BEWARE Camping Pedra Bonita

I went camping Friday night with a Norwegian friend named Thor
on Pedra Bonita
we made it up the mountain by sunset which was spectacular
we ate dinner on the Rock and were approached by a big mountain mouse/rat
scared it away then when it tried to come back, really wanted that Brie cheese I guess
swing a stick at it and scared it some more
played guitar for awhile chill then went to sleep but was woken up suddenly 30 min later by Thor who heard some ppl's voices - it was 2:30 am
so apparently a 'galera,' group of ppl in Brazilian Portuguese, had arrived in the 'madrugada' (early morning hours)
they were talking and carrying on down the way
and we were deciding what to do
whether we should go up and join them, stay hidden and get some rest for a couple hours, or try to scare them
Seemingly, the decision was made up for us.. because as we were chatting, Thor heard something else
It was a funny little sound coming from his side of the tent
Then all of a sudden he freaked out, "Porra!"
"There's a hole in the tent!"
"A fucking hole in the tent.."
"Porra!"
He showed me- from a safe distance. Sure enough, there was a significant, little hole in the tent right near his feet, and exactly by the plastic bag of snacks foods Thor had assembled for dinner.
Actually, the bag of snack foods had a hole in it too
We were freaked out.
We knew it was the brave, big rat-mouse from the mountain earlier that night
or a friend of his
Thor was nervous that it might still be in the tent
We surveyed every possible crevice of backpack and bag in the tent, in a nervous frenzy, provoking each other with the possibility that 'it might be in here hiding' It wasn't. We searched for other holes, weary to keep the light shining on the original hole, in case the rat tried any funny business
We were definitely not able to sleep at this point
so we got up, bringing the guitar, harmonica, and all of the food from the tent with us to go meet the mountain newcomers we'd heard arrive minutes earlier
And obviously we duct taped the gnarly hole up from both sides before departing. We went to the ledge, and by this time more people had arrived. To me it seemed a strange hour to arrive, but I guess it makes sense if you want to watch the sunrise, and possibly party some beforehand; it was Friday after all. We played some music, then met the others, ate some food, and socialized for a while. Then we decided to go back to try and get some shuteye before the sunrise. 2 hours had passed.
We did a thorough investigation of every corner of the tent outside and in, before getting in and laying down
It was clean
We laid down, almost dozed off
then we heard something
actually I think I saw a head in the doorway of the tent, because we'd forgotten to shut the outside portion of it
I was wide awake
I heard some scurrying and Thor heard a familiar sound around the duct tape. We made noise, tried to scare it away
Although we were obviously the ones scared
This rat was a literal terrorist
It had not attempted another break-in the entire two hours we were gone, and waited until we got back, still with no food- we 'accidentally' left the food at the camp of our new friends.
And it waited for us to get back and settle in before commencing it's malicious ratmouse shenanigans, de novo.
After this bought, we thought we officially scared him away, and managed to get 30 minutes of sleep before sunrise.
But the sunrise made it all worth it
However, I'm going to have an irrational fear any time I camp into the future
I thought I was safe in that sturdy little tent
But apparently not
Just think if a real threat wanted in
Be safe out there campers
and keep your food contained
although these animals seem to be able to smell through anything - it found the precise location of the food bag, most of which was still completely packaged, and was brave enough to chew right through the layers of plastic in between him and it
luckily Thor's foot was just to the other side
However, if you get a terrorist ratmouse, I'd have to say, from experience, you are shit out of luck.