Leaves

[Alliegator]

At this time of the year, since there are so many fallen leaves, I was just wondering if everyone tried to clean their camping area of the leaves? I am always afraid the snakes and other creepy crawlers will be hiding there. So do you?

[hikingprincess]

We do not normally do this but we generally lay a tarp under our tent to keep unwanted visitors like that out. We don't have a big problem with snakes where we normally camp though!

[oldmangunner]

We generally do a real quick sweeping of the camp site. We are not going to travel with a rake but we do take a broom with us because it often comes in handy. We do about an 80% job of clearing leaves and then just forget about it.

[faye]

I thought authorities of the camp site are responsible for clearing the area that has fallen leaves scattered around? We never thought of bringing a broom to sweep away leaves in our camping ground, we just use a spare stick.

[dinosaur]

Originally Posted by Alliegator

At this time of the year, since there are so many fallen leaves, I was just wondering if everyone tried to clean their camping area of the leaves? I am always afraid the snakes and other creepy crawlers will be hiding there. So do you?

So...what's your alternative? Pitch the tent on top of the snake? The fact is, at this time of year snakes aren't looking to hide in a cool place. They are cold-blooded and seek out the sun to warm themselves as do most other "creepy crawlers". The only thing you will generally find under dampened leaves are pillbugs, centipedes and fishing worms........HMMM...........I'm going to have to go now. My fishing rod is calling to me.

[northernbushape]

Depends on the site. I like to leave things as undisturbed as I can, but if it is an established spot and the ground has already been ruined for growth, then I will clean the wet stuff away. I don't normally camp where there are tons of leaves though. Mostly conifers around here.

[woodsman]

I depends on the area, but if I'm going to do a sweep it's because I like to see what's under the leaves, I don't want a rock sticking in my back all night long, trust me it's not comfortable.

[Michael]

Around the fire? Yeah, I'll clear everything down the the soil. It's safer that way, and it keeps one's bottom dry when one needs to sit on the ground to cook dinner.

Anywhere else? Pretty much not at all. None of the bugs or snakes around here are dangerous, and most of them have better things to do with their time than hide in cold, wet leaves.

[CBatch]

I will rake the leaves into the campfire, they are good fire starters. I don't usually mess with the other leaves though. We most of the time camp in our camper, so we would not be putting the tent on any snakes.