So... I noticed this guy in the woods

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Let me set the scene for you a bit....

We (My girlfriend and I) live in the mountains of NC when we're not at school; it's very rural. In fact, we actually live up on a mountain that overlooks a valley, while on the back side of us is a national forest, water reservoir and black bear habitat. My neighborhood is basically built in a network of old logging roads (which were cut in when our mountain still housed mica mines) one of which has been widened and paved up to my cluster of 7 houses where the road (meaning paved part) dead ends. My family and I live in one house and my grilfriend and her family have been our next door neighbors for years. (Way before we were an "item")

We have several dogs in the neighborhood and we all know and love each others dogs, some of them just run free and visit every house or whatever vehicle comes to whatever house at the time. (And you'll understand why we 1) have a lot of dogs and 2) Let them run loose after this story.)

Down in the valley is one of NC's youth prison facilities... Used to be a correctional facility for minor offenders but now it is for severely troubled youth. Usually things are pretty quiet and we kind of forget about the place. However, because of our close proximity and the OBVIOUS abundance of uninhabited land behind us, these youth usually "run the mountain" when they break out, which is not often. If they escape, they can hit the 4H Camp or high school grounds right beside the place and shoot right up into the forest behind us only to hide, theive, run, or whatever their troubled hearts desire.

Fast forward to a couple of days ago when my girlfriend and I were arriving home with a load of rocks from the creek bed of our pasture. I had to back the Silverado in to our bottom parking place so that I could off load the rocks for my latest landscaping project. That meant we were facing the dead end and subsequently looking into the woods on the right side of the neighborhood. I noticed that one of our dogs, the beagle/basset mix, was just raising cane and looking into the woods with every hair on his spine standing up. As my eyes wonder upward I catch the face of some dude who is watching us from some underbrush. He sees that I've spotted him and quickly retreats further into the underbrush. I asked my girlfriend "Who the hell is that in the woods?"

TIME OUT: Now, it wasn't a big deal, because obviously the logging roads connect to other neighborhoods on down the valley and a lot of times it isn't uncommon to have a random and curious hiker or 4 wheeler/dirt bike person wander out of the woods to try and find their bearing and take the pavement home. Or sometimes they'll just come out to look around and then back track wherever they came from... No big deal, right?

BACK TO THE STORY: My girlfriend responded with "I don't know, maybe it's Stevie (her brother) and one of his friends or something, maybe they've just startled Buddy" (the afore mentioned dog) So, just for $h!s and giggles I walk up to the woods because I was curious, based on the duck and move reaction to me spotting them. Stevie is no where to be found and Buddy is sniffing around the bushes, still obviously upset and still yelling at whatever was upsetting him. I took a closer look, didn't see anyone and just figured that they had walked the other way back down the trail. (Or in retrospect, were hiding from me)

Later that night I turn on the local news only to find out that 3 youth inmates had escaped from the youth facility earlier that day and were considered dangerous. My girlfriend and I immediately put it all together; the person we had spotted was indeed one of the inmates and he obviously didn't want to be seen in the first place and probably was hiding just a few feet away from us while we peered into the edge of the woods (Confirmed by Buddy's reactions)

It's too bad I didn't know.... But needless to say, the shotgun spent a few nights beside the door and all of the dogs have been spending AMPLE time on the loose as of late (We personally have 2 LARGE dogs... If they encountered him one (Akita/St. Bernard mix) would lick him to death, however, the other one (Pit Bull/Chow mix) would probably NOT be so friendly. In fact, the other one probably wouldn't be friendly at all.

They still haven't caught the one guy (The one we spotted, as ultimately they revealed that the other 2 had been apprehended close to the facility) but a couple of cars have been stolen, so I'm pretty sure he's long gone by now.

End of story.... LOL.

Edited May 26, 2007 by FUTURE_OF_GM

[Cory Wolfe]

Scary, but intriguing.

[trinacriabob]

Fast forward to a couple of days ago when my girlfriend and I were arriving home with a load of rocks from the creek bed of our pasture. I had to back the Silverado in to our bottom parking place so that I could off load the rocks for my latest landscaping project. That meant we were facing the dead end and subsequently looking into the woods on the right side of the neighborhood. I noticed that one of our dogs, the beagle/basset mix, was just raising cane and looking into the woods with every hair on his spine standing up. As my eyes wonder upward I catch the face of some dude who is watching us from some underbrush. He sees that I've spotted him and quickly retreats further into the underbrush. I asked my girlfriend "Who the hell is that in the woods?"

Later that night I turn on the local news only to find out that 3 youth inmates had escaped from the youth facility earlier that day and were considered dangerous. My girlfriend and I immediately put it all together; the person we had spotted was indeed one of the inmates and he obviously didn't want to be seen in the first place and probably was hiding just a few feet away from us while we peered into the edge of the woods (Confirmed by Buddy's reactions)

These people are the scariest. You just don't know what they are capable of doing, since they are desperate. Watching too many movies doesn't help, either. One of these days I will post my encounter with a methed-out freak last year...I just didn't do it at the time. It could have been fatal. I felt lucky that "the man upstairs" must have intervened.

[Sixty8panther]

Perfect supporting case for the importance of the 2nd amendment.

[ocnblu]

Nice narration, FOG, I was captivated by your story. Your surrounding area sounds nice. Hopefully, the kid is, like you say, long gone. Dogs are such ideal protective companions in rural environments... sic 'em, Killer!

[Camino LS6]

Quite the story.

Sounds like you live in a great place with neighbors who "get it". It beats being here among the conformist masses. Sheeple with money make crappy neighbors.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Our neighborhood is excellent. I had a very picture-esque childhood with all the nature and 'small town' feel. 2 of the 7 houses in the neighborhood, used to be 3 of the 7, are owned by my girlfriends family. All of the kids are roughly the same age and all grew up together as pretty much the same people have been here all of my life. However, now we are experiencing a population boom and at the same time, the deterioration of the middle class (which has happened since textiles got wiped out) The rich retirees are moving in and developing the mountains, while the middle class is falling further and further behind subsequently becoming more and more bitter. Crystal meth is a huge epidemic now, and all of the new 'developments' are loathed to the point of random acts of vandalism and arson. So it is not without it's problems, that's for sure.

The neighborhood has a total of 12 dogs, counting inside and outside dogs, 3 of which are loose at all times. So we definitely know when someone drives or walks up. It's always such a great feeling to pull up in the driveway on a weekend visit home from my staid, boring college apartment only to be greeted with the "heroes welcome" from a flock of 6 or 7 dogs before we even get to the door. That's how my parents and her parents know we're home

As for the second amendment; I've never been one to tote a gun for fun, but it's nice to know that you have something to fall back on at 2AM when the dogs spot something that is worth barking at (You know what I mean - when you KNOW they see something and aren't just chasing a Possum or Raccoon.)

Edited May 27, 2007 by FUTURE_OF_GM