posted on Feb, 3 2008 @ 11:09 PM
I've never experienced anything woods related out of the ordinary, and I've been camping/hiking quite a bit.
However, on the spooked side of things, I have had a few close encounters with predators. When I was about 2 Years Old I was with my family out in
Yosemite National Park. I was on horseback following a trail, with my pops holding the rope which lead the reigns. All of the sudden out of nowhere a
HUGE Black Bear just comes lumbering out of the forest and right in front of us. My old man just stayed calm watching the bear, meanwhile he put his
hands around me just in case the horse bolted he would still have me safely in hand. The largest surprise!? The bear just continued in front of us
waddling down along the path like he was out for a nice Sunday stroll. The horses also remained extremely calm never once even agitating. My father is
Military (as most of my fam is), and has plenty of woods experience as well, so he knew how to handle it. The Bear was estimated to be a 500 +
pounder.
Another time I was in Upstate NY with my family overlooking the Adirondacks. We were near a field looking at a lake, when I thought I saw a big dog. I
was young and thought maybe it was a lost dog, and wanted to see it. Turns out that in reality it was a HUGE Eastern Timber Wolf. It was like a really
big version of a German Shepherd, so most likely in the 90-120 lb. range easily. It really did look majestic though as it trotted, stopped, turned its
head in a pose to look at us, and then continued on his/her way.
Now aside from the woods, I've had sharks swipe by me, and a 6 foot long Great Barracuda stare me down as I waited to board my craft a mile out from
shore. I was the last one in the water, and I was headed towards the ladder when out of nowhere it just cruised in front of me, and we had a stare
down with eachother. I never panicked with either encounter, even though others around me screamed or swung their limbs around as if repelling a giant
mosquito attack (in the case of the shark).
I must say I feel very fortunate to have experienced nature in so many ways.
Now another family member of mine did experience something very freaky many years ago. She was a Girl Scout back in the 60's, out in California. They
used to do some real hardcore stuff in those days, really not your average cookie selling. They took one camping trip into the Great Redwood Forest,
and used no tents or shelters of anykind, simply sleeping bags under the wide open sky. I don't remember every detail, but more or less she was
awoken by something. She couldn't remember what exactly woke her up, but something did. Then, when she layed there listening she heard a heavy thump.
She says that it sounded like something very, VERY big walking around. Everytime it made a step, it thumped the ground. She just pulled the sleeping
bag back over her head and listened as everyone else in camp was still sleeping. She said they had set up a table strung between the trees, and on it
was a mirror, and other items. Whatever it was, it walked with purpose, and didn't make any uncecessary racket, but she did hear it stop near the
table and move some of the stuff around. After listening for a while she finally fell back asleep.
Now, of course I thought it could have been a bear. Mind you this person never assumed it was anything other than a bear. However, when I really began
to think about it, the way she described it moving and going through the items without a racket, it sounded less and less like a bear. The first
possibility that came to MY mind (again, not the witnesses), was Sasquatch. In all seriousness, bears throw items around and thrash. Heavy, moving
with purpose, but being very careful just does not sound like a bear. I'm definitely not a person to jump to conclusions, I enjoy analysing and
finding reasonable explanations. It's just that this incident does not sound like a typical bear intrusion.
BTW, jmdewey60, you are not kidding about those Tsavo Lions. I have some friends from Kenya, and when they saw that movie it gave them nightmares for
days on end. They were right in the area where those attacks occured. They weren't alive then, but nonetheless, talk about looking over your shoulder
afterwards.
[edit on 2-3-2008 by TheAgentNineteen]