Terrifying experiences while observing?

[vince 66]

Has any one watched the film jeepers creepers 2 highly recommended before a nights observing alone .

[nightfisher]

or maybe watch dog soldiers while at a star party

[Ags]

I've had enough bad experiences that I will not go out alone at night. My garden is far enough.

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Before i really got into astronomy, i was living in spain and walking home from the village pub one night. We lived in a rural area, and the village street light (singular) was temperamental at best. The skies were amazing, and i lived about a half mile walk outside of the village, down a long country dust track, past a cemetary.

I was drunkenly walking whilst looking up, stumbling about the place, when all of a sudden i smelled something awful. REALLY bad. I remembered hearing all the stuff about sometimes ghosts come with a strong smell, or sudden temperature drops etc. Even though i don't believe in all that, the poorly lit cemetary, combined with the very sudden strong smell, had me nervous. I walked slowly and wide eyed, and as i crossed the gates of the cemetary, i heard a russle in the bush opposite, followed by a grunt/snort. I stood perfectly still, contemplating going back to the village and taking the much MUCH longer, but safer route home. I took a step back, then out rushes a wild boar!

The noise that came out of me still makes me giggle, but DAMN did i run. I felt my heel clip it as i ran across it's path, and that instantly sent adrenaline rushing through me. I sprinted all the way home, in the dark (no moon), through olive groves, over walls etc.

I didn't go home that way after that, and certainly didn't linger in the farmland.

I'm glad to be back in the uk, where the scariest thing to come at me whilst observing is a bunny rabbit, save for the curious pony in the new forest.

[assasincz]

I took a step back, then out rushes a wild boar!

I too have encountered a wild bore once when I was a kid. I was walking a dog in a forest near a caravan site we were staying in and the situation was similar to yours, only difference being that the boar had a little piglet with it, and I am given to understand that, when protecting their youngs, boars are extremely belligerent and dangerous. Yeah, I and our dog were running like never before, luckily down hill

This has nothing to do with amateur astronomy though, I reckon...sorry

[Parus major]

I've got a front garden only on a lane with a six foot wall around it. Last autumn I heard my gate and looked round the bush to see two adult males checking my front door to see if it was unlocked. They had the door open before I got over the shock enough to shout and thankfully the ran off. I took my gear in and locked the door as fast as I could!

[Alkaid]

I used to observe from a park in Leeds. The car park was not the best place though, so I had to put the scope about 100m from the car.

When I returned I found about 10 teenagers about to break into the car. I always carry a high power light and that scared them off.

Then when I drove off, the police stopped me on suspicion of joyriding (I'm 34 years old). I had no documentation on me and spent an uncomfortable 20 minutes being checked out. Once they knew I was the owner and had showed them my scope, they were great though and also slightly amused. They did however tell me not to go back there at night due to the amount of vehicle thefts in the area, and I have not been back since.

I hate living in the city

[EntropyStar]

More painful than terrifying:

Last Friday I carried my dob along the narrow.alleyway between my house and the neighbours. I had to hold it out in front of me to fit. Muggins here suddenly found himself staggering around in a daze with a cut forehead. My knee had connected with body of the scope and it had pivoted towards me on the stand. I took the finderscope square on between the eyes and smashed my glasses. Got a deep cut on my forehead from where the finderscope top adjustment screw went straight in, gouged a nice valley out my forehead, plus cut lip and cut nose from the glasses.

Lady Entropy thought I'd been in a fight. Twas not a good look!

[MjrTom]

Ouch that sounds painful

[imarcs]

I have a small stream that runs through my back garden. In the middle of the night the only thing that can be heard is the noise of the water, which to be fair is quite calming and reassuring. However once in the summer when a insomniac duck decided to swim upstream, and walk unnoticed onto my jetty, then inquire what I was doing there with a load "QUACK!" was enough to make me jump up, fall over whilst trying to avoid my kit and end up in the stream myself.

[Cath]

Last I heard was that they want to introduce wolves back into the UK country side because the deer population is growing to much.

[starman1969]

Just last year at the Grand Canyon. Very busy during the day but just my brother and I after sunset.

Surprising how quiet it went. We heard a rustling in some bushes behind us. I turned round and saw what looked like a dog or coyote, to be honest I'm not sure because I didn't really want to look. Anyway it seemed to go away, but there were wild deer walking free nearby as well.

Same holiday and another location, Monument Valley. I was setting up my camera and tripod for a star trail and we heard a pack of crazed wild dogs running towards us. We both legged it back into the car which was just next to us.

It turned out we had already met these dogs earlier in the day, in the hotel car park.

I had a word with one of the security people and he said they are ok as long as you don't touch them.

I managed to get my photos but ended up giving all my stash of donuts and cereal bars to the dogs, to keep them happy while I was there.

[Ratlet]

When I was in the scouts years ago we had to go and rescue a heap of scouts who were forced to abandon a stargazing hike because of the midges. I've never seen the like. They had just climbed in their tents without pitching them. A few were in tears. Living in the highlands you get bad midges, but it was a perfect storm of them. It was utterly unbearable to be out in them for more than a couple of minutes.

[Trickystar1]

2am pitch black in the garden when I seen a hooded figure running towards me, my bottom started going 5p, 50p, 5p, 50p when it said, "do you fancy a cup of tea babe as it's freezing out here" I replied in a shocked but sheepish voice, "I thought you went to bed" to my relief it was my girlfriend. We had a good laugh about it afterwards. I always think if it was a murderer I woud be more worried about my telescope. Lol

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

5p, 50p, 5p, 50p

LMAO

[LukeSkywatcher]

All hedgehogs possess the stamina to run, many can make 4.5 miles per hour or better,[5] and are particularly adept at climbing steep walls, trees, and fences and even swimming

from Hedgehog - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That explains it then. The house behind me has tall trees and so does my garden at the same end. They must come in through that garden and climb over into mine.

Thanks. I never would have guessed that they were any good at climbing.

[Stu Skywatcher]

5p, 50p, 5p, 50p

Ah, the decimalised version of sixpence, half-a-crown.......

[Kit-Fox]

Last I heard was that they want to introduce wolves back into the UK country side because the deer population is growing to much.

Despite a bad press from the media and farmers ( who arent exactly imparial in the matter) there have been a shockingly small number of unprovoked attacks by wolves against humans in Europe

And there has never been a recorded incidence of it in the UK

So you have very little to worry about, remember wolves are actually more wary of you, than you are of them

[Axe]

nothing really terrifying, but the screams coming from a neighbours bedroom was quite offputting (for the first few minutes i thought she was being beaten up lol)...to the point i woke my wife up to come and have a giggle (if you have seen porkies it was litterally like that!)....all was fine she waltzed out the next day with a spring in her step.

[Smudgeypoo]

The black panther that visits my garden always gives me a twitchy knot. Good job it is more frightened than me, a flash of the torch and it always runs off at rapid pace.

[JamesF]

Despite a bad press from the media and farmers ( who arent exactly imparial in the matter) there have been a shockingly small number of unprovoked attacks by wolves against humans in Europe

And there has never been a recorded incidence of it in the UK

So you have very little to worry about, remember wolves are actually more wary of you, than you are of them

That's hardly a good justification for re-introducing wolves to the UK though, is it?

It's hardly like there's a shortage of evidence that introducing foreign (though I agree that wolves wouldn't always have been so even if they are now) fauna into a new environment causes a huge amount of trouble and can often endanger the survival of many other species or just become a major pest themselves.

If deer numbers are genuinely a problem then let's cull a few more and make venison a more popular Sunday roast.

James

[Kit-Fox]

Wolves were native to this country, but were hunted to extinction in the 16 & 17 hundreds due to successful fear campaigns run by landowners & farmers.

The wolf that was hunted to extinction is the same 'european wolf' that we are re-introducing now. it is not 'alien' to this country or its ecosystem

They are not a threat to human existance and can help balance our ecosystem regarding out of control smaller animals and when in packs larger animals like deer (it is rare for a single wolf to successfully bring down a deer on its own)

Your irrational fear of what the media / cartoons and farmers have told you wolves are is not an excuse to prevent their reintroduction to the wild in the uk.

[JamesF]

I think I'll be the judge of what irrational fears I do and don't have and why, thank you.

I believe it's perfectly reasonable to consider a species that hasn't lived wild in this country for three or four hundred years as "alien". The landscape has changed massively in that period and to blithely assume that everything will just go back to being "as it was" seems foolish in the extreme, particularly given the unforeseen and often very damaging effects that deliberate or accidental introduction of novel species have had in the past.

I make no excuses for the deliberate wiping out of wolves from Britain. That was completely wrong and should never have happened. However, the re-introduction into an environment that is in many cases barely recognisable from the one they were exterminated from cannot automatically be considered good and accusing people of irrational fear does nothing to promote that cause. Demonstrating that there's every reason to believe the re-introduction of wolves would achieve the stated goals without risk to bio-diversity and agriculture could, but right now I don't believe there's any evidence to support it. I am aware that some people have suggested controlled re-introduction in fenced areas to research this, but I'm not aware that any such experiment has yet taken place.

James

[Parus major]

I make no excuses for the deliberate wiping out of wolves from Britain. That was completely wrong and should never have happened. However, the re-introduction into an environment that is in many cases barely recognisable from the one they were exterminated from cannot automatically be considered good and accusing people of irrational fear does nothing to promote that cause. Demonstrating that there's every reason to believe the re-introduction of wolves would achieve the stated goals without risk to bio-diversity and agriculture could, but right now I don't believe there's any evidence to support it. I am aware that some people have suggested controlled re-introduction in fenced areas to research this, but I'm not aware that any such experiment has yet taken place.

James

Actually, the places on the shortlist for any re-introduction have hardly changed at all since the extermination of Wolves, which is why they're on the shortlist. The reasoning for wolves goes beyond the obvious and into other areas. The Capercaillie for instance would be a winner.

The issue is that historically farmers and land owners are very skilled at getting what they want, legally and otherwise and without any cost to themselves. I doubt we'll ever see wolves when there's still resentment over the Wildlife Crime act and there were even a few mainstream newspapers drumming up support for the eradication of foxes last year, (no doubt using dogs, horses and drunk rich people in silly clothes). Never mind the lack of scientific evidence to support the extermination of an animal on the protected list.

[Kedvenc]

I wonder if 'dog walking' forums have a similar thread with people reporting being scared off by groups turning up with telescopes.