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This story is real, something that happened to me over the course of the last few weeks. While it might not be as bone chilling as some of the horror fiction you might find out there, it still sends shivers down my spine to think that that thing is out there, somewhere.
I live on a sizable piece of land in the south of Brazil, most of it is untamed woods. I chose it for that reason, because I’m a bit of a survivalist, and enjoy spending time in the forest. I try to make a regular habit of walking the grounds with my dog, Batman, not only to exercise the both of us, but also to make sure everything is in order. Due to my less than healthy sleeping habits lately, we mostly go out when it’s dark outside- The fact that there’s a graveyard right up the road from my plot doesn’t really bother me, they’re all sleeping. That, and the fact I grew very accustomed to being in the woods at night during my time in the army, mean I feel comfortable out there in the dark, and don’t jump at every sound of rustling in the bushes. The only problem, which I came to realize once I started trying to go out during the day, is that even with a powerful flashlight, a lot of strange little details pass you by unnoticed in the darkness.
Lately, my dog has been making a habit of barking and howling at the woods at night. He’s a big, dark, grizzly guard dog, and a little paranoid. I’ve gone out to investigate the first few times and found nothing to be afraid of- And so I wrote it off as him barking at foxes and skunks. Sometimes, however, I find him so desperate to come inside, almost petrified with primal, powerful fear. A few times he’s tried to scratch and maul the door as if trying to knock it down, and once I opened it, he’d dash right past me, almost knocking me over, to hide under my bed. What could scare such a big, scary dog?
A few days ago, we took a walk at noon, it was clear and sunny out. Batman spotted it before I did: a dead Armadillo, right in the middle of a path we often took, in an open field. Only, it wasn’t simply dead. Its shell had been neatly torn off in one piece, and remained almost intact. A few steps down the path, I found its bones, neatly arranged in a little pile. My dog didn’t think twice to start crunching on them like cornflakes, but I was in awe as I examined the remains more closely, and then the surrounding area. There wasn’t a single drop of blood to be found, not a shred of flesh. The bones were completely and utterly clean, so white they shone in the sunlight, and there were no tracks of any kind around the carcass. You’d think, perhaps the work of scavengers or decomposers- But only two days prior we’d walked the same path and seen no traces of the dead animal. Maybe it could have been placed there by someone? Yet nobody else lives on my land, and trespassers would risk being mauled by Batman. The top of the food chain in these woods are the occasional ocelot, but those make a habit of dragging their prey away and don’t leave them out in the open- And they don’t bleach bones. So what kind of animal kills like this?
I’ve started taking my crossbow along when we go out, and listen more closely to the sounds of the forest. To this day I’ve yet to sight the thing, and I’m starting to think- Maybe it’s better if I never do.
View attachment 20231128_184813.jpg
I live on a sizable piece of land in the south of Brazil, most of it is untamed woods. I chose it for that reason, because I’m a bit of a survivalist, and enjoy spending time in the forest. I try to make a regular habit of walking the grounds with my dog, Batman, not only to exercise the both of us, but also to make sure everything is in order. Due to my less than healthy sleeping habits lately, we mostly go out when it’s dark outside- The fact that there’s a graveyard right up the road from my plot doesn’t really bother me, they’re all sleeping. That, and the fact I grew very accustomed to being in the woods at night during my time in the army, mean I feel comfortable out there in the dark, and don’t jump at every sound of rustling in the bushes. The only problem, which I came to realize once I started trying to go out during the day, is that even with a powerful flashlight, a lot of strange little details pass you by unnoticed in the darkness.
Lately, my dog has been making a habit of barking and howling at the woods at night. He’s a big, dark, grizzly guard dog, and a little paranoid. I’ve gone out to investigate the first few times and found nothing to be afraid of- And so I wrote it off as him barking at foxes and skunks. Sometimes, however, I find him so desperate to come inside, almost petrified with primal, powerful fear. A few times he’s tried to scratch and maul the door as if trying to knock it down, and once I opened it, he’d dash right past me, almost knocking me over, to hide under my bed. What could scare such a big, scary dog?
A few days ago, we took a walk at noon, it was clear and sunny out. Batman spotted it before I did: a dead Armadillo, right in the middle of a path we often took, in an open field. Only, it wasn’t simply dead. Its shell had been neatly torn off in one piece, and remained almost intact. A few steps down the path, I found its bones, neatly arranged in a little pile. My dog didn’t think twice to start crunching on them like cornflakes, but I was in awe as I examined the remains more closely, and then the surrounding area. There wasn’t a single drop of blood to be found, not a shred of flesh. The bones were completely and utterly clean, so white they shone in the sunlight, and there were no tracks of any kind around the carcass. You’d think, perhaps the work of scavengers or decomposers- But only two days prior we’d walked the same path and seen no traces of the dead animal. Maybe it could have been placed there by someone? Yet nobody else lives on my land, and trespassers would risk being mauled by Batman. The top of the food chain in these woods are the occasional ocelot, but those make a habit of dragging their prey away and don’t leave them out in the open- And they don’t bleach bones. So what kind of animal kills like this?
I’ve started taking my crossbow along when we go out, and listen more closely to the sounds of the forest. To this day I’ve yet to sight the thing, and I’m starting to think- Maybe it’s better if I never do.
View attachment 20231128_184813.jpg
(Batman and me)
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