I don’t use the word “infestation” lightly, but there’s really no other way to describe what we had during a recent camping trip to Kirk Creek Campground in Big Sur. It was a trip we’d been looking forward to for a long time. I actually made reservations five months in advance because it’s such a popular camping destination. The February chill seemed a small price to pay for unparalleled views of the Pacific Ocean and a campside trailhead leading straight to a secluded beach. That’s what all the reviews said. Gorgeous vistas. A chance to unplug. We couldn’t wait.

Back to the infestation. We made the drive down from the Bay Area to Big Sur in about three hours. Not bad at all. We arrived with a couple of hours before sunset. The camp hosts were very friendly when they welcomed us, but warned that the raccoons were very aggressive. I told them it’s ok. We camp a lot and we’re used to securing our food before going to bed. We also read warnings online from other campers that there were a lot of raccoons in this area. The camp host leaned in and said, “No, you don’t get it. They’re awful."‘ She said their raccoons have no fear and that they’re bold enough to snatch food out of people’s hands. What??? So much for our tradition of enjoying a relaxing dinner by the fire. That’s ok. We decided that we would just eat before dark and make sure the raccoons had no reason to approach our site.

With that setup, you’d expect this to be a story about raccoons. Nope. Just call it foreboding.

We drove up to our spot (campsite #10) and parked. As soon as we got out, we saw dozens of ground squirrels (and two rabbits) littered throughout our campsite. And they were going berserk. As soon as we stepped away from our car, a bunch of squirrels ran up to it and jumped into the undercarriage. They ran around under there before falling out and starting to gnaw on our tires. They were possessed. Then, they saw us watching them from our picnic table and they started coming toward us. I tried to shoo them away and they paused for a moment, but started advancing toward us like furry little zombies.

That was when I looked around and realized that our campsite was their nest. There were holes in the ground everywhere, including a spot right next to our fire ring. There were also two huge bushes that I’m fairly certain covered the main entrance to their lair. Ground rodents kept popping out of the bush like the rats running around the Titanic once the ship started to go down.

I noticed that all of the creatures were concentrated on our site. There were one or two on adjacent sites, but clearly, we were the headquarters. We walked up to one of our camp hosts and asked if we could switch to a less infested site. She said that legally she’s not allowed to (whatever that means) and that anyway, they were all booked. She told us not to worry though because the squirrels would soon go to sleep because that’s when the raccoons come out. And the raccoons are much worse.

We decided to pack up our things and head home. Hey, I love animals and I get that camping means being around wildlife. What I didn’t like was how insanely active they were and how they had absolutely no problem coming right up to us. The idea of a rat jumping onto my lap or gnawing through our tent was just a little bit too much. We went camping trip to relax, but I knew we wouldn’t be able to feel at peace knowing that there were rodents everywhere.

We didn’t get the camping trip we planned, but at least we got a story out of it.

It wasn’t all a loss, though. Check out our sunset hike below. Talk about a beautiful consolation prize.