Re: [Paddlewise] Cockpit Varmits

Okay, a lot of these are just camping incidents and not specifically
paddling, but they're close to being on-topic.

I've also come across rattlesnakes while paddling (the Green River in
Utah between Green River and Potato Bottom in Canyonlands NP).  The best
varmint I've seen was a Fisher that carried off my hot cocoa cup and left
its tooth marks in the plastic cup (Uintahs, Utah).  We've also had Parka
Squirrels in Alaska (Gunsight Mountain - Talkeetna area) chew holes in
our ensolite sleeping pads.

I've had a 10" Chain Pickerel jump into my canoe (Okeefenokee NWR,
Georgia), and have seen a shrimp jump into the cockpit of a kayak off
Cumberland Island Nat'l Seashore, Georgia).

My biggest was a Black Bear that crawled into the bed of my pickup truck
in Jasper NP (Canada) - after it left claw marks on the door handle area
of my 4X4 that was towing the truck.  The bear got its teeth into a dog
food container that was in the bed of the truck.

Darrell Lee
Alameda, CA
snorkler_at_juno.com
 
> racoons in the San Juans: He had his food and gear stored inside his 
> tent and the little bandits would sneak in and carry off pots, pans, 
> boots . . . He says he spent half the night holding on to a pot that a 
> racoon was trying to actively wrestle out of his grip. I'm betting a 
> racoon can get a cockpit cover off a boat. 

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