Terrifying experiences while observing?

[nitram100]

Well I live in the cesspit that is London, so the most terrifying experiences have been huge rats the size of a small cat running across my garden, or better yet right at my feet. Ahhh gotta love London.

[twotter]

And badgers...

Not astro related but years ago, when I was a young airman in the RAF, I was on a two man foot patrol. It was just before dawn when a large bush started shaking in front of us and there was a loud cough. A rather squeaky voiced challenge was delivered and the bush went still. Just as my imagination was going into overdrive old Mr Badger came shuffling out of the bush. He looked right at us, coughed, then ambled off on his way.

Points to note...badgers are hard to impress, adrenalin is brown, and the old imagination sometimes gets the better of you

[ponytale]

I live in perth australia , so far i have had a 3" scorpion on the paved area right next to my scope pad so i am now a bit nervous when i am in pitch darkness , and a large spider + web across my face when setting up in the dark argh !!!! scorpions glow under black light i think ? so i will have get one soon!!! and poisonous snakes in nearby bush .

[GJBC]

I used to have a cow stick his head over the fence and look into the obsy. that freaks you out at 2 in the morning snorting and sniffing. and the first time you hear them eating grass sound like someone walking through frosty fields. i got used to them in the end

[Claire]

This kind of thing puts me off wandering out somewhere dark and having a look. I need someone to come with me !

[love6060]

Quote= anyone been bugged, or ever felt threatened. I had to read this twice! You did mean"bugged" didn't you?

same here

[earth titan]

Set up on a site once, only to find it was a local hot spot for local 'dog walkers'.

[Rustmonkey]

Could have been worse......could have been a hotspot for local Doggers.

[Tazni]

I was out on the moor in the peak district just trying to observe the milky way... and I heard something growl.... I couldn't see a thing. I have never ran so fast in my LIFE, and I was terrified in the car until I reached street lights as I kept thinking I was seeing something in my mirrors....

[benjii]

These stories are just what I need to read, I've just got my first telescope, a 200p dob and I'm planning on heading out onto Dartmoor the next clear night I get! Should be ok in the middle of nowhere though; famous last words...

[Gweedo]

Have you watched the recent 'Sherlock' episode? Y'know, the Baskervilles one?!

[whooshbang]

These stories are just what I need to read, I've just got my first telescope, a 200p dob and I'm planning on heading out onto Dartmoor the next clear night I get! Should be ok in the middle of nowhere though; famous last words...

Congrats on the new scope.... Astronomers are easy prey for big cats though

good luck

[Syntarsus]

The peak district is the natural place for me to go and I'm definitely very wary at night. Two non-astro experiences lead me to conclude it's not safe there at night.

First some years ago I was just out with some friends enjoying the countryside. Our car was in view but quite a way a way. We saw another car pull up by our car and were concerned it might be a ranger or cop car and that perhaps we shouldn't have been out. But it wasn't it was thieves who broke into the car and robbed a load of stuff. I later heard that it wasn't unusual for criminals from Manchester (and probably elsewhere) to be out at night.

The second story was of friend good friend of mine who was camped out in a car park for one night (he was visiting from Scotland). Late at night after they'd gone to bed some motorcyclists pulled in and started to get very aggressive. Fortunately my friend wasn't one to give up easily. He had a hammer and started beating one of the bikers in the head with it repeatedly. This seemed to do the trick and the bikers left. Needless to say my friend did stick around to see if they would come back.

I think its natural to be scared at night as one of main senses, sight, is so much reduced. I would guess there is an evolutionary reason for this fear. However being out on one's own means we are totally responsible for ourselves in a way that is not like every day life.

[Woking]

Our Surrey Observers site is frequented by teenagers, pot smokers, doggers, and just plain annoying nosey people who do a slow drive-by with headlights on full. Not many stop though when they see the size of us lol

The local police drive by a fair bit and have come over for a chat on a couple of occassions asking if we've seen anything going on. Last time we offered a look through the scopes and they chatted for a bit, nice guys and glad they patrol the area.

We do get military helicopters flying by without any lights on, huge noisy things which we can hear their approach for miles.

Deer, owls, cows, foxes, falling branches - regular events and adds to the experience

[Johnboy]

the old imagination sometimes gets the better of you

Absolutely true. I was at the bottom of my garden one night, totally immersed in my viewing, when suddenly I had the overwhelming feeling someone was walking towards me. I looked across the garden and stared hard into the darkness for what seemed like forever, but no one was there. It sounds silly but I was 100% convinced for a moment that someone was there. It took me a few minutes to shake off the sensation. Quite spooky really.

John

[Spica]

Happy I could amuse some of you with my misspellings

Anyways, neat stories mainly about harmless animals, except from poisonous snakes and scorpions... yikes... the biker incident was the kind of stories expected with the thread though Wonder how a LX200 giant field tripod would feel instead of a hammer?

I really don't think there's an imminent risk of being.. hmmm... new choice of word... bothered... while out here though. This is a tiny sleeping village (only 540 citizens) but lights equivalent to those of Manhattan it feels. Still a majority of the observation is made from my backyard leaving me with faintest objects of mag 10.7 in zenith. Good enough, atleast in order to avoid animals and such.

[Chiron]

A couple. One was what I think was a fox. Didn't see it, but I heard something barking, but it was a weird high pitched barking, so I'm guessing a fox. That one scared the **** out of me.

The other is mountain bikers. There's a group of guys who go out riding near where I observe with high power lights. From a distance, all you can see is a group of lights just bobbling along without any associated noise. Now that is spooky.

XPN

[LukeSkywatcher]

Cats jumping over the wall. That is about as bad as it gets round here.

[LeeB]

The only thing thats ever made me jump was a slug on the focuser wheel on returning to a cooled down scope. Your mind takes about 2 seconds to realise before the errr moment.

[nightfisher]

A couple. One was what I think was a fox. Didn't see it, but I heard something barking, but it was a weird high pitched barking, so I'm guessing a fox. That one scared the **** out of me.

The other is mountain bikers. There's a group of guys who go out riding near where I observe with high power lights. From a distance, all you can see is a group of lights just bobbling along without any associated noise. Now that is spooky.

XPN

God yes i have had the mountain bikers at night, mainly with head lights all bobbing about, thought ET was dropping in!

We are lucky in Britain, the only animal we have to fear is other humans

[love6060]

Could have been worse......could have been a hotspot for local Doggers.

took the words right out of my mouth

[gliderpilot]

Where SPOG observe - on public land adjacent to the military training area - on Salisbury Plain we get the usual military activity (artillery, flares, small arms, helicopters, armoured vehicles) but nothing that's actually terrifying as we know it is activity some distance away and they won't be coming our way.

It can be eerie at one of ours sites as its only a short distance away from a long barrow (neolithic burial mound) particularly the fog comes in. Almost enough to imagine the long dead ancestors coming back out for a butchers!!

We had the police armed response unit drop by one evening. They were patrolling on a Friday night - checking out the farms and ranges - and drove up to see what a group around a number of parked cars were up to. They were very pleasant people and amazed to see Jupiter and the Andromeda Galaxy. Being firearms they were particularly interested in the optics and cameras!!

All a bit different from my garden observatory with the occasional hedgehog wandering by.

Mark

[RichardL]

Out in the country one night, I heard a lot of growling and snarling and what sounded like quite a fight going on in the long grass. Went on for what seemed like ages. The problem was it got closer and closer, and I have to say I was getting a bit anxious. Two foxes? Fox and badger? I had visions of them stumbling oblivious into my space and sending everything flying. I reckon they got to within 20 feet or so, but I never did see them despite shining the torch around.

[Ben W]

My usual jumpy moment Is when the astro ginger cat decides he's going to play at tigers in the garden, using me as stalking practice!

Beastly ungrateful little swine ..lol!

[carastro]

One of our astro group members was in his garden one night and turned round and saw two bright red eyes staring at him.

After a moment of shock, he realised it was the horse in the next field peering over the fence (which he was next to) looking into his red headlamp.

Carole