Besides cougars, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, fishers, lynx, pigs, sheep, goats, frogs, toads, owls, ravens, rabbits, marmots, squirrels, raccoons, and bears all make screaming-yelling type sounds too. To the untrained ear, especially those unfamiliar and uncomfortable with being in the wilderness at night, where its pitch black and dead silent without ambient light and sound like in cities, these vocalizations would make some people's imaginations run wild. Nothing makes people stupider than fear, and being all alone hearing unidentified screams coming from the darkness when you're hours from civilization in a foreign environment is a perfect recipe for irrational explanations to natural phenomenon. Not to mention falling pine cones and acorns throughout the night sounding like rocks being thrown, where even a field mouse sounds impossibly large scurrying under leaves on still nights only adds to the terror.
I figure I've spent about 3 years of my life in the forests of Alberta and British Columbia thanks to a lot of holidays every year. I fly-fish, raft, and rappel in areas only accessible by foot and/or raft and I've never had an unexplained experience. I've always done these trips alone too, since on the few occasions I've tried bringing others out, they've always wimped out and wanted to leave early. Even in areas where I won't see another human for 2 weeks or more, in insanely remote rivers and forest and I've never seen signs of anything unexplainable. But I am familiar with seeing the irrational fears of friends that have accompanied me on these excursions because they're unfamiliar and inexperienced in these environments. What is merely a squirrel running along branches dropping pine cones while a raven calls in the distance is normal forest noise to me, to the inexperienced camper it's a bloodthirsty beast on the hunt.
reply
share