Camping etiquette & security.

[Michael B]

Maybe a bit of a weird topic but had a weird experience last Saturday night in Annalong wood.

Myself and four friends camped out on Saturday night and there were at least two other groups of people in the same area. I decided to walk down to two of them and say hi and let them know we would be setting up not far from them. They were friendly enough, told us if we needed anything to give them a shout so we set up out tents, got the soup on and set a small fire in a firepit we found. We spend the next few hours sitting at the fire with the tents right behind us, literally a few meters from them.

About two hours later I was walking around the tents and noticed someone had put toilet roll all over the guys and the nearby trees and a torch was lying on the ground. Shortly after the people closest to us came over and asked if we had been messing with their tent. Someone had done the same to them apparently and taken some of their food.

Thought it was a bit weird and shortly after went to bed. The next morning someone has taken the milk from the porch in our tent and one of the other guys brought it back to us. It had been left at the thirds groups site. They had since left.

I wasn't really that bothered. No harm was done and it just seemed a bit silly but it made me a little uncomfortable that someone could snoop around so close to the tent without being noticed.

I have been considering going up on my own for a solo camp and wondering what people think about security, especially when there are people sneaking about doing things like this?

M.

[KyleL]

If I'm camping with a group, I will camp anywhere. On my own though, I will walk 2 to 3 hours away from civilisation - that's my protection.

[Michael B]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I wasn't surprised that there were others there. It seems to be the most popular spot in Annalong wood. I suppose if you are on your own you don't need much space so you can easily hide away somewhere discreet.

M.

[fourman]

Annalong wood is notorious for foxes , anything left in the poarch area and not zipped up inside is fair game , they grab first and inspect later. maybe one of them?

[KyleL]

[Mourneman]

Fourman is on the ball alright,I reckon it was one of the many foxes Annalong wood has,during the Christmas camp I walked back to my tent to fetch something when I saw at least four foxes around & indeed trying to pull items including backpacks from the porches of tents,these foxes are far from shy as grace well knows from the Christmas camp,the following morning her backpack which was inside the porch of her tent was missing,later found in the middle of the campsite with a hole in top,cookies were missing,on another occasion spuds frying pan,again was inside the porch was lifted by the sly mr fox,the vixens will have cubs now & then won't stop trying to feed them no matter what.so basically either keep all food items insidethetent with you,or store them " Canada style" ie in a waterproof pouch,bag on cord then throw it up over a branch at least 12-16 feet up,then tie the cord securely lower down.another wee tip when dealing with foxes & this sounds rotten,but a "wee bit of wee" around the porch of you're tent will put the fox off a bit,something we did in Canada.but on a more serious note foxes carry disease & anything it's been at needs a proper wash,always carry a alcohol hand wash,you can be sure as soon as you arrive at Annalong woods there's many eyes watching & waiting to get you're food.

[Michael B]

That's the culprit! Seen him lurking about on the way home.

He may have nicked our milk but how he did the toilet roll thing, I dont know.

In all seriousness though. I would have never considered foxes being about. See them all the time near the Sandyknowes roundabout near home so I imagine there would be plenty down there.

[Wolverine]

A strange one indeed mate. As another poster has asked, is it possible that the occurrences could've been caused by foxes? I'm actually heading there in a couple of weeks time for an overnighter.

[KyleL]

Have heard stories of them burrowing into tents to get food, so don't bring anything that smells and hang your dirty dishes on a tree so you don't get a hole in your nice new tent.

[Michael B]

Yeah, The milk was in a plastic bag sitting just beside the wall in the porch.

I'm hoping to go up again on either the 18th or 25th. Must pack things a bit more securely next time. There wasn't much room inside the tent because my friends all brought airbeds which took up all the space. I have a wee roll up mat and was surprised how well I slept.

Thanks for the advice, off to find my Roald Dahl books for some tips!

[Glenn B]

I was up last Friday night and had the place to myself its a handy wee spot and probably is busier on Saturday nights. Would also tend to sway towards Mr Fox as the culprit. Mourneman is 100% in what he is saying sling all your food and food waste even dirty dishes into bags and get them up the trees out of the way and if they are still tampered with its the Annalong beast. Lol.

[Michael B]

I imagine if there are people there most weekends the foxes are pretty bold by now. Just curious how they would react to people outside the tents?

[Glenn B]

The sly old boys would probably set up shop in the tent and go for a takeover bid if they knew you were not watching.

[Glenn B]

I wonder would they bother you if you were lying under a tarp in a bivvy. One of those licking at your face in the middle of the night don't like the thoughts of it particularly as I've never bivvy bagged before but would maybe give a go sometime somewhere were there are no foxes. Lol. .

[Michael B]

Yeah, I'm imagining things like that too. No thanks.