By: Blonde Two
From time to time we Blondes hear tales of ripped tents, stolen food and sad, breakfast-less campers. These are Dartmoor wild campers who haven’t heeded warnings about the damage and nuisance that foxes can cause.
The rules for Dartmoor fox damage avoidance are simple:
1. Seek local advice on camping areas (for example the Scout Hut area at the bottom of Gutter Tor is well known for fox issues).
2. Take all food into your main tent (not the flysheet) and sleep on it if necessary.
3. If you leave your tent take all traces of food and food rubbish with you.
Last weekend we Blondes (despite having warned our wild camping guests) forgot rule 3 and paid for it with a ripped tent (not ours) and a very sleepless night. (Our tent, by the way, was my new favourite and super lightweight tent – a Big Sky Chinook and behaved most marvellously all night despite its fox damage).
We had had a most satisfying night walk and viewed all kinds of animal life, little expecting, when we arrived back at our tent (pitched in the Foggintor area) to find that we had played host to some of that animal life.
I was admiring our tent’s numerous ‘shiny bits’ when I noticed a general ‘strewning’ of our belongings out either side of it. I was sure that neither of us had left our rucksacks (still quite heavy despite being almost emptied), our cups and various other items spread across Dartmoor, but there they were, for all to see… and apparently for all to eat because, once we had found my food bag, we discovered that Mr Fox (hence christened with a much ruder word) had made off with my breakfast (obviously a fox of discerning, continental taste because it was pain au chocolat).
We were obviously, at that point, all happy and smiley and had a friendly discussion about how cheeky foxes were, but still cute!!!
I will tell you more about our Blonde night with Mr Foxy in another post, but for now, do please heed our warning. If you are camping in a popular or inhabited area, guard your breakfast carefully!
An interesting post, and as usual it sparks off one’s own anecdote on a similar subject. Whilst walking the Kennet and Avon canal in 2013 I stayed at a pub called the Swan. I was in an annexe dormitory – here is a quote from my journal and blog:
“Well, we’ve all heard the excuses retailers and service providers give when there is a problem. Yesterday at The Swan i washed out my walking socks and put them on the ground outside my room to dry – that is actually outdoors.
Later in the evening the socks had vanished. The pub was very busy with perhaps eighty people sat outside merrymaking until nearly midnight.
This morning, mentioning the socks to the manager he suggested they had been taken by their familiar urban fox. Knowing my socks after walking 15 miles, even though washed out they may never have a problem with that fox again.”
My daughter put a comment on the blog:
left my socks
They were nicked by a fox
What is a walker to do?
Break out the Crocs
You don’t need socks
That’s what a daddy would do!
xx
Two anecdotes…
Wild camp on the Glyders during a glorious Spring back in the days when I did that kind of thing (now, thankfully, returning..) Sharing an old tent with a climbing mate and slightly the worse for wear after sampling some single malt the previous night along with a proper supper comprised of beans, sausages etc – real outdoor food – Anyway, I awoke to the sound of snuffling next to my ear and turned over to find myself face to face with a very unfazed hedgehog. He was tucking into the unwashed plate debris and making a good job of cleaning up the previous night’s mess.
We watched him for about half an hour before he trundled off on his way. A lovely moment.
Not so good… returning to a high wild camp after a day climbing in the Picos de Europa (not allowed to wild camp there anymore – shame) to find your extremely expensive brand new tent completely trashed by a herd of cows. Not my tent. Mine was old and known fondly as “Cobbin’s Crap tent”. It was untouched. Obviously top of the range Vango tastes better than festival grunged eurohike….obviously
To Steve – Brilliant. I wonder who the Blondes will give an award to for best story – may the best man win!
Now, now boys, it isn’t a competition although Conrad did include poetry and we Blondes do love a good rhyme. Any road up, I am imagining that neither of you have stood in your knickers on Dartmoor, calmly saying to a fox, ‘Put that back, it isn’t yours!’ So I definitely win!