Noises outside the tent - protocol

Hi all,

My partner is a lighter sleeper than me, and on a few camping trips in backcountry Ontario, she's woken up to noises from a seemingly large creature outside a our tent. We disagreed on the best course of action. This got me thinking - what would you do in the following scenarios? Would it matter if you were on your own? I haven't been able to find an answer to this on the web.

1) can't identify a creature that sounds like it's in or near the campside

2) can't identify a creature that's close to the tent

3) creature visibly interfacing with tent, i.e., touching the nylon

On the one hand, I know that bears (and many other creatures) are easily scared off by clapping and shouting. On the other hand, bears and moose and other creatures can become aggressive when startled, and why disturb them if they're not bothering you as in 1 and 2?

There's also the question of whether to exit the tent to see what's going on. Maybe it's the fact that I don't want to screw up the courage, but something tells me that remaining hidden inside is a good idea so that you don't initiate an "encounter" from the animal's perspective. Presumably, while you're in the tent, you're just a novel object. I'm also fond of the "ignorance is bliss" approach whereby I just roll over and get a good night's sleep, knowing there is bear spray next to us and a knife for quickly exiting the tent if it is attacked.

Anyway, I would sleep more soundly knowing the best way to respond to these situations when they come up. Appreciate the input!

They all sound large at night, but it is likely that the noise is made by a small animal.

Try to scare them off if you think they are into your food, otherwise go back to sleep.

You can limit these situations by camp site selection. Sites that are impacted might have habituated animals. Camp away from the water and away from what appears to be game trails.

On night at about sunset I pitched my poncho in the only flat place I could find about 100 yards from a steam. It was an overcast and moonless night. During the night a herd of elk walked by and around my poncho on the way to the water. They break limbs and make noise, but I did not want to startle them and risk being trampled. The next morning there were many tracks, but they did maintain their distance.

Predators are stealty. The animals you can NOT hear are the ones to be worried about.

Scavenger and prey animals are the ones that make noise. If you can hear them then it means there are no predators around.

What food said.

And just make sure all your food, smellibles, and other such stuff is hung or stored safely away from your tent.

You want freaky, try feeling something brushing the bottom of your hammock that you are in, and then realizing it's a big ol' porcupine lurking around for something to chew. makes you glad you hung up your boots.

but really, go back to sleep, unless it's trying to get in.

Bike guy,
I assume that you have pillows, pull them over yer heads and go back to sleep (ear plugs are great). Animals do respect those nylon "boulders" with people in them. One morning my buddy said "there was a bear growling outside my tent last night." I pointed out that it was more likely a mountain lion, as lions growl when they are confused or upset, bears remain silent. I had a grizzly walking around our tent in Alaska and you definitely have to think twice before making that zipper sound and shining a flashlight out the door.
Jim

Relax. Just remember you're more safe out there in your tent than you are in your car driving to the trail head. Those noises are 99.99999% leaves, small animals or your own ground cloth.

I would venture to say that if you were out there for a couple of weeks you would be sleeping soundly by the third night or so as you adapt to the silence of the woods.

Try sleeping near running water. It's white noise that blocks out all the little bumps in the night. Works for me when I'm alone.

Thanks for the reassurance. We're usually canoe camping in national parks, so we're always close to water in sites with animals that are to some extent habituated, but it's reassuring to know it's best to just get on with sleeping in the big orange boulder. We're never much more than a day from the main site so protecting our hung food is not a big issue.

I'm also planning a solo cycle tour in Northern Ontario and hope to do wild camping off the side of the highway 11. I might put bags of gear at my head and feet to reassure myself that I won't get yanked out (whatever makes you comfortable, right?). I'm sure you're right and that jitters will diminish after a few days. Plus, the animals should be less used to humans.

I'm curious what you would do if a bear WAS clearly bothering your tent. Speak softly to to let it know you're there? Shout and clap right away? Or arm with bear spray, unzip and confront?

I've done a lot of miles on a bicycle and I feel much, much safer in my tent in bear country than I ever will in the saddle!!!!

The few black bears that bothered my friend's food (his was hung, mine was in a canister) were pretty easily scared away by yelling. The exception is Yosemite Valley, where the bears are so used to people. They can still be scared off, it's just harder.

When a black bear spent time huffing and scratching around my tent nearly every night, even if I knew it was a juvenile, I didn't dare move or make any noise, lest confront!
I was scared stiff, all my hair was standing, and the fresh paw prints in the morning didn't help. This one bear was "haunting" the campsite, and we crossed our fingers not to have a mama bear coming too.
Well, there was probably no mama bear anymore...
Coming to level of noise, the squirrels in the trees were much more disturbing!

An animal sniffing around your tent already knows you are there. I would not bolt up and scream, but I would not "play dead" either. Last summer we had a young black bear in camp. It was not yet next to the tent - instead it was checking out the bear cannister. A couple of sharp claps of my hands sent it off. Half an hour later it came back. Clapping and banging pots did not help. It was about 15 feet from the tent door. I got out, picked up trekking poles and cussed at it loudly swinging the poles. It ran off and did not return.

Bears, deer, elk, moose, marmots and other rodents - usually do not eat people, but they can ruin a tent. Mice are particulary bad at night. If I hear them, I run them off.

A mountain lion makes a "throaty sound" like gravel in a bucket, or like the sound of a person walking in deep gravel. It means she is confused - like "what is this new boulder in my territory and why does it smell of a strange animal?" At that point yelling, waving arms etc, just going ballistic, will scare her off. I have first hand experience with this. Now if she growls, its more of a challenge and immediate action is required, scream back at her. Another technique used by some friends is to get lower in your sleeping bag and cover your head and cower.
Jim

Well, I was doing that last summer on the Eagle Creek hike, but then I realized it was just the noises Bigfoot made when he was sleeping...

If my dog is with me then it is much easier. If she is barking, then I worry, otherwise, I go back to sleep.

I do not go out often enough to get accustom to the noises. In addition I am the lightest sleeper that exists so everything wakes me. I have been camping all my life and the noises sound huge. To convince myself these are not bears or that lone T Rex not yet discovered I start the night outside my tent, lying down or leaning against a tree and just listen and look. It actually is pretty cool to listen and see what is going on. Sure enough the baddest sound in the forest is a dang mouse rustling in the leaves. Then I feel better that if the mouse attacked in the middle of the night I might survive.

My wife and I had an experience with two mountain lions in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We were two days in on a 5 day loop and woke up to scratching on both sides of the tent. We immediately started making noise, clapping our hands and banging metal cups together. We stopped after one minute or so and right away they pawed at the tent. Needless to say we were terrified. We continued to make noise from 3 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. We would stop every couple of minutes to see if they were still outside our tent and sure enough they would paw as soon as we stopped. We verified their tracks in the morning once they left.
What is the suggested protocol for this?

I have never heard of mountain lions acting like that. What were they scratching at?

It sounds more like a grazing animal to me. Are you sure the sounds were connected to the lion tracks?

They were pawing at the tent. We could see and hear the tent being pawed. The paw would start 2.5 to 3 feet off the ground and either swipe down or to the side.

This surprises me because mountain lions have extremely sharp claws! With one swipe they could have ripped your tent from stem to stern! Since they evidently (and surprisingly) kept their claws retracted the whole time, I suspect they might have been a couple of young ones playing games (think half-grown kittens, but of course much larger).

Did you report this to the rangers? What did they say?

Did you turn on your flashlights?

We were thinking the same thing, that if they wanted to they could have come right in. The ranger we talked to thought the same thing, that they were two youngsters that were curious.

We did turn on our flash lights. Not really knowing what was out there until the morning we pretty scared and left them on all night long. Maybe a dumb idea that that I think of it, but at the moment seemed like the best idea.

This thread reminds me of a show my wife and I watch on Animal Planet. My wife cracks up every time. Anyways the show is "Finding Bigfoot". I wouldn't recommend the show right before a trip into the woods. Regardless of how credible it is.

If you want to get freaked out, read this:

http://www.amazon.com/Shikar-Jack-Warner/dp/0765303434

Good book, and I'm still more scared of people than anything in the woods, but it puts "what if" in a whole new light. Especially after I saw a black bear running through the woods and realized it only made a little more noise than a squirrel...

So from what I have gathered no one has an answer of what to do when you have an animal pawing at your tent.

Wait, you mean I shouldn't breakout out of my tent like a raving madman wearing nothing but my boxers screaming who knows what at the top of my lungs banging a stick on my cook pot while simultaneously waving my arms above my head and hoping up and down on one leg

I must be in the wrong thread

Samoset, that just might have done the trick!


The usual tactics are making lots of loud noises, such as yelling and pot banging, and shining lights. They don't seem to have worked with those curious cats! I'd have been banging on the tent wall (not where the paws were), but I doubt that would have helped, either--might have encouraged the cats to swipe back. Of course my Hysson would have been barking--oops, that was a national park, no dogs allowed. Probably bear spray wouldn't have been allowed, either!

In my experience, such situations are rather rare. The only significant such encounter I can recall is one in which i literally "set the table" by storing succulent sweet rolls inside the tent in anticipation of a morning breakfast. Storing food outside the tent keeps the critters away.

Really good thieving critters make little or no noise. One such master thief was a silent coatamundi who hung out near camp sites on Baboqivari (Arizona). He or she was in and out of your hanging pack in absolute silence in just a few seconds.

I would agree, having seen mountian lions in the wild I know how elusive they are. I bet I'm near to them much more than I'm aware of. I live about 1/4 mile from a big coyote den and they are very elusive. I saw a bobcat last week cross the road.

I have been spotted by far more more cougars that I have ever noticed. A new born colt we met on an early trip to Babo became the first one raised to maturity by the rancher living just below the east face. I have noticed tracks of large felines covering mine on descents, but I have never seen a mountain lion in the wild, not even once - bears and bobcats, yes, but not a single pussy cat....

Twice, once on top of the white mountians of ca, watching several deer when 2 split off and bolted to the open low sage. I then saw the tail and was so focused on it before I realized it was a lion about to get the fawn. The second one was backpacking Nevada beboping along when I saw something bolt in my peripheral. A second later I heard a noise I can't describe. I looked up and 75 yards ahead was a lion. I about crapped myself. Never been so scared. I grabbed 2 rocks near by and slammed them together and tossed one half heartedly towards the cat, but it was already on the move. I stayed still and yelled for my mother-in-law who was behind me. Once she caught up we went to the tracks and looked over the edge a few yards off and there was 6 or so deer feeding. So I figure I messed up the cats hunt and it hissed at me ran off and I was one lucky sob that day!!!

I heard about this video yesterday and I suspect this kid knows exactly how you felt....

I have seen one mountain lion (couger, catamount), turned a sharp corner on the AT in Shenandoah and he/she was about twenty yards away. Was so surprised I didn't remember not to look it in the eye, but it was gone in seconds. Beautiful critter! They are very rare these days in the east, even in areas they once frequented. Like others, I've seen quite a few bobcats and some bear, but almost always as a bit of fur, going very fast the other way. They've never worried me (though I am very careful with food).

As for noises outside, I don't use a tent, but still have the rustling problem. Typically I do not sleep all that well the first couple of nights out. But I've noticed that the longer I'm out the smaller the likely source of those noises seems to be. The first night, they are moose or bear, by the third or fourth night, field mice seem more likely. Never felt the need to actually do anything about it. Once in a while when it really bugs me I'll pound the ground and yell, but any effect is momentary.

best, jcp