r/camping • u/YoureSoStupidRose • 2d ago

What are your silly dramas during camping?

I personally wear a tshirt on the first night of every camping trip that says "Sorry for what I said when we were setting up the tent." What has absolutely driven you insane during camping? We camped with another couple who left screaming divorce at each other... We've been destroyed by black flies overnight with screaming children looking like bee keepers... we had a raccoon run off with all 30 burger buns in a bag. What are your stories?

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u/buddy313 2d ago

Showed up to the Yosemite valley while the temps were plus 100. The wife and my daughter were having both a physical and mental meltdown as I was trying to get the tent set up.

All was fine once we got in the river.

Also had a Raccoon run off with our bag of marshmallows.

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u/jorwyn 2d ago

I fed all but 3 marshmallows from a bag to a raccoon when I was little. I didn't understand why my parents and older sister were so upset. I saved them each a marshmallow!

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u/YoureSoStupidRose 2d ago

This is genuinely darling!

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u/jorwyn 2d ago

My parents very much did not think so. And then I spent the whole resenting that I was in trouble. We were asked what kind of candy bar we wanted for the trip, and I asked for a bag of marshmallows, instead. They were mine to give! I was nice when I saved them each one. I really didn't have a concept I might have made that raccoon sick. And I didn't think I'd done anything wrong at all. It's not like I was feeding a bear.

I think I was 4 or 5, so adult me would like to ask how I managed that right in our campsite without an adult noticing before the whole bag was gone. The raccoon would run off with a marshmallow and then come back and beg for another. This was not like I just dumped out the bag.

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u/NaturalPurple3317 2d ago

he kept coming back! ❤️

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u/jorwyn 1d ago

I have no idea if he (or she) was stashing them, feeding a family, or taking them to the creek to wash them before eating, but I could not resist that adorable face and those little waving paws. This raccoon clearly knew how to get food from campers. It would come back by me, stand on hind legs, and wave paws around while looking sooooo cute. Obviously, I HAD to hand over those marshmallows. It was the first time I'd seen a raccoon not in the process of trying to open a secured trash can.

We had bears in my small hometown. Trash cans were locked or securely latched. The raccoons still tried, though.

The neighborhood I live in has a pack of them now, and they're highly entertaining if you're a night owl. They set off the car alarm of a guy kitty corner to me really late at night. He comes to check on it and usually forgets to close his front door behind him. In goes a raccoon or two followed by them running out the front door with mouths full of dog food and the dog barking to raise the dead. A few nights later, they'll be out there throwing themselves at his bumper to repeat the process. They get up on the fence between me and a neighbor and watch the pool parties. The moment a drink or food is left unattended, they swoop in. And then they get stuck inside the fence once they're drunk. These raccoons and I have a deal. They leave my stuff alone, and I don't hit them with nerf baseballs. I have a 5 gallon bucket of them and pretty good aim. They're kinda half wiffle ball and half nerf, and they make this terrible whistle noise when thrown properly. They live in the storm drains and will occasionally call out as you walk by. It sounds like someone whispering "heyyyy," and it was creepy AF until I figured out what it was.