posted on Aug, 25 2007 @ 11:04 PM
The reason I search forums such as this, is to try and find answers to an experience I had 16 years ago.
Maybe someone on this forum, after reading this account of events could share their views and shed some light on this.
I was 21 years old and a friend had bought a property on the edge of the Snowy River national park, a place called Delicknora in the mountains of
south east Australia.
A very remote place, with the closest town about a 4 hour drive away.
He'd bought the property to get away from the city and employed me to help build a farm there. Whilst there I came across an old abandoned mine shaft
and learnt from an old local that the whole area was dotted with them. Thus began my mission of finding these shafts and the gold that "supposedly"
was still in them.
In my spare time I would pack a sack and head off for a day or two searching.
The day I wish to share started off like any other. I had the things I needed packed and with 2 dogs in tow and headed off into the bush.
The day started at 7am and it was around 2pm in the afternoon that both the dogs started acting strange. As I was walking both of them stopped infront
of me and started growling. All their hair was on end and I'd never seen them like this before. The area is known for packs of wild dogs. But they
are not a problem and 99% of the time they hear you coming and scamper off into the bush. I'd come across them before and rather than be scared, my
dogs would usually bark and attempt to chase them off. Besides snakes and other smaller deadly creatures, there is not alot in the Australian bush to
be worried about in that particular part of the country.
Their behavior was getting worse the further we went on. They would stop, growl, sometimes turning in different directions like they couldn't make
out where, whatever it was that was spooking them was. I didn't hear, see or smell anything.
The dogs names where Toby and Prince, Toby being the bigger and braver of the two.
Sometime later they started up again, but this time Prince was really spooked. His tail was between his legs and he ran behind me. Prince was really
growling and the hair on his back was up all the length of his body.
I heard noise behind me and turned to see Prince running away. I called fror him to come back, but he didn't listen and disappeared into the bush
from the direction we came.
I crouched down to one knee and called Toby to me. He came and stood infront of me and I patted him and he was shaking all over.
I looked around trying to see if anything was there. I knew something was because the dogs wouldn't be so upset for nothing. But I couldn't see
anything but tree's and bushes.
One part of me was thinking get the hell out of here. Another part was wanting to know what was going on. I kept thinking maybe it was a person or
people somewhere, hunting or maybe hippies planting marijuana, which I'd heard they'd found spots they'd planted in the bush in the past.
I decided to keep going, but Toby didn't want to move. I walked a few meters, stopped turned and called him. He wanted to come and would take a step
forward, then stop and look around. Then all of a sudden he's tail went between his legs and he bolted off from me. I called and called, but he
didn't stop.
I had a small pickaxe in my sack which I got out. I didn't know what to do and I didn't want to go further in without the dogs. The dogs are good at
scaring off snakes, and to be bitten so far into the bush with such a large hike back to the property, would surely mean death, as the most common
snakes in the area where the deadly brown, black and tiger snakes.
I decided to head back.
On the way back all I could do is listen and keep an eye out for the dogs. Hoping they'd stop somewhere ahead so I'd have some protection for the
hike back. I must have walked a good few miles and they where nowhere to be seen.