I used to have to arrive at the bakery I worked in at 6 in the morning and I would walk to work along the river path. In winter it is totally dark to the point that you literally can't see your hand in front of your face, sometimes especially if it was cloudy I would have to walk along waving my hands in front of me to make sure I wasn't about to walk into anything. One time on a morning like that a fox suddenly screamed RIGHT next to me, about 3 feet to my left and you had better believe I nearly needed a change of pants afterwards.
Fear of the dark
- Thread starter taws6
- Start date
@ louis
head torch ? flashlight even a lantern?
@ jonathand
your update post reminds me of the film "Enemy At The Gates" were vassili and Major Erwin König are tracking and building up a profile of each other
he/she (you never no) has probably done the same thing to you, lets just hope you run into each other while out tracking, sit down have a cuppa and laugh about it
head torch ? flashlight even a lantern?
@ jonathand
your update post reminds me of the film "Enemy At The Gates" were vassili and Major Erwin König are tracking and building up a profile of each other
he/she (you never no) has probably done the same thing to you, lets just hope you run into each other while out tracking, sit down have a cuppa and laugh about it
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Jonathan,
Your adversary may simply be a prankster who's prepared to sit and have a laugh when the time is right, and I hope that's the case. I still say there's a good chance that this person either knows you, or knows of you through this site, and is sitting having a good laugh to himself.
My instincts tell me differently though, as this behaviour is alien to every courtesy I'm accustomed to when encountering another in such circumstances. I once frightened the living daylights (or nightlights) out of a young couple camping in the woods alongside Loch Etive when, at 3 in the morning, I hunted for a good spot to camp. It was the fact that I wasn't showing a light and that I retreated quietly on realising I'd entered someone's camp that caused an issue. As I made my way off I realised that the silence was deafening, so passed a light across the tent and said a quiet "Hello there."
The response, "Thank ffffk fer that!" also seemed deafening, as the young couple in the tent realised I wasn't anything malevolent.
I wished them goodnight and went on my way.
This isn't someone who just happened onto your camp though, Jonathan, and the fact that he'd attempt to terrify rather than acknowledge you rings a warning bell.
There's something else going on there, so tread warily mate! This guy is neither the happy, nor talented Indian he likes to think he is!
Be safe!
Your adversary may simply be a prankster who's prepared to sit and have a laugh when the time is right, and I hope that's the case. I still say there's a good chance that this person either knows you, or knows of you through this site, and is sitting having a good laugh to himself.
My instincts tell me differently though, as this behaviour is alien to every courtesy I'm accustomed to when encountering another in such circumstances. I once frightened the living daylights (or nightlights) out of a young couple camping in the woods alongside Loch Etive when, at 3 in the morning, I hunted for a good spot to camp. It was the fact that I wasn't showing a light and that I retreated quietly on realising I'd entered someone's camp that caused an issue. As I made my way off I realised that the silence was deafening, so passed a light across the tent and said a quiet "Hello there."
The response, "Thank ffffk fer that!" also seemed deafening, as the young couple in the tent realised I wasn't anything malevolent.
I wished them goodnight and went on my way.
This isn't someone who just happened onto your camp though, Jonathan, and the fact that he'd attempt to terrify rather than acknowledge you rings a warning bell.
There's something else going on there, so tread warily mate! This guy is neither the happy, nor talented Indian he likes to think he is!
Be safe!
im soo glad im not the only bushcrafter with this weakness or is it a strength to keep you on you guard.
when i come home from school in winter i constantly look over my shoulder and check in bushes for uknown monsters.
childish i know but i cant help it
when i come home from school in winter i constantly look over my shoulder and check in bushes for uknown monsters.
childish i know but i cant help it
Maybe they tiptoed away and fell over onto all fours by the river. Whatever their motives they seem slightly unhinged, take care.
Never had an issue with the dark i think it cmes down to realising that the most dangerous thing in the woods/dark is usually me and my sharps lol
Dave
Dave
I was thinking about putting up some static trail cameras. Not easy to conceal them from curious humans though.
I'd say ou need the rough route before you lay the trap, else you end up with a wood full of whimpering ramblers.
have you thought about laying some indicating sign traps? like flattening the bit of bank that gives access( if it's fesible) make up some nettale cordage i pretty weak single strands, and just lay them on the ground at a spacing where you'd be bound to step on at least one in a normal gaite, not trips , but just to say something of a weight enough to push the cord into the ground passed this way, at least you might beable to build up a pattern of movement, how fresh were those pistachios nut cases, would it be worth starting from there and radiating out, if thats a place he/she likes to sit and munch?
The newest pistachios looked about a month old as they were weathered as you can see from the picture. The oldest are very old (no idea how long it takes for a case to rot away, although they are tough so I imagine it's a long time). I've identified at least three sites where he likes to hang around and eat them. If the rain lays off and the ground dries out a bit, then I'll lays some tell-traps down. As it is, it is so wet in the area, that I would leave too much sign myself. I'll keep this thread updated with what I do as I will be going back en route to my adder survey sites at least three times a week.
This thread gets more and more intriguing.
I wonder if this person is ex-military?
Could you set up a well hidden OP just outside your area and spend a day or night watching to see who comes and goes?
The camera idea seems like a great one.
I wonder if this person is ex-military?
Could you set up a well hidden OP just outside your area and spend a day or night watching to see who comes and goes?
The camera idea seems like a great one.
I spent nearly two years doing that in NI. I really don't have the patience or motivation to devote that much time and boredom to him.
Bag of pistachios might not be a bad idea.
There is the very real danger that I might be turning into the stalker now though
Thats a good point, he might have just played a prank, but now isn't at all botherd by you or your presence, untill he starts setting off trip flares, hears the wirr of hidden cameras and notices a shadowy shrafter following him about. be enough to put you off your nuts!
Exactly. I don't mind doing a spot of tracking to find out more, but anything further than making a few inconspicuous tell-traps might be noticed. He may only be a wannabe Tom Brown type, but then again, he may be good. All evidence so far points to the latter. If I wasn't getting into the stream to track the otters, I never would have found his footprints.
well jonathanD
just tried reading the hole thread again but gave up !! ha ha Just wanted to say that ,could it of been a bat that hit your tent that night and the empty nut cases could of been discarded by an innocent twitcher type fella and the two events are not connected at all ???
just tried reading the hole thread again but gave up !! ha ha Just wanted to say that ,could it of been a bat that hit your tent that night and the empty nut cases could of been discarded by an innocent twitcher type fella and the two events are not connected at all ???
It wasn't a bat, unless it was six foot tall with five small digits instead of a wing. It was 100% a person.
There is every chance that the trigger, bare footprints, burrows and pistachios are unrelated to my tent incident. But the places where the pistachios were found rules out nature watching completely. Apart from one by the rivers edge. Thats a nice spot.
Unfortunately not as good as Jonathan's story, but my only vaguely ghost-ish story goes like this:
A few years back, whilst working on a conservation project in Northern Cyprus, our 4-man camping site was on an abandoned cheese factory (don't ask). It was a fairly rambling place with several outbuildings, but was completely surrounded by a secure 7 foot wall with locked gates.
One night, one of the girls had gone to the toilet, and on returning to our camp, spotted a young boy crouched in the entrance to one of these outbuildings facing away from her. Using her limited Turkish, she shouted out to the boy whilst stepping towards him. At this point she realised he was crying, burying his face in his hands. Now thinking this was a little weird, she hurried past the outbuilding to where I was lying, perhaps 50m away. After a quick relay of the story, I grabbed my faithful 3D Maglite and headed back with her to the spot he'd been in, no more than 30 seconds after she'd been speaking to him, to find... absolutely nothing.
I went over that place with a fine toothcomb, shouting in Turkish, English and every swear word I could muster. No sign of the crying boy. Vanished into thin air.
Now we weren't based far outside of the town and did occasionaly get some of the locals snooping round to see if anything was worth pinching, but always during the day whilst we were out working. Asking round the town also gave us no info, nor did we ever spot anyone who looked like the crying boy.
The area we were in was also particularly violent during the 1974 troubles (locals told us of dozens of Turkish Cypriot men and boys being lined up and shot on the neighbouring beach by the Greeks)
To my knowledge the crying boy hasn't been spotted again, but it sure as hell made for an uncomfortable night when I slept in the outbuilding for a bet a couple of days later.
A few years back, whilst working on a conservation project in Northern Cyprus, our 4-man camping site was on an abandoned cheese factory (don't ask). It was a fairly rambling place with several outbuildings, but was completely surrounded by a secure 7 foot wall with locked gates.
One night, one of the girls had gone to the toilet, and on returning to our camp, spotted a young boy crouched in the entrance to one of these outbuildings facing away from her. Using her limited Turkish, she shouted out to the boy whilst stepping towards him. At this point she realised he was crying, burying his face in his hands. Now thinking this was a little weird, she hurried past the outbuilding to where I was lying, perhaps 50m away. After a quick relay of the story, I grabbed my faithful 3D Maglite and headed back with her to the spot he'd been in, no more than 30 seconds after she'd been speaking to him, to find... absolutely nothing.
I went over that place with a fine toothcomb, shouting in Turkish, English and every swear word I could muster. No sign of the crying boy. Vanished into thin air.
Now we weren't based far outside of the town and did occasionaly get some of the locals snooping round to see if anything was worth pinching, but always during the day whilst we were out working. Asking round the town also gave us no info, nor did we ever spot anyone who looked like the crying boy.
The area we were in was also particularly violent during the 1974 troubles (locals told us of dozens of Turkish Cypriot men and boys being lined up and shot on the neighbouring beach by the Greeks)
To my knowledge the crying boy hasn't been spotted again, but it sure as hell made for an uncomfortable night when I slept in the outbuilding for a bet a couple of days later.
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