Camping-night visitors
Summer has arrived in full swing. Although I am no longer able to pack a tent in the boat and head out to an island in Lake George, this time of year brings back the memories of those times.
My husband and I made our first trip in a very small boat we called the Nautilus due to it's tendency to dive nose first beneath the water when you tried to go forward with any speed. We also had a very small canvas tent-just room to lay out two sleeping bags side by side on the floor. Being newbies, we also set our cardboard box containing the food inside the tent.
Somewhere in the depth of night I awoke to a rustling sound. The food box was near my head, so I reached up thinking to catch my husband in his quest for a midnight snack. What I felt was fur. Then a cold nose. When I lifted the cover of my sleeping bag thinking to crawl out, the furry creature crawled in beside me and curled up next to my hip. There came a faint, very distinctive odor from the fur-bearer's body. SKUNK. I spoke softly to wake my husband. He told me to crawl out of the bag slowly and go outside the tent while he raised one wall of the pup tent. This we accomplished without disturbing little skunk's nap. Then we just waited in the dark until the skunk felt he was ready to leave. He eventually wiggled out of his bed, shook, and waddled out under the elevated tent siding. Obviously not his first time " camping"
Years later, an older wiser couple now, with a large cabin tent and four
young children, a bigger more sea-worthy boat, and appropriate containers for food, we rented a site on an island in Lake George, N.Y. Our first night we set up cots to sleep on and a car bed for the baby. Our tent was on a wooden platform which had room for a picnic table and benches outside. Being wise to the allure of food, we had purchased two large Coleman coolers with handle locks on each end.
One held the cold food with ice and the other the dry foods. We set the coolers outside the tent on top of the picnic table. I woke during the night, hearing a noise coming from the table. "Well" I thought, "
no worries about theft tonight for we have protected our supplies in a wise manner." I raised up on one elbow and peering through the mesh
door of the tent I watched as a large Raccoon deftly worked on the locked handle of one of the coolers. He finally did succeed in releasing it. Then he tried to lift the cover. Of course he could not as the handle at the other end was locked. It did not take him a minute to realize the problem. He went directly to the second handle and much quicker this time, since he now knew how they worked, he released that handle and up went the cover of the cooler. The saucy chap fished around through the contents of the cooler--he had selected the dry items- and held up a lollipop in his dexterous hand. To my astonishment, he carefully unwrapped the Tootsie pop before holding the cardboard stick in both paws and licking happily away at his treat.
I let him finish all he wanted and leave of his own accord before going out to close the cooler.
I don't think this was this guy's first encounter with Coleman coolers
or even lollipops.
My husband and I made our first trip in a very small boat we called the Nautilus due to it's tendency to dive nose first beneath the water when you tried to go forward with any speed. We also had a very small canvas tent-just room to lay out two sleeping bags side by side on the floor. Being newbies, we also set our cardboard box containing the food inside the tent.
Somewhere in the depth of night I awoke to a rustling sound. The food box was near my head, so I reached up thinking to catch my husband in his quest for a midnight snack. What I felt was fur. Then a cold nose. When I lifted the cover of my sleeping bag thinking to crawl out, the furry creature crawled in beside me and curled up next to my hip. There came a faint, very distinctive odor from the fur-bearer's body. SKUNK. I spoke softly to wake my husband. He told me to crawl out of the bag slowly and go outside the tent while he raised one wall of the pup tent. This we accomplished without disturbing little skunk's nap. Then we just waited in the dark until the skunk felt he was ready to leave. He eventually wiggled out of his bed, shook, and waddled out under the elevated tent siding. Obviously not his first time " camping"
Years later, an older wiser couple now, with a large cabin tent and four
young children, a bigger more sea-worthy boat, and appropriate containers for food, we rented a site on an island in Lake George, N.Y. Our first night we set up cots to sleep on and a car bed for the baby. Our tent was on a wooden platform which had room for a picnic table and benches outside. Being wise to the allure of food, we had purchased two large Coleman coolers with handle locks on each end.
One held the cold food with ice and the other the dry foods. We set the coolers outside the tent on top of the picnic table. I woke during the night, hearing a noise coming from the table. "Well" I thought, "
no worries about theft tonight for we have protected our supplies in a wise manner." I raised up on one elbow and peering through the mesh
door of the tent I watched as a large Raccoon deftly worked on the locked handle of one of the coolers. He finally did succeed in releasing it. Then he tried to lift the cover. Of course he could not as the handle at the other end was locked. It did not take him a minute to realize the problem. He went directly to the second handle and much quicker this time, since he now knew how they worked, he released that handle and up went the cover of the cooler. The saucy chap fished around through the contents of the cooler--he had selected the dry items- and held up a lollipop in his dexterous hand. To my astonishment, he carefully unwrapped the Tootsie pop before holding the cardboard stick in both paws and licking happily away at his treat.
I let him finish all he wanted and leave of his own accord before going out to close the cooler.
I don't think this was this guy's first encounter with Coleman coolers
or even lollipops.
Cynthia, that is a priceless story. For those of us who have been blessed with lives close to wildlife and the desire to be still and observe it is a privilege to know just how smart so many of these critters are. I have spent countless hours just watching and appreciating. I have not so far, though, ever seen a raccoon unwrap and enjoy a lollipop. I just love these stories. Thank you.
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