Aug 25, 2022 09:09 AM
(This post was last modified: Aug 25, 2022 09:22 AM by confused2.
Edit Reason: More
)
Sorry - predates Youtube by some years so no pictures of me being scared.
Some miles along the coast from where I live is an isolated beach accessed via a long path through trees and then a steep section down the cliffs to the beach. Over the years I've been there many times in search of solitude and glow-worms. Each time I've seen fewer glow-worms as (I guess) they've been drawn to the bright lights of the city.
For the benefit of anyone in a fox free country - they're small dog-type things which yowl instead of barking and dogshit is (apparently) one of their favourite foods. If you end up with less foxshit than dogshit this might be a good thing otherwise not.
Twas a dark and unmoonlit night - the best time to see glow-worms. I was happily walking along the tree-covered bit of the path when I trod on something squishy which suddenly erupted into a demonic howling yowling snapping incarnation of hate. I don't particularly mind being bitten by hamsters because they get so much satisfaction out of it that the pain is almost irrelevant. This doesn't apply to foxes with the possibility of rabies, foxpox and their likely approach to oral hygiene. Fleeing in total darkness isn't quite as easy as during the day though the fox could probably have outrun me anyway. Darkness was my friend - after the initial surprise I spotted a patch of light at the end of the tunnel of trees and crept towards it. The fox continued to harry the area with (most likely) the strongest scent mark and I escaped unharmed.
Safely on the beach I saw two glow worms - when I first went there there would be a dozen or more.
I don't usually take a tent - if it looks like rain I don't go out and if it rains anyway I find a dry place to sleep. When my old sleeping bag became uninhabitable and I had to buy a new one I was given the option of 'seasons' - I thought two seasons would mean it would last two years which didn't seem too bad for the price - what it actually meant was 'not very warm'. Without a tent a sleeper is less conspicuous - the casual observer could easily miss a six foot long orange slug or perhaps mistake it for a natural feature. When sleeping I take everything into the bag .. in the event of attack I could easily caterpillar away.. I just take everything into the bag.
Sleeping on this particular beach is, to say the least, spooky. Distant thunder, rocks and boulders falling from the cliffs, waves crashing down on the pebbles, unemployed sound-effects people from 'Lost' trying out new scary noises and, on this occasion, something more. In the UK we have a game that involves creeping up on the victim, we call it 'Grandmothers footsteps', in the US I think its called 'Hello Pedro'. I had the strong feeling that someone or something was playing that game with me.
The bag had a draw string at the top so you could seal yourself in - sleep would come naturally either through oxygen deprivation or CO2 poisoning. Also a zip that was difficult to do up so the main entry/exit point was through the draw-stringed top. After popping out a few times and seeing nothing I still had the 'something out there feeling'. I'm not in favour of torches at night - they give away your location and I can anticipate night and plan accordingly but occasionally they're useful. I turned the torch on and about 8 feet away was a pair of unflinching eyes reflecting light back at me **.
I threw stones at it (not proud of it). When it didn't go away I threw more stones at it. When it went away I threw even more stones at it. Then I sat up for the rest of the night in case it came back.
I assume it was planning to jump on me while I was inside the sleeping bag which would almost certainly have meant buying a new sleeping bag and several years in therapy.
Never been back to that beach.
** Eyes.
Edit Worse things happen at sea (same beach)
https://www.devonlive.com/whats-on/whats...ck-3835767
Some miles along the coast from where I live is an isolated beach accessed via a long path through trees and then a steep section down the cliffs to the beach. Over the years I've been there many times in search of solitude and glow-worms. Each time I've seen fewer glow-worms as (I guess) they've been drawn to the bright lights of the city.
For the benefit of anyone in a fox free country - they're small dog-type things which yowl instead of barking and dogshit is (apparently) one of their favourite foods. If you end up with less foxshit than dogshit this might be a good thing otherwise not.
Twas a dark and unmoonlit night - the best time to see glow-worms. I was happily walking along the tree-covered bit of the path when I trod on something squishy which suddenly erupted into a demonic howling yowling snapping incarnation of hate. I don't particularly mind being bitten by hamsters because they get so much satisfaction out of it that the pain is almost irrelevant. This doesn't apply to foxes with the possibility of rabies, foxpox and their likely approach to oral hygiene. Fleeing in total darkness isn't quite as easy as during the day though the fox could probably have outrun me anyway. Darkness was my friend - after the initial surprise I spotted a patch of light at the end of the tunnel of trees and crept towards it. The fox continued to harry the area with (most likely) the strongest scent mark and I escaped unharmed.
Safely on the beach I saw two glow worms - when I first went there there would be a dozen or more.
I don't usually take a tent - if it looks like rain I don't go out and if it rains anyway I find a dry place to sleep. When my old sleeping bag became uninhabitable and I had to buy a new one I was given the option of 'seasons' - I thought two seasons would mean it would last two years which didn't seem too bad for the price - what it actually meant was 'not very warm'. Without a tent a sleeper is less conspicuous - the casual observer could easily miss a six foot long orange slug or perhaps mistake it for a natural feature. When sleeping I take everything into the bag .. in the event of attack I could easily caterpillar away.. I just take everything into the bag.
Sleeping on this particular beach is, to say the least, spooky. Distant thunder, rocks and boulders falling from the cliffs, waves crashing down on the pebbles, unemployed sound-effects people from 'Lost' trying out new scary noises and, on this occasion, something more. In the UK we have a game that involves creeping up on the victim, we call it 'Grandmothers footsteps', in the US I think its called 'Hello Pedro'. I had the strong feeling that someone or something was playing that game with me.
The bag had a draw string at the top so you could seal yourself in - sleep would come naturally either through oxygen deprivation or CO2 poisoning. Also a zip that was difficult to do up so the main entry/exit point was through the draw-stringed top. After popping out a few times and seeing nothing I still had the 'something out there feeling'. I'm not in favour of torches at night - they give away your location and I can anticipate night and plan accordingly but occasionally they're useful. I turned the torch on and about 8 feet away was a pair of unflinching eyes reflecting light back at me **.
I threw stones at it (not proud of it). When it didn't go away I threw more stones at it. When it went away I threw even more stones at it. Then I sat up for the rest of the night in case it came back.
I assume it was planning to jump on me while I was inside the sleeping bag which would almost certainly have meant buying a new sleeping bag and several years in therapy.
Never been back to that beach.
** Eyes.
Edit Worse things happen at sea (same beach)
https://www.devonlive.com/whats-on/whats...ck-3835767
