Anyone ever get the "There's something watching me" feeling?

[bored2deth]

Hey peoples,

It's October, the leaves are changing, and the weather is growing cooler.. Time when the spooks, ghosts, goobledegooks, and boogers come out to play. Have you ever been walking a trail, putting gas in your vehicle (all alone at the station), walking an isle in a barely populated store, or walk through your home in the middle of the night for a cup of water and get that creepy feeling? You know, that eerie tingling churning in the pit of your stomach, hairs standing on end feeling. I have quite a few times in my life, it has taught me to trust my instincts. My worst was as a eight year old child, laying in my bed at 1 am..I heard someone digging, yes digging, outside my bedroom. I went and told my dad, nearly getting smacked for waking him. He said I was dreaming, go back to bed! I did. Sure as hell wasn't dreaming though. Thirty minutes later, the digging started again. I laid there and listened. I got up after a few minutes to go pee. Came back, plopped down on my bed, then the hairs on my neck stood up and I got the worst feeling in my stomach I've ever felt. My instincts screamed for me to get the hell outta dodge.

I looked out my bedroom window. There was a man. Scraggly, older, nasty looking. Standing there with a cold, blank expression. I hollered for my dad. He nearly broke the door down trying to get to me in his hurry. The man had run off though, and my dad went out to check around. There was a hole, a small shovel left behind. In the hole was my cat..his neck and spine broken, head torn off. He called the police, but never talked to me about it. My life after that day grew a little more strict, and I started then to teach myself to listen to my instincts and other skills. Never hurts to listen to your
instincts.

Have any of you had any hair-raising experiences? I've read similar threads before, and I thought considering the month this would be appropriate. Anything that made the hair on your arms and neck stand up and scream? Made that nasty feeling in the pit of your gut. Made your pulse race and your heart pound? Mugged? Attacked? Saw a spook or booger? Run into a big animal? Anything. Share your stories, plz. Those of you whom have trained in and been forced to employ self-defense (cops, soldiers included) please chime in and share, if you are allowed. Funny old tales your grandda
told you are welcome too. My grandda's brother used to tell me stories of a headless man who walked the roads in his area around 2 am...hehe...old fart tried to spook me.

Thank you for reading,


Heh, maybe I'll even post about the evening I was stalked by a couple dogs.. That was about as much fun as wiping one's self with sandpaper! Or, maybe, the time my dog and I were followed by two weirdos at night. Also, to the couple whom lost their dog, I'm sorry for your loss..I know how it feels, and it's awful.

[Grease]

I get that feeling all the time. It's usually just one of my dogs or my cat though...

[LMT66]

[edctac]

We have 2 pitbulls so not much sneaks up on our house. However, last winter my roommate found tracks in the snow leading to our back door. That kreeped us out pretty good.

[91bravo]

Yeah, its called paranoia!

[Halberdier]

Something a little more real than the perception of being watched that I'm sure everyone experienced is the sound of twigs crunching while you're out there in the middle of the night. You know it's some wildlife, but we all watched 'those movies' and the thought that Jason & co is out there can creep into your head. My solution is to pack a handgun. Maybe that's why they call them peacemakers.

[untamed]

It's an ingrained evolutionary "counter-stalking" (from predators) mechanism related with our survival instincts which, for lack of better term is our, "proximity sense".

[mete]

My brother and I were sound asleep at about 2:00am .We were awakened by a terrifying ,blood curdling scream from just outside the window.The term 'blood curdling ' was an understatement !! We figured it was a great horned owl that had taken a rabbit that had not died immediately.
Movie screams don't even come close !

[goephoto]

I've heard what I'm pretty sure was a panther scream while camping one night. It really does sound like a woman in serious trouble!! You have to hear it to understand. Scared the mess out of me.

[Jack Black]

Living in the UK, I get the feeling I'm being watched all the time

[Stubai]

No kidding. London may be one of the most 'watched' places on this green globe. Makes you wonder who has the time to review all the video data. Interesting thought! Was there not a song by M. Jackson about being watched?

[357fan]

One night 3 or so months ago my internal alarms were going wild. I was home alone, my girlfriend was at work, due home around 2am. I checked the doors and windows and my car out front, all was well, but I still had the creeps. I called the gf and told her that I was going to meet her outside when she came home. Then I strapped a pistol on my hip and
went about my normal business. I met her when she got home and we went to bed. 30 min later a gas station 2 blocks from home was robbed at knife point. my guess is that the guy was stalking our place, and when we presented a hardened target, he went a few blocks down to plan b. My gf is a bar manager, and she frequently has the bar deposit bag, and her tip money on her when she comes home, that's anywhere from a couple hundred to over a grand total.

[bored2deth]

Sometimes the crunch you hear in the dark isn't wildlife..it's your chunky roomie with his candybars.. Ya, there is a Michael Jackson song titled "Something's watching me", popped into my head when I put this thead up lol. Nah, people get stalked by nutters kooks at the time, sad part of todays world. The world isn't what it was back in it's day, when people could leave their doors unlocked, sleeping with no worries. Now a days, most people have three or four locks, dogs, and alarm systems. Lol. The worst thing in the dark is that tell-tale toooooooo-ooooooo-ooooooot...it's then that you hastilly try to pull the covers over your nose and face, but you know...you're going to smell it anyway.. Dumb dogs...cats are even worse..hehe. My dog has a taste for beans.. Hehehe.. I've heard rabbits scream, it's awful.. I've heard stories of panther noises from my dad, grandad, uncles, father in law, etc--they all say it sounds like a screaming woman, or sometimes even a crying baby. Makes ya wonder why an animal would be able to make sounds which would draw human attention, huh? Creepy. Ooooo big kitty!

[machine26]

Yeah, sometimes. I think it's probably a survival instinct, something in your brain that keeps ya on your toes and alert.

[desmobob]

This winter, my girlfriend and I were camping in the Adirondacks in NY. Late at night, while sitting by the campfire drinking wine, we suddenly heard the very loud "CRACK" of a big stick breaking about 10 yards away in the dark. It wasn't the sound of a stick being stepped on, but more like someone standing there, breaking a very large branch (broomstick size) on purpose.

I looked up, startled, and was just about to mention how unusual it sounded when it happened again, just seconds later! I turned my Black Diamond's headlamp onto the high-power spotlight mode and looked at the spot where the noise came from. Nothing. No reflections from an animal's eyes and no sound of something/somebody leaving the area. I was convinced it was a person, but we were hiking off-trail and were a couple of miles from the nearest trail or campsite. If someone or something large enough to break a stick that size had come that close, we would have certainly heard it walking in the leaves.

My girlfriend is absolutely fearless -- no fear of the dark, the woods, etc. She looked over her shoulder briefly (the noise had been behind where she was sitting), shrugged her shoulders, and called me a baby. :-) I've done LOTS of solo camping and have never heard a sound like what we heard. She wasn't the least bit concerned. I was convinced someone was there, but there obviously wasn't.

Last week, we were on a five-day canoe camping adventure in the Five Ponds Wilderness area of the ADKs. We camped on a large island the first few nights, hoping to minimize the hassle of having to deal with bears. On the third night, she got up from the campfire to go and pee. She always just walks off into the dark a long ways, unafraid. But she immediately came back and said she was scared and wanted me to go with her. As she is usually so totally unafraid of the dark woods, it spooked me that she was suddenly afraid; it was actually the very first time I've ever heard her say it, and we've done a lot of camping.

I was worried there was a legitimate reason for her to suddenly be afraid, but there apparently was not (thank goodness!).

Sometimes, I guess you just get spooked!

Stay sharp,
desmobob

[rivertamer]

A few years back I was sitting in my buddies pickup truck... getting ready to head into the woods about 4 am or so to get in the stand for some early season bowhunting. We heard this incredible scream almost like a woman screaming but it was moving through the woods very quickly... no branches breaking but going from one end of the woods to the other.... we had figured it was a bird of some sort or an owl.
We sat until almost day break.... my buddy said " I did three tours in Nam.... but damned if I am going into that woods armed with just my bow.".... lol
It was pretty creepy.

[bored2deth]

Can't say I'd blame anyone for being spooked by a sudden, sharp noise. Oh, larger people can move quietly (at 200 pounds, I've often been fussed at for my quiet movements and sudden noises) and might surprise you--there are ways to dampen noise outdoors. My grandfather and I used to track bear when I was younger, and deer as well. He was always looking back to make sure I was following, lol. I can tell you from experience, black bears can move quietly..must be the pads of their feet.

A bow is better than nothing, if something is coming for you. Maybe you could thrust a broadhead-tipped shaft into a predator's peeper (eye), or possibly the throat? Good thing you and your friend got out of there!

With Halloween coming, I'm sure there will be some crazy if not stupid things going on..I've even read reports of animals and pets going missing.. Sad. We all know what that means at this time of year. Be safe peoples! Hope to hear more stories!

Have a safe October!!

[Grease]

Oh, larger people can move quietly (at 200 pounds, I've often been fussed at for my quiet movements and sudden noises

Same... 260lbs and I've snuck up on people on gravel driveways gravel. Dirt with the occasional twig provides no challenge

[bored2deth]

Lol! I snuck up on my friend last year, after having given lessons in self-defense..she learned alright...nothing worse than a sneaker to the ol' coin-purse..

[fujita yuji]

Sometimes I have that feeling.
Sometimes I could find what made me feel that way, a wildlife.