Laugh if you want, but this city dwellers has a serious question about animals and getting spooked when alone at at a dark site ....

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

The big stuff doesn't bother me. Owls, hedgehogs, mice, bats et al, bring them on. Finding a spider perched on my shoulder though gives me the heebue jeebies. Although it's probably the midges and mossies you really need to be scared of!

[maw lod qan]

15 minutes ago, Alkaid said:

The most fantastic sound when out at night is the Owl. I’ve had some wonderful nights with just me, scope, stars and Owls hooting.

It's amazing though that for such a large bird, owls are so silent when flapping their wings.

[happy-kat]

The barn owl is the most silent but consequently it can't hunt in drizzle as the feathers have no oil.

[Ally8446]

First time I heard a sheep cough my blood went cold as I had no idea what it was. 

The only thing that has ever spooked me was the 'lesser spotted Bobby'... especially when he shone his Maglite in my face and burned my retina 😕

[Ships and Stars]

People are the most dangerous animal pretty much anywhere you go outside of the Serengeti or Svalbard/polar bear territory in winter. I set up at some really remote places, so carry a 4500lumen led torch for any intruders. I've had one person quietly approach me in the dark, I waited until he was about 15m away and turned it on turbo mode. A photographer wanting to take aurora shots! Don't know why he crept up on me like that, there were miles of open land around me. Never approach anyone with your torch turned off in pitch dark conditions. Having said that, a few years back, I was camping in remote jungle in Taman Negara, Malaysia, about six miles from the nearest hut. My torch batteries were going flat and my backup failed, then torrential rain set in. I made it halfway back to the hut when I got stuck in knee-deep mud. Right then something very large about 10m away charged through the jungle breaking large tree branches like matchsticks. I never got a glimpse, but at that moment all you can do is accept your fate. Turns out it was running away from me. Could have been a tapir, wild boar or pygmy elephant. A tiger or big cat wouldn't have been so clumsy I don't think. I finally made it back to the hut where I spent several hours removing leeches. I would camp there again in an instant, love the jungle.

Edited October 26, 2019 by Ships and Stars

[scarp15]

1 hour ago, Ally8446 said:

First time I heard a sheep cough my blood went cold as I had no idea what it was. 

The only thing that has ever spooked me was the 'lesser spotted Bobby'... especially when he shone his Maglite in my face and burned my retina 😕

That can be amusing, I went on an overnight astro trip wild camping, was startled awake by a loud guttural bleat. A solitary, angry sheep right outside the tent, I had found the only spot of lush grass to pitch on an area being moorland or bracken, potentially sleeping on its breakfast.  

[Stu]

6 hours ago, happy-kat said:

Bats are amazing

Indeed they are. I bought a kit to build a bat detector for about £20, works really well.

[Peter Drew]

If the OP can enjoy being "dive bombed" by bats then there is little else to fear.  I have seen Adders at Kelling.  (Sorry Carole!)    😀

[Ouroboros]

The only way to cope with this sort of fear is to keep doing it.  Apply a bit of behavioural therapy. Keep subjecting yourself to spending time outside at night in the dark, initially in what feel like very safe places like the back garden and then gradually more remote places. 

 

[Ouroboros]

36 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

If the OP can enjoy being "dive bombed" by bats then there is little else to fear.  I have seen Adders at Kelling.  (Sorry Carole!)    😀

Do adders come out at night?  

[PeterW]

Screaming hedgehogs can be off putting, it’s amazing the noise they can make. I used to have a cat that liked to hide under bushes and then run and pounce on your legs in the dark and then scarper. If you are going to be out in their world they mig as well have some fun!

PEter

[Andy R]

Im lucky to live on a farm with woods either side attracting an abundance of wild life. I’ve pretty much heard every strange nighttime noise going from shrieks and screams to the sound of branches snapping and rustling bushes. What usually makes me jump is when the farm cats stalk me and jump out.  

That said if I have a drive out to a dark site  carpark i find the human species to be rather annoying. Then again I’ve given a few people a fright too, must be the clown suit and chainsaw lol🤡

[scarp15]

10 minutes ago, Andy R said:

That said if I have a drive out to a dark site  carpark i find the human species to be rather annoying. Then again I’ve given a few people a fright too, must be the clown suit and chainsaw lol🤡

Ah yes that might come in handy

Scope - check

Observers chair - check

Eyepiece case - check

Clown suit and chainsaw -

[Alkaid]

5 hours ago, happy-kat said:

The barn owl is the most silent but consequently it can't hunt in drizzle as the feathers have no oil.

Didn’t know that, thanks.  I like the hoot of the Tawny Owl, it’s a nice sound.

[mark skelton]

I've got my scope set up in my back garden here on the west (dark side) of the Malvern hills. I got last least 3 owls that live near by and they do make some noise that I like listening to.

[Paul M]

To answer the OP's point about being alone in the dead of night at a remote site, I couldn't and wouldn't do it.

It's my imagination that spooks me not real animals or real world objects.

With out visual reference to my surroundings my imagination makes up it's own reality. 

Just a few nights ago I was round the back of our Luxury Cumbrian Villa with my bins. I was alone outside but there were people inside and even stray light illuminating much of the area. But at the back it was very dark and I couldn't stay there! Had to move round the side into a bit of light.

You don't want to know what my imagination dreams up. I wish I didn't know either!

[JamesF]

3 hours ago, Stu said:

Indeed they are. I bought a kit to build a bat detector for about £20, works really well.

That sounds quite cool.  Is it the Magenta one?

James

[JamesF]

I think once you learn what noises the various animals make it all becomes far less spooky.  Hedgehogs do make enough noise for a large pig and foxes often sound like someone is murdering a baby; a spooked roosting pheasant can make a huge racket; deer "coughing" can sound quite human which can give you a start when you're not expecting anyone to be around.  Once you know what they all are it's no big deal.  I love having bats around and can (just) hear some of them.  Once or twice I've spooked an owl and they're amazing to see flying in the twilight.  I think the most aggravating thing you're likely to come across in the UK is blood-sucking insects.

James

[Jkulin]

There's an old saying: -

"There is nothing there in the dark that isn't there in the day"

I used to fish a very dark spooky lake in Petersfield in the early 80's all on my own in the middle of a wood, I rolled up and set up in the dark for a two night stay under my bivouac.

About 01:30 my buzzer sounded but nothing was there, I could see nothing it was pitch black and no moon, every time I tried to recast I heard a pingggggg followed by a sliding noise, scared the living daylights out of me as there had been a nutter in the area the past few weeks.

It turned out the lake had frozen and the ping was the line passing through my frozen rod rings and the sliding noise was my lead sliding along the ice, so you see the old saying was right: -

"There is nothing there in the dark that isn't there in the day"

[Stu]

3 hours ago, JamesF said:

That sounds quite cool.  Is it the Magenta one?

James

No it was this one:

https://www.nhbs.com/do-it-yourself-bat-detector-kit-manual?bkfno=241182&ca_id=1495&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI95PV4eq65QIVDFPTCh2ehwU4EAQYCyABEgIYQvD_BwE

You have to build it yourself, just a bit of soldering which was fairly easy and it work well. Didn't want to spend alot but have had some good results with it.

[JamesF]

Aha!  I think I may be looking at a possible Christmas present idea there

James

[Rob Sellent]

5 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

Do adders come out at night?

I'm sure they do but the good news with adders is that they can't multiply

[Ouroboros]

10 minutes ago, Rob Sellent said:

I'm sure they do but the good news with adders is that they can't multiply

Jokes like that just sow division. 😉 

[MKHACHFE]

Holy moly!! I only just managed to log on today and am floored to see 3 pages of replies. I have only read the first few, but rest assured I will read through the whole thread right now and start contributing to my own thread...

Thanks to all for replying. Can't wait to see what you all have to say. 👍

 

Cheers

[MKHACHFE]

16 hours ago, KevS said:

. At the planning stage she asked "are there any wild animals" she was dutifully informed there were lots of sheep, occasionally cows and very rarely goats. Her reply was "do they attack people"🤣

Well, to be fair, I'm not THAT bad. I am aware that we are fortunate to not have anything that dangerous in the wild in the UK. 😀