2006 May 30Don’t fear the beaver

jeanie and i were getting to sleep in our tent which was twenty yards from the mount wilcox south shelter on the appalachian trail when we heard a noise. we had slung our bag of food up into a tree far away from our tent and the sound we were hearing was coming from that same direction. we both naturally assumed that a bear was into our food and would be coming to eat us next. we stayed vigilant for as long as we could stay awake, but the sound never seemed to stop. i figured as long as the bear busied itself with our walnuts and wilted salad leftovers, we would be safe. the sun was up when we climbed out of our tent and we went over to the shelter area to see what had happened. our food bag was still exactly as we had left it, but the platform floor of the lean-to had fresh gnaw marks along the edge of it. a beaver had been sharpening its teeth all night long.