning, we found that the only ice chest that hadn't been vandalized was the one of the four that actually had a locking latch on it.  The only thing we had in that chest was beer!

[Jennifer]

Yeah, we heard them fighting in the woods next to our campsite, one night and they sound like little tazmanian devils.  It scared me too, my husband made fun of me, but they can sneak up on you.  I bet if they could open beer cans they would of drank them, which would  be tragic at least for my husband anyway. They are the pigs of the forest (but cute), I didn't know this but, they like to wash their food.  We put out a tub of water one night and they used it, we had learned it from a program they had at one of the parks. They will eat anything.  The neighboring campers said they chewed through their plastic tubs, they even took a bite out of a fire starter log. 

[betias]

Well raccoons are not the only visitors that come by unexpectedly.  Once we had two strangers, farmers from the community who wanted to see who was invading the comfort of their wilds.  They were nice fellas and sort helped to make our time more enjoyable.  They even became tour guides at one point.

But I think the greatest moment of their visit was when they caught a small coral snake and tried to make it dance to my sons sax.

That was funny.  made us all laugh.

[Hikey Dorey]

My cat often brings unexpected visitors to the house uninvited.  He usually doesn't make them inside with them, but sometimes he will slip in with a rabbit or bird.  This drives me nuts.  The rabbit gets loose and I have to tear the house apart to rescue it.

[tasari]

Yes when going to camp you could encounter a lot of animals too small ones or bigger ones.
Afterwards often people find it funny to look the pictures again (like Jennifer did)

[betias]

A girlfriend of mine was camping in Corn Island, Nicaragua when out of nowhere came a hedge hog.  She had no idea what it was.  her son not recognizing the little devil for what it was grab it.  Well you know what happend. Really hurt him bad, she said. 

be careful when taking up hedge hogs.  they are full of spinny needles that can damage your hand.

[tasari]

Yes indeed those hedge hogs are amazing creatures, they can pass a lot of obstacles. In my parents house a hedge hog can pass their garden, even if the fences only have small openings.

I hope he didn't begin to bleed ! That can be nasty...

[Roaring Rory]

I took my friend on a camping trip to a Cuyamaca State Park .  She does not do much camping.  It was late in the evening and she had to go to the bathroom.  We walked through a trail to the bathrooms.  Out of the bushes came a big raccoon.  My friend begin to scream and jump up and down.  Her scream echoed through the whole camp site and probley woke up everyone.  The raccoon just looked up at her and walked away.

[Bigdog57]

Last year on a quick overnighter in my local woods, I was just bedding down, when a small pack of coyotes started howling!  THAT is a very eerie sound - especially just outside a medium-sized city in north Florida!  Easy to see why they are called "songdogs"!
Then a nearby camper's small dog began yapping - "Great", I thought - "live bait!"   
Fortunately, the 'yotes kept their distance - just letting us know we were invading THEIR space!

A couple years before, over in northwestern Florida, we were awakened by the 'snuffling' of a black bear nearby - not actually in camp.  I spent a sleepless couple hours then!   

[Dave]

A couple years before, over in northwestern Florida, we were awakened by the 'snuffling' of a black bear nearby - not actually in camp.  I spent a sleepless couple hours then!   

That would have been it for me, I can handle the little critters but leave me out of the big ones.

[frank6160]

I once chased a racoon thruogh wood in middle of night to get a loaf of bread back. He ran a good 75 yards before dropping it My daughter got a good laugh about it.

[TJCeeJay]

Iv've got a great campsite on some Crown land near where I live. One of it's permanent denizens is a huge hare living in the cedars. He's so used to me being around that he doesn't even move away when I walk towards him, or even right past him. Very cool animal. And when I say huge, I mean GIGANTINORMOUS.  Standing up on his hind legs to reach a delectable higher up in a bush, the tips of his ears are probably about 30 to 36 inches off the ground. And healthy! You know how a really heathy Black Lab's fur shines? Almost irridescent? Well, imagine a big, BIG brown rabbit with fur that glossy. Beautifull! Of course I call him Jack.    I've never even fed him, yet anytime I'm there he ends up making an appearance. However, one appearance I wasn't to thrilled about, (Actually, that's a lie. It was VERY thrilling.) was the one year old black bear cub that walked through my camping spot without a care in the world. It didn't even notice me sitting under my mosquito net hung from a tree. (For which I am VERY gratefull) Don't know where mommy was, but I'm sure she would have been along pretty quick if the cub noticed me and made a frightened sound. Very interesting situation. Awestruck by being within a dozen feet of a wild bear cub.    Horrified that it's mommy might come along paying a little more attention to her surroundings. ie: Me. All went well though. little one wandered off, and I never saw mommy. Whew! Also have a bachelor wolf in the area that sings every night. VERY cool.  All in all I feel very lucky to have found a place like this.

[Jeff Marshall]

These are great stories.  The best I can come up with is seeing a bobcat on the trail and a few unwanted copperheads coming to see my dinner.

Best,
Jeff Marshall
Camping Books

[dietcola]

festivals have got to be the place where u get the most traffic through ya camp site... leeds fest i had all my stuff moved around, not sure where it went up but i was left without our beds! no clothes no tent no nothing... grr, perhaps next year ill pin the tent to the floor! oops skool bouy error!