Sunday, January 23, 2011

WHAT WAS THAT ?!?!?!?!

So ... I've recently returned from three days of outdoor skills training. And what I've learned from camping this past week-end is that the instruction I really need is: "If You Hear This Noise in the Woods, It Means ___________."

Unbelievably, this past week-end was only the second time I actually heard "animal" noises at night. (The first time being at Codorus State Park, when a bird screeched so loudly I was convinced that it was a giant dinosaur pterodactyl 10 feet tall, sitting right in my campsite. I doubt if that was the case, but that's what it sounded like.)

So, I've composed a few musings on noises based on my experiences this late October week-end.

#1
After dark, but fairly early in the night, for several minutes, I kept hearing a "thud" sound. I thought maybe campers were walking through the woods, in search of firewood. But there were no campers in that direction. (And wouldn't I hear leaves crunching if people were walking through the woods??) THEN, I heard: "thud [pause] thud [pause] thud, thud [pause], snort!". WTF???

I unzipped my tent and peered out with my headlamp. Of course, with the sound of the unzipping and then the bright flashlight, any creature in its right mind would not make itself known. I didn't see anything. Fortunately, though, subsequent noises indicated that the "creature" ambled away from my tent.

To this day, I have no idea what it was.

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