[pct-l] Tents and Ants: a Cautionary Tale

[Robert Henry]

Last Friday (yes, it was Friday the 13th) I camped in the
oak/ponderosa forest about 8 miles north of Burney Falls State park.
I hauled into a campsite at dusk, gave it a perfunctory once over, set
up the tent, and went to sleep.  I awoke wondering if it was raining
out, and a quick glance showed stars, so went back to sleep.  When I
got up to go p** later that night, I was beset by ants, and got
stung/bit many times.  I suspect ants were dropping off of the trees
overhead.  I crawled back into bed.  I got up at dawn, was again beset
by ants and now mosquitos, packed up the tent quickly, and headed off.

That night I set up the tent and noticed about 50 holes in the tent,
each about 2mm in diameter, with a small cascade of live and dead ants
coming out of the tent.  The ants had either chewed or stung or burned
(with formic acid) holes in the tent, either during that night, or
when trapped in the rolled up tent.

Shake out your tent before packing it up, and don't camp under
oak/ponderiosa trees.  Better yet climb into the higher life zones
where there is fir, as that doesn't seem to host these kinds of ants.

The culprit ants are black, are about 5mm long, and will bite/sting at
the slightest provocation.  The big black carpenter ants, 10mm long,
have never been a problem for me, and crawl over me without concern.

I'm now faced with a tedious repair, as the holes are widespread.