Ok, this is a bit of a silly question, but I think it's worth the possibility of getting laughed at to have an answer.

I haven't been able to find any sort of information about the expected noises I might hear in the middle of the woods at night while solo camping in my tent.

Ie, the difference between me being able to say, "Oh, that's just the wind," and me curling up in the fetal position positive that a mountain lion is about to rip through my tent and break my neck. (Though I doubt I'd actually *hear* the mountain lion...)

Is it common for small nocturnal animals to make a lot of noise, for instance?

Welcome to camping in the woods. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Haven't actually done any camping in the woods yet, so I'm just trying to cover all my bases to make sure I don't chicken out and run back to my car. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

You don't say where you're from, so that limits what we might tell you.

You may hear owls. You might hear coyotes, even in the east (exciting sound!). You may swear you hear footsteps close by even if there's nothing there. Or you may just fall asleep listening to the music of chirping crickets.

In the west, at least the Rockies or Cascades, in the fall you'll hear bull elk bugling. This noise ranges from a grunt to a loud squeal. One time a bull elk started bugling really close, in the meadow between my camp site and the lake. This was really exciting, until about the 5th or 6th time that he woke me out of a sound sleep. About that time I started contemplating elk stew!

If you're near a swift-running stream, you may swear you heard human voices. There's something about running water that does this to the human imagination.

If you hear a roaring, there are no waterfalls nearby and you're not at an ocean beach, it's probably the wind in the trees. If your tent is properly staked down and you haven't camped under dead trees or big dead branches (look up when selecting your tent site), just go back to sleep.

If you're visited by a mountain lion or bear, you probably won't hear a thing. If you find tracks in the morning, consider yourself privileged! The possibility of a cougar's attacking you in your tent is pretty much nonexistent. If it should ever happen (also unlikely) it will be out on the trail, especially if you're biking or running (fast-moving = prey to a predator). With a bear, you won't hear him walking but he might snuffle a bit. Hopefully you will have properly secured your food, high in a tree or in a bear-proof container away from camp, and definitely not in your tent! Last time I had a bear in camp, the only way I knew was because my dog was growling with all his hair standing on end. If you do hear a 4-footed animal, it's most likely a deer. Generally, predators have soft padded feet; prey have hard hooves. So you won't hear the predators, just their potential dinner. In lots of places, deer will congregate where people have urinated, looking for salt. It's therefore a good idea to perform that function well away from your tent, on bare ground or rocks so they won't tear up the vegetation.

If you're in an area where there are skunks, (1) hang your food and (2) don't go out of the tent at night without a light. You won't hear them, but you don't want to trip over one in the dark!

I'm usually awake a lot the first night out because I'm excited about the night sounds. After that, I sleep just fine. I did two back-to-back one week trips last month, and it was several days afterwards before I could sleep in a bedroom--I missed the fresh air and soothing natural night noises!

As finallyME said,



<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the info!



Northeast PA.



Do I have to worry about a deer tripping over my tent, or do they see well enough in the dark?

They wouldn't be walking around in the dark if they couldn't see very well. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Wait until you hear some owls mating directly over your tent. That should make you run back to your car! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The only time I remember being worried about animals stepping on me was on Isle Royale. Every morning at about dawn, the moose began moving. They make a lot of noise and they think nothing about walking through a campsite with tents. And there were a lot of them. Very disconcerting to hear such heavy hoof beats a few feet from your head.

By the third morning, I was accustomed to it. By the end of the week, it was welcome and kind of reassuring.

Not having camped back east, I don't know exactly what you might hear, but out here I've heard:

1) deer footsteps - pretty loud and solid, depending on what the ground is like of course

2) wind blowing leaves and stuff - sounds like something creeping along if your imagination is overactive

3) rodents moving through leaves - see above

4) owls hooting

5) birds/rodents chirping or squeaking

A friend heard a mountain lion screaming repeatedly near her camp; it eventually unnerved her enough that she packed up and rode back home on her bike (she'd ridden out to camp for the night at Point Reyes). That's probably pretty rare.

I recommend getting some good (comfortable) earplugs. That way you can ignore all those things that make your imagination work overtime. Works for me!

Earplugs sounds like a good idea! Hopefully I won't need them, since the crickets sound so soothing most of the time.

Earplugs! I always bring them. Though I usually put them in around false dawn when critters start getting animated. Sometimes though I just can't nod off without them, not so much out of anxiety over the noises, but just because they are so LOUD.

Northeast Penn, huh, not that far from me!

Enjoy your trip! Keep me in mind if you want get together on the trail.

You will hear EVERYTHING! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Even things that aren't there. You've got two strikes against you....1. never been camping in the woods and 2. going solo your first time out. But not to worry......

There is a bit of a 'confidence' curve you'll have to get past at first. Your senses will be 'full tilt boogie' the first night out. Things sound much closer at night. Silly things like car headlights or flashlights a mile away will light up the tent wall, making you think your camp is being invaded. A bright moon rising will do this too. After about night three, you'll settle in and care less after you learn more, and become comfortable with your surroundings.
When I take folks camping for the first time, especially kids/teenagers, we usually lay out under the stars, no tent or tarp, on a ground cover. That way there is not much mystery about "whats on the other side of the tent wall?" Plus, they really enjoy the night sky. I've not slept in a tent in over ten years, and prefer hammocks...you can see! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> You might consider a night in the backyard, under the stars, it's nice...and will do wonders for your first night in the woods.
You'll hear things like bucks snort, raccoons sneaking around, night birds, lots of things. Here in Texas we have armadillos that root around all night long.
Try and enjoy the night music, instead of worrying about what might 'getcha'. Seriously, there is very little out there you can actually consider a threat. Your own fear is probably your biggest enemy. So....lay awake, be very still, and listen. You'll probably be asleep in 20 minutes.
I think you'll do great and we all are expecting a trip report!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

abp
you need a pair of peril sensitive sunglasses like Ford Prefect. When yer in real peril, they turn completely black so you can't see it. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> like these <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

The other replies have mostly covered it, but I will mention a few of the other animals, besides deer, you might hear poking around at night, just so you can see how harmless they are:

- opossums
- porcupines
- raccoons
- mice

Hearing these animals waddling around in dry leaves in the dark can trigger a quick adreneline rush that, even after you know it's 'nothing to worry about' could leave you as wide awake and fretful as if you'd been chugging espresso drinks with supper.

Over the long term, the antidote is familiarity. You learn the sounds. Now when I hear a deer in my campsite (hooves make a distinctive sound) I just tell it in an irritated voice that I'm trying to sleep and to please go away. Then I turn over and go back to sleep. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Don't forget the fox at Daisy Farm - or the loons!

The beaver slapping the water is also a unique sound. But the all-time greatest sound there is if you're lucky enough to hear a wolf howl. (I heard it one time only.)

It's not exactly a noise, but have you ever seen the Northern Lights from the Isle? I keep hoping...

At one point in my spike camp in the fall I had a pair of barred owls (yes, wrong time of year, they were dumb because of the length of day) braying away all night. If you don't know what a barred owl sounds like, imagine a loud donkey with the hiccups that can talk
screaming "who cooks for you.. who cooks for you alllllll" all night. By 2 am, I got up,
hollered, threw sticks. nothing helped. They were determined to sit in the poplars and serenade...

You'll hear things running around. nothing will bother you. Most likely, you'll hear mice and rodents in the leaf litter. You have to just trail your rational brain to overcome the fear of it. I've gotten to where it doesn't bother me, up to the point where the mice are running over my face while sleeping under a tarp (don't like that). or my favorite, was deciding the skritchy noises were too close and looking out of my hammock to see a porcupine rummaging around under it looking for salt (sniffing and licking my trekking poles). Fortunately my boots were hanging on my hammock strap so he didn't chew 'em up

I've heard and seen moose walk through my camp. deer many times. nothing that
walks around at night will bother you, unless you go about slathering yourself in dead fish before you go to bed or something.

Hey, Dull Knife. I heard some freaky nighttime rumblings coming from your tent after we had that spaghetti...you better bring the Beano next time <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

BF <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I always have hiked with others and I still think their snoring is a wild animal sometimes. Scares the crap out of me..lol.

"unless you go about slathering yourself in dead fish before you go to bed or something."

Does this fall under the category of "lessons I learned the hard way"? Possibly using the first line of most of the college stories my son-in-law tells: "This one time, when I was drinking..."? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I will say, the scariest thing I ever heard in the woods, which also happens to be about the least dangerous thing out there, is a screech owl. Seriously... first time I heard one of those I nearly jumped out of my sleeping bag. Was terrifying.

Still, once I figured out what it was, not scary, just loud.

Oh boy... try raccoons squabbling through your camp in the pitch black.

There was an overnighter in Sequoia NP I did when something with heavy footsteps went by, then there were crashing noises that sounded like rocks being overturned, then something wood being torn into... the bear didn't bother my canister or me but it was sure having fun with downed trees. That was the trip I got up the next morning and discovered bear scratches on the tree next to the tree I tied my hammock to.

The most annoying and consistently bothersome noise was a guy in the tent near where I camped in a Yosemite backpacker's campground - he had somehow not brought a sleeping bag, and was using a space blanket. Every hour or so there was about ten minutes of rustling as he tried to get comfy. (We won't talk about the other noises he made. Darn Mountain House!)

No laughter here. Listening to a bear ripping up stuff is darn scary, as is listening to any footfall or rustle you haven't heard before. I talk to the critters - they go away. Heck, I was talking to the full moon one night, thinking it was a backpacker wandering up the ridge with a Maglite, it was so bright!

Don't be too startled about falling branches or pine cones if you are in forested areas. That freaked me out for a good while and started me looking up before I pitch camp. As long as you are under young green trees nothing too heavy will fall on your tarp/tent.

No. closest I got was automatic transmission fluid after wrapping the tranny cooler lines of my truck around the driveshaft on the bottom side of a through to-another vehicle hike. So before starting out I had basically taken a bath/shower in tranny fluid. I ducked my head in puddles with a little campsuds but I still left a sheen everywhere...

And in case you're wondering why I say that's close - I've seen black bears in the old hinton garbage dump take half full cans of motor oil and just drink them - like a beer.

I can't believe no one here told him about the chupacrabas.

I've been told they sound a lot like mice and armadillos rustling around at night.

Bill

Also, if you camp close to a water source, like a creek or stream, every animal in the woods will pass there for water. Then go out in the morning and see all the tracks. It is just amazing.

I believe you crossed the line with that one, Bill. Of all the serious back country threats you AREN'T supposed to talk to new campers about, chupacabras and trans-tent-wall alien abductions (TTWAA) top the list. Shame on you.
I can see the headlines..."camper found with empty cranium and blood drained....police baffled"


<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

The first time I heard a male Grouse looking for the ladies I thought my heart was going to go through my chest <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> Boy did I feel d-u-m-b after I figured out what it was.

The wind is always interesting at night - especially if you have a permit on the outside of your tent. ScratchScratch! All night long.

Had a marmot that would not get out from under my rain fly one trip <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> another time I lay there looking up as Squirrels ran back and forth between my rain fly and the inner tent. It was a looser design - we were car camping. I'd hit the ceiling and they would fall down. And come right back. All freaking night.

I wouldn't be to freaked out at some of the noises that you will hear at night. The last time I went out, I heard something getting chased by what sounded like cayotes. They werent barking like dogs but yapping. The pray they were after made screaming noises and in a few minutes it was all over. I guestimate it was a hundred yards ffrom where I was camped and about 3am. I just went back to sleep.
If your easily freaked out by unfamilier sounds you might consider taking along a friend the first couple of trips.

We were car camping in October on Vancouver Island just out of Victoria, and after a steak dinner and pitching the bones and stuff in the fire went to bed. A few hours later I bolted up in the tent when I heard this:

animal sound

I sat there listening and it went on for two minutes, but I didn't wake up either my wife or brother who were both in the tent snoring away from a little too much BC Okanagan Valley white wine. It was vicious, and eventually trailed away into the woods.

No kidding, it sounded like this:

more animal noise

First I thought they were a couple of wolverines. But then I did a little research and it looks like the wolverines' territory doesn't include Vancouver Island. (Anyone know for sure?)

Then someone said they were just raccoons fighting over the steakbones my brother had pitched in the fire. Unless they burned those cute little paws digging them out, I can't pin such a hateful, terrorizing sound on those creatures.

Then I remembered the cartoon and sure enough, this is the sound closest to what I heard. Is it possible some ex-Aussie released his pet Tasmanian Devils on Vancouver Island and that's what I was hearing?

Just glad I didn't meet up with them in the daytime, especially if their paws were scorched.

It was raccoons - they sound a lot like that when really angry. Had some fighting in my camp in Sequoia not long ago. Guess I never thought of them as cute - a friend was raising one that was found orphaned in a post office, and I coon-sat for her, and I'm so very glad it was a youngster and not a full grown one. Strong, loud, and demanding. And those cute little paws can rip you up.

The same black bear exploring and sniffing around my tent made all the hair on my body raise for a long time, every night while camping by a lake in Labrador.
Suspect splashing and panic screams in the nearby croc-populated billabong kept me awake some more nights.
Various rodents, and possums, and young birds in pre-dawn hours can be horrendously noisy, but not that scary. And falling asleep with the sound of wind (not howling gales...) or pounding waves is such a nice thing!
But altogether, I always feel that "two-legged" animals noise can be more frightening...

Exactly, frenchie. Humans are the only animals that usually prey on humans. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

The scariest growl I ever heard while camping was VERY close. It woke me up screaming to scare away what ever it was. Then it growled again, only this time inside my sleeping bag... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Yes. Earplugs!

Stop making me laugh out loud when I'm reading this surreptitiously at work! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

That's good advice Chaz. I'd add that one that is a slow runner and sound sleeper is a good first choice.

Seriously, I was camping alone on the Buffalo River in Arkansas and was woke early one morning by a monstrous and horrifying inhuman screaming that would have scared even a sound effects guy for horror films.

I peaked out of my tent and it was just barely dawn with a creepy low fog rolling around the banks of the river. I could tell the noise was coming from just around a bend upstream. I decided to go find out what is was when it let loose another terrifying howl so then I decided to stay where I was and not get eaten.

Bill

Bill:



That's it? You're going to leave us hangin'?? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

This is the pause, just before Bill leaps across the campfire, shouting "and then.... AAAAAHHH! I SAW IT COMING AFTER ME!"

After which, you all have another round of s'mores.

The worst and "scariest" noise in the woods I ever heard (not camping, but sleeping in a longhouse, hight above ground, and safe...), was a desperate, near-human wail that stopped brutally. The next morning, we discovered a dead piglet, which had been swallowed alive by a python, and spit out asphyxiated (?)...Bigger hunger, than mouth and belly.

That would deserve some s'mores.

That's it. I zipped the tent up and fell back to sleep. I have no idea what it was but I've never heard anything like it before or since and I've camped at or near that same spot several times since then.

I did go around the bend later that morning and I didn't find anything with an empty cranium and blood drained, or even any footprints. Maybe it was one of those giant birds that carry off their prey.

Bill

You're right Dryer, I should have known better. Especially since he posted his message on the "Backcountry Beginners" topics.

I guess I figured that everyone here knows that the whole reason for having lightweight gear is so you can run faster than the beasts that try to eat you out there. I'll try to be more careful in the future...

Bill

Glad you learned you lesson, Bill. You and I both know the "Ultralite Backpackers Motto" when hiking with a buddy in a chupacabra infested area.......

"All I need to do is be able to out run YOU! " <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

. . . right after you change your shorts . . .

I'll at least admit that it probably was the fact that I couldn't hold it any longer that finally got me out of the tent. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />


Bill

Whats has scared me the most has been branches breaking around my camp. It could have just been twigs but it sounded Loud so I imagined it was a big branch and something big had to have broken it

Well my first trip a few weeks ago I was very nervous as well. I was 6 miles up deep in the smokies at a backcountry site notorious for bears (#30) and so I was worried about that. Didn't get any bear visits but long about 3 am I woke up hearing believe it or not a cat meow really loud. I questioned my sanity and then I heard it again like a house cat doing a loud 'meowwww' somewhere close by. Feeling kind of silly I stupidly meowed back and it stopped. Imagine my horror when I got back home and researched on google finding several videos of cougars and such that apparently can meow and sound just like a house cat! Now I don't know that it was a cougar but I don't think there are too many stray house cats that far back up in the smokies. In any case I sure let it know where I was at with my return meows lol...

Bears can actually make a lot of noise. I have heard them at night on a couple of occasions, and it sounds like a person lumbering through the woods.

I'm glad someone brought up the grouse. The first time I heard a grouse I thought it was the smoke monster from Lost. I had no idea what it was until I ran into a ranger the next day and asked him about it. I think that is one of the coolest sounds to hear in the woods as well as being the brunt of many jokes when hiking with other people.

This thread is fun. Plenty of night time noises will keep you wide-eyed.

However, it is best to remember that the dangerous things are quiet. Very quiet. That's why they are dangerous. Otherwise they leave the gene pool.

The rustling in the leaves is probably a beetle, not a butcher-knife yielding psycho. BKWPs are stealthy.

The huffs and stomping are deer who are upset because you have camped inconsiderately in their usual path.

Screams are either birds or small animals being eaten by bigger animals. A rabbit's death scream will send most folks up a tree. When a panther screams, it is just horney, and has its mind on something other than eating you. It might run you down on the way to his or her rendezvous with luv, but he won't stop for a meal of stringy hiker.

The quiet when you can hear your own pulse and the sigh of your own breath means that something with claws and teeth is stalking. Don't fear the cacaphony of the woods. Fear the silence.
-----------------------------------------

Sorry. That was way too much of a temptation. It's all true, of course. But really, the most dangerous things in the woods are the ground apes. Especially when we are afraid of something.

Heh. yeah, I was with someone once who hadn't heard it before - I used to hunt coyotes
back in high school so I knew it - but they just about wigged out. A wounded snowshoe hare up here can sound like a roomful of babies being roasted alive - probably what makes
it so darn creepy.

I hope that the OP is still with us and that he realizes when folks are pulling his leg! I notice that nobody has suggested hunting snipes yet, but no doubt that will be next.

Seriously, night noises are part of the ambience, IMHO, and you'll soon get used to them and learn to love them as I do.

And teasing beginners about night noises is a tradition that probably goes back to very ancient times!

Mmmm. Babies. I prefer them barbequed.

Someone mentioned that bears are noisey. They are unless they want to be quiet. Then they are quiet. Most of the time, they just blunder where ever they want to go. No need for stealth when they are stalking your food bag.

oh come on Mouse... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />
Surely you've told a scary campfire story. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />I heard a lot of scary stories about Sasquatch around a campfire last night. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> I must say - I am more interested than afraid of meeting Sasquatch, but have you ever heard recordings of Sasquatch screams? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Whoa - and I mean really erie high pitched almost like wolves yodeling... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
Anyway I was sort of thinking about downloading some of the screams and playing them back at great volume while camped in Sasquatch country to see if I could call them in. I wonder if he climbs trees and if a tree deer stand would work? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Jim, thats the mating call. Haven't you ever heard Tarzan calling to Jane?

O.k I was trying not to bring the snipe thing up. But yes, I caught a snipe when I was a tenderfoot in the BSA. The critter bit me but it got BBQed. Don't ever let a snipe get away. They are a tasty treat.

What's all this insinuation about snipe hunting not being real - you folks are just trying to
play a joke on the newbies. snipe are very tasty:


Note that the shotgun is probably for other species - since the snipe hardly ever flush if you get taken out remember you're far better off with a bag and good flashlight to catch snipe.

I can only assume this ridiculous insinuation about snipe hunting not being on the up and up is just more anti-hunting claptrap from you pack of granola crunching tree hugging types.

Protect our heritage - take a newbie snipe hunting today.

Hey, that is when i caught mine as well. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> They are tasty, especially with BBQ sauce.

The most annoying sound I heard was when I was married:

She: Honey? Are you awake? ARE YOU AWAKE?? Hellooooo?? I said, Are YOU AWAKE!!?

Me: NO!!

No seriously. Some type of howler monkey at 3am in Belize. I actually heard someone else in the camp yell "SHUT UP!!!" to the monkeys, but they were 2 miles away. Really annoying.

Howler monkeys.

From tent: Shaddddddddup!!!

No, the most *annoying* sound ever heard at night is the sound of three idiots who camp 200 meters from your spike camp in hunting season, and whose idea of "hunting" is to sit outside by the
campfire getting rip roaring drunk then to start singing along to both types of music (country AND western) at 3:30 in the AM. All while you would really like to get sleep so you can go places and do things the next day.

I'll take the howler monkeys over that.

phat

actually the very worst most annoying sound was a jesus freak convention in Yosemite Valley and they sang religious songs till 2am.

Perhaps the scariest camping sound in california is the rather quiet sound of a man walking through deep gravel outside your tent, when you know you're camped on rock or dirt. Its the throaty purr of a mountain lion.

My wife says to add that having a volcano blow off steam 40 miles away was the most frightening sound she ever heard. We were up on Mt Rainear when Mt Saint Helens popped off a minor "steam venting". A huge brown cloud of it.

Jim

Ugh. and if you were in the park you'd have been forbidden the use of the solution I used for the singing redneck problem too..

My brother, Sam, and his son, Nathan, invited themselves to come with me after I told them I was heading to the Buffalo River for a few nights. Then they invited their dog, Tia, to come along too.

The dog started barking about 30 seconds after we bedded down and kept it up for about an hour without either my brother or my nephew doing a thing. Finally I broke down and asked them to tell their dog to stop. That was a mistake because this is what I got...

Tia: "Woof Woof Woof..."

Sam: "Nathan, tell the dog to shut up"

Nat: "Tia, Shut up"

Tia: "Woof Woof Woof..."

Sam: "Nathan, tell the dog to shut up"

Nat: "Tia, Shut up"

Tia: "Woof Woof Woof..."

Sam: "Nathan, tell the dog to shut up"

Nat: "Tia, Shut up"

Tia: "Woof Woof Woof..."

This lasted for at least another few hours. The trip lasted until daybreak when I decided to head back home instead of enjoying more of their company.

Bill

Jimshaw:



You still talking about your freaky noise in that sleeping bag?



I don't know . . . but I think I could fall asleep in my tent listening to this (working a new angle with this video). But I wouldn't dream of fallin' asleep with Dick Cheney there, sitting there singing along with the singer (see clip), since: 1) I can't stand the guy, 2) he has a propensity for shootin' people in the woods.

Yeah, I certainly like it when you think you have found the perfect hidden camp spot and some fool decides to party all night. You think your hidden but you can't always hide from sound. Last time I went out, we passed up a spot by the creek to be more LNT but some young dingbats decided to take the spot. At the crack of dawn, I was awoken by them gathering firewood for their stealth bonfire. It sounded like they were breaking trees and limbs. I wanted to club em but politely told them that they were in a wilderness area and that is a no no. they really didn't give a crap. On our way out, I mentioned it to a ranger we met at a store. I don't know the outcome.

Sounds like story time phat....do tell. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Not that much to tell. The camp gun for bear issues at the time was an M1A (an semi-auto M-14) with a 20 round stick of .308 loaded. At about 3:30 I'd had enough, got up, took the camp gun, put in my earplugs, proceeded to yell and panic screaming "bear bear" lots of foul language, and the better part of 20 rounds of .308 popped off rapidly into the air.. I took out my earplugs and went to sleep (they were quiet other than some muted and surprised foul language as the shooting stopped)

I ran into them heading out at 2 pm the next day while I was coming back in from a morning jaunt,
they asked if I was camped where I was with the deer hanging in camp, and asking about the noise in the middle of the night. I just said "yeah, we had a big bear come in after our hanging meat. and he was ornery. I think we wounded him though.. you should keep an eye out" - they were quiet
the rest of their evenings (or at least, they didn't wake me up <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> )

I suspect the M-14 would be frowned upon by the Yosemite wardens.. Not to mention it weighs darn near what the base weight for my backpack is these days - makes a bear canister look light anyway <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

The strangest noise I heard camping was being awakened by the sound of what seemed to be something brushing against the tent. About every 30 seconds there was a swoosh sound.

I was pretty perplexed. I wasn't camping next to any bushes and didn't think I was on an animal trail. If I was on an animal trail then it was a huge line of critters walking past my tent.

Then I got to thinking that maybe it was a bear swatting at my tent. With that happy thought in my head I unzipped the door to my tent and saw that during the night it had started snowing! The sound was snow collecting on the top of my tent, and when the weight got to be too much, sliding down.

Chad

Animal Noises...

Some of those are a little freaky too...

Bill

Last Halloween I was called by a friend who's daughter was having a party that night. She asked if I could come by late that night, sneak into the woods behind their house and do something scary.
So, my daughter and I drove over, parked up the street, and snuck into the woods maybe 200ft behind the party house. The party was in the garage and on the patio.
On the count of three, my daughter and I blew into two crow calls, plus a wounded rabbit call, with full force breaths. That most ungodly shriek literally shut down the party....and some of the kids called their parents! The lights went on, on the house next door. Some of the braver kids stood on the porch, peering into the darkness. That's when I pulled out a Swedish Fire Steel and struck some really big sparks. (daughter and I were laughing so hard we almost gave ourselves away.) Those sparks blinded the kids long enough that we could slip away about 100' and repeat the process. Parents were showing up early....friend had to do some explaining, daughter and I had already slipped away. You wouldn't believe the noise three game calls can make when over-blown, all at the same time.
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Partying fools are the most obnoxious late night disruption.

I, while car camping with my kids, had the pleasure of a late night arrival of 10-15 cars of teenagers in the woods not far from my campsite. Of course there was drinking, loud music, screeching laughter and all the door slamming & yelling back & forth that goes with such action. It continued into the wee hours of the morning, but I told my kids, "We are getting up at 6 am regardless." And we did.
6 am - I placed my radio at the edge of my camping area, pointed in the direction of the partiers and turned up as loud as possible, banged and clanged as much as possible with skillets & pots while fixing pancakes. Also included was my incessant yelling about various things intermittantly accompanied with the most screeching version of the dying rabbit blues I could produce on one of these. I did not let the late night teenage partiers sleep in. Around 10am we were packed up to leave and I rode my horn as I drove by their camp and had the pleasure of giving some sleepy head that was peeking from a tent the bird.

Years ago while on a ski trip to NM with some friends, we had stayed in some duplex cabins for one night. We were getting up early the next day, skiing all day and then driving back to TX.
A loud, drunken bunch arrived at the cabin next to us at 2am, turned on the TV and of course there was the loud talking and piercing laughter that goes with it all.
My party arose at 5:30 & was packed in the car by 6. The last thing done was to turn the TV around, aim it next door right up against the wall and turn it all the way up and quickly lock the door and leave. We accidentally took the key with us and had to mail it back later.

I don't think that justice is unjust.

That's a great one! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Reminds me of this story...

A buddy of mine, Mike, used to have a yearly camp out with a bunch of friends. The story he told me went something like this...

One year he (Mike) bought (or recorded) a cassette with what he called "Devil Worshipper Chants" and hid a boom box out in the woods.

After it got dark and the party was well along and everyone was well lit, he went out into the woods and turned on the boom box with the volume kind of low, and walked back to the party. At first the party racket was too loud for anyone to notice the chanting, so Mike piped up, "Hey, did you guys hear that?".

Hear what?

I dunno, it sounded freaky though.

I didn't hear anything.

A few minutes later... Wait a minute, I heard it again, quiet down and listen.

Oh yeah... I hear it now. What the hell is that?

Sounds like Devil Worshippers. I've heard rumors of cults around here. Let's go check it out.

No way.

I'm going out there, I want to see what they're doing.

You're crazy.

So, Mike heads out, and in a few minutes people start asking, "What happened to Mike?"

About that time Mike splatters some ketchup on his face and hands, turns up the volume on the boom box, and then comes running through camp screaming "Run for your lives, they're after your blood!"

According to Mike, many of the campers did indeed run too, and some of them quite a bit faster than he would have ever figured they could.

Bill

What cha tryin to do, give some people a heart attack? Personally, if you would have asked me to go check it out, I just might go all Rambo on your Boom Box. I ain't feered of no boom box. And if they were devil worshippers for real, they would most likely be politicians.

I was trying to copy and paste a reply to your story about loud party jerks waking you up etc. But I have Vista and it is not co-operating. Anyway, I made the mistake of thinking I could check into a Casino and get sleep. There must have been 15 people in the next room. I hate Casinos anyway and was there with friends. I usually shut it off at midnight. I wish I had thought of your TV idea. I'll remember that one for sure. Sweet vengence.......

Chaz,
I have noticed that a deer rifle can silence a lantern at several hundred yards. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Several hundred ? I thought you were a crack shot. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

More with a scope. But I didn't know a lantern made noise. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Only when it's wounded - then it tries to sound like an injured snipe to throw off it's pursuers <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Oh yeah Snipe BBQed, good eatin <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

If you're not a crack shot and hit the propane cylinder instead of the mantle - I'd say it makes noise!

Yeah. I was thinking candle or batteries.

Not really, if you're talking about the green coleman propane cylinders - they don't go boom. That's hollywood. If you shoot them with a rifle they spew, and most of the time don't
ignite. Even igniting them only produces a nice flare. not a boom. Let's just say my misspent youth shot at lots of "interesting" things. Hollywood makes lots of things explode that don't. Generally speaking stuff like propane and gas has to be mixed with air before it'll explode. coming out of a container, even ignited, it just burns. (unless you let the stuff coming out mix with air first before providing a source of ignition - then boom..

Otherwise my turkey fryer would have exploded yesterday - instead of just making quick work of a turkey <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Not one you are likely to hear in your neck of the woods but the humble male Koala has a mighty roar that can be heard for miles. Rather strange sound when it is dark and you are long way from home.

Youtube video of a male roaring.
Go Fish video (no vision just sound).

Cheers,
Michael.

Man Aussie - that would scare the pooey out of me if I didn't know what it was.

That's worse than the wild pigs that invaded my camp last time I went out. I thought I was being invaded!

I want to know what type animal it is that sniffs me or bumps me when I am sleeping in my hammock. It freaks me out. What an why? As for night time noises I am usually immune because I sleep right though them, I guess - or there are no nighttime noises in my local area.

Please don't chicken out. Just look at how many people are on all the forums -- they all sleep in the woods. Control your mind - there is no boogie man. Just don't sleep with chicken wings in your tent.

I don't think Michelle (OP) is here anymore. She hasn't posted since a few days after starting her membership, and she hasn't responded to any of my PMs.

I guess I should have waited until she got back from her first trip to tell her about the Chupacabras <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Bill

When I was driving around the desert near El Paso doing military stuff, they had these warning signs for Peligros. Someone told me how ferocious they were, much like a small chupacabre. Anyways, the signs all read " Warning! Peligro!". The military always wants you to be aware of all the dangers around you.

(Don't worry, I know what Peligro means in spanish, in case someone wanted to educate me.) <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Peligro means 'danger' in spanish.

Back when I was a teenager, I spent a week on a survival 'camp out' in the Superstition Mountains. We hiked back and eventually nested in a remote area with a small, nasty spring for water. There is an old legend of a miner who went up into the mountains and found a huge load of gold. The tale has it that he died without ever disclosing the location.

Anyways, on the 2nd night of our stay, I was sleeping in a makeshift lean too with a few others, and having a hard time sleeping, for whatever reason. As I lay there, in the pitch black, I began to hear the sound of 'picking' way off in the distant. Maybe a mile or so. Then it got closer. Then it drew further away. Then it sounded like it was about 10 yards away. It kept going all night long. I had a machette with me (I was 16, what do you want?) and lay there with my hand gripped so tightly that I lost feeling. The noise kept fading and returning. It was awful.

The next night I was so exhausted that I fell asleep right after dark. The last night we were there, I did hear it again, but it faded away as I fell asleep. No one else heard it, but I'll be damned if it wasn't as clear as day.

That's my story of eery nighttime noises. And yes, I plan on hiking about Four Peaks in the near future, so I'll be listening for it. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

You ruined the joke. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Here's what could happen to you when you hear those freaky noises at night...

Be brave <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Bill

That's a good one, Bill. Wonder if Franco has anything to add to that (other than the guy must have been pulled into a Rainshadow 2, since it's the only HS Tarptent that holds 3 people.), Looking more for the answer to "Is that what it's really like to camp in Australia?"

Night takes away our vision, so gradually our hearing becomes more sensitive. During the day, hiking through the woods, stop, sit down, put on a blindfold. Just Listen. You will most likely start hearing noises you did not hear as you hiked along. The same will be true at night. You start hearing things you cannot see. Your imagination kicks in. Harmless natural sounds are suddenly foot steps. It's a bear or a mad man! A bush that faded into a shadowy shape at dusk suddenly becomes a monster ready to pounce. I think I'll take my night chances in the woods rather than a darkened city street. Also, try letting your eyes adjust to the dark. Keep any light off for several minutes as you stare into the dark. Pitch black often fades away.

I wish it was. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I hope we haven't scared you away with too many freaky woods noises. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Don't worry, Chaz, she's long gone.

If not, here's a link to an entry I just found on Trail Journals that sent shivers down my spine. Way too freaky. And to think, I was considering hiking this trail....

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=224058

People are to easily freaked out. So if all that stuff did happen, I still wouldn't have left without packing up my stuff. Oh! did anyone hear dueling banjos playing?

home again sick and grumpy .just read this entire thread and found most of it pretty funny . also the question did get ansewered .

other than the usual noises my ....incident .... goes like this, after spending a long and damp,cool type day of trudging around exploring a new area i had made it back to camp, warmed up and eaten. it was past bed time and i was sitting by the fire kind of dozing in lala land. out of the blue a wolf lets out this howl and by the tracks and scraping he was 30 feet away from me. this caused me to spring up and land on my feet,and with heart rate going full out a slow grin came to my face and then a good laugh what a way to wake up. then it was bed time . those beasts are loud at that close distance.

That reminds me of this story...

I've camped at the same spot many times. It's public land now. Lot's of coyotes there, but the wolves are long gone now. (There are stories of sightings, my neighbors supplied the latest one, but I've never seen one.)

Bill

sheesh what can you say i do not usually think of wolves like that,as far as i can remember there has only been a couple of documented cases of wolf s doing that up here. sounds pretty awful, maybe this should be a new animal saftey tangent for me to get off on........ just kidding

Welcome to the great outdoors! The noises are great, I always try to identify what made the sounds (being a Wildlife Biology major helps a lot)

Probably the craziest thing that ever happened to me was not on a backpacking trip, it was walking to my friends house with his dog. We live in the middle of no where Maine, and my buddy Alan lives on a homestead 3 miles down a logging road.

I was walking his dog at night, stopped to take a leak, all of a sudden a huge moose came out (rut season as well). I thought I was gonna get charged, it was so close. I quickly zipped up and hid behind a tree opposite of him. He did nothing, just stood there in his massiveness, then turned around and left. But geez, what a fright! Moose can really do some damage. The dog went buckwild but luckily its a small dog so I grabbed him and took him behind the tree with me.

Another startling moment was hearing a pack of coyotes about 20 yards away. I could hear them rustling around through the shrubs. Then 2 minutes went by and I heard them all howling so loud - they must have found a kill. It was amazing. Needless to say I pulled my knife within reaching distance lol, and was glad the kill wasn't me. I have a feeling that the knife wouldn't do much to a coyote, more over a pack of coyotes

You would be suprised at what you can do with only a knife. An avid hunter I used to work with, told me a story of one of his Boar hunts in Mississippi a few years ago. He was bow hunting and shot a boar that ran away. So he tracked it down the trail and realized it was hiding behind him. As he turned, the wounded pig charged with the arrow still in him. He sidesteped the charging pig and jumped on it with his hunting knife intending to finish it off. He dropped the knife but still had a hold of the moving pig. His only weapon at that point was the arrow. He pulled it out and used it to repeatedly jab the pig in the open wound. He freakin killed the pig like Conan or something. When he was telling the story, I couldn't believe it. But, whitnesses confirmed that "Bridgewater" was indeed a hunting machine.
BTW he also hand grabs giant catfish and can dress a Deer like it's a speed contest on T.V..

Moonshine stills if you ever camp in the SE mountains.

While steelhead fishing on the smith river in no. ca, My friend and I awoke to the sound of CRACK, WHOOSH, BLAM, sevral times. Come to find out it had started snowing just after we fell asleep and it was the sound of redwood boughs breaking under the weight of new fallen snow and landing only a few feet from our tent! pretty scary. And as a word of caution for those of you who sleep under the stars, a packing friend had a pine cone fall from a hundred feet or so and hit her on the jaw, shattering it. Talk about a rude awakening!

. . . and never park yourself or your car under a sugar pine in Kings Canyon NP. Those cones are two-foot missles falling from the upper reaches of 20-story trees. Wonder if anyone's ever succumbed to being hit by one?

Worst noises ever--skunks mating. Seriously freaked me out.

OK, worse was a grizz schnuffling around my tent in the Northwest Territories. Sure, the grizzlies are smaller up there, but so what?

I think that is part of the reason that I trek into the back country. That is to hear all the noises that I love to hear but do not really get the chance to hear in the city. I think that one of my favorite things is to just lay in my hammock early in the morning and just listen to the sounds of the wild. Gosh, after doing that for a week or so, I can come back to town feeling almost like a human again...sabre11004...

The first step that you take will be one of those that get you there !!!!!

We were in middle eastern Tennessee about a year ago and heard something in the night howling. The friend that I was with said that it was a wolf but I didn't really think that there were wolves where we were at. Later on after getting back home I watched a T.V. special about wolves and it said that the populations of wolves were being built back up in this area. We have never seen one, but (I think) have sure heard them before and it is quite a hair raising sound for sure...sabre11004...

Yes bears do sound like a person going through the woods. Some times if they are big enough, they sound like a large drunk person walking through the woods. I have always hoped that the bears that we have encountered, would not find any thing interesting around us and just kind of mosey on along and most of the time they do with out bothering any thing. They are usually just looking for food. Besides, the truth be known, they are probably a lot more scared of us than we are of them.

The first step that you take will be one of those that get you there !!!!

No don't run back to your car because if there is a bear near by he will follow you just out of curiosity...and he can catch you no matter what or how fast you are...sabre11004...

The first step that you take will be one of those that get you there !!!!

Ahh, yes!!!!! The crickets are among my favorites and sometimes you just can't go to sleep without them...sabre11004...


The first step that you take will be one of those that get you there !!!!!