Tales of the Strange

What follows is some work I did back in 2017 which I have had a read through and made some corrections to the punctuation, flow, and broken it up into manageable paragraphs. I would like to also mention that character names that appear in this are in no way supposed to be the same as someone with the same name that might appear in other (and erotic) works. For example, the character in this piece of work called Ben isn't the same as the Ben that will likely be appearing in a yet-to-be-completed draft. I hope you like this different flavor of work, I may consider doing more if this one has enough interest.

U.S.B.P. Report No. 1138

SONORA

U.S.-MEXICO BORDER AREA, ARIZONA, NOGALES

JULY 7 > 2006

Report Filed By B.P.O. #11750

Incident Synopsis- Family of three abandoned in Sonora desert by coyote smuggler, adult male (deceased) adult female (deceased) adolescent female (alive)

Full Report-

Around 4:18pm, July 7 2006, USBP detected thermal signatures by method of UAV of a possible attempted illegal crossing into the United States. Border Patrol Agents Tom Valentine and Martin Santino were sent out to apprehend them.

Some confusion existed between the officers as they traveled to the location; the thermal signatures initially specified four suspects, then three, and then one. This was later explained; the coyote left the area after having abandoned the Ramirez family around noon about two hours from the border, keeping the money and the water, and the two adults were soon deceased, leaving only one signature, the nine-year old Ava Ramirez.

Officers Santino and Valentine arrived at the family's last known location at around 8:30pm, by now the sun was setting, and both officers knew the area became significantly more dangerous at night- the heat might be lower, but many dangerous animals in that region are nocturnal. They pulled up and immediately found two bodies, one adult male and an adult female.

The bodies were checked, and suggestions including dehydration and heat stroke were theorized as likely causes of death, but both officers in their post-incident debriefing noted the strange lack of blood and puncture marks on the skin around the neck area. The officers promptly located the young girl, who identified as Ava Ramirez.

The officers could see her fear, she had been scared badly, but both felt it was not the officers she was afraid of. The survivor was placed in the jeep while officer Santino asked her some questions to get an idea of what happened. The deceased were her parents, and she told him they had been abandoned around eight hours prior by a coyote.

While Santino lightly questioned the young girl, Valentine checked the nearby area for any additional survivors. Valentine stated that he heard an animal scuffle close by, and soon found a dead gopher- which like the parents was dry of blood. Valentine reported that he could hear a growling noise from very close by, believing it to be most likely a mountain lion, and he claimed he disturbed something dangerous while probing the bushes.

He returned to Santino, slightly spooked by his unseen encounter, when another jeep and two more U.S.B.P. officers arrived. The bodies were recovered before departing.

After interviews by border officials, Ava Ramirez was returned to her grandmother in Mexico. The medical examiner inspected the bodies, he noted in his report that they had not died from exposure to heat or even dehydration. He did however also note the lack of blood within the bodies.

The cause of death was listed as unknown.

Officers Valentine and Santino refuse to discuss the incident.

August 14th 2005

Pacific Northwest

Oregon State National Park

Forest Ranger Field Journal

Ranger ID ~ 6169- Kate Andrews

Poaching has been up lately in the last few weeks, so I and Ben are being kept busy. He's relatively new up here, and I keep forgetting he is around; I've been up here on my own for a while now since George retired last year. He's a young man, nearing his twenty-fifth but he seems level-headed and enjoys the surroundings.

The isolation up here can drive some people a bit crazy, they are too used to their urban surroundings, they miss the noise of traffic and people, the sounds of wildlife and sometimes no sound at all can make them fearful, I've heard of a few newbies who didn't enjoy being out here in places like this, but Ben seems content, and eager.

I've gotten to know him a bit better when we do our patrols around the park, many of which last the good part of four hours, maybe more if we notice something that needs dealing with. He certainly displays a fierce disgust for hunters who kill for sport, and explained to me that he believes that the only time we ever have the right to kill a wild animal is either to eat it for survival or it is threatening your own life. He did go on to say it is different with livestock, as they are bred, at least some of them, to satisfy our love of beef and pork.

On our patrol yesterday we disabled about six snare traps. There will undoubtedly be more elsewhere. I showed him how to properly disable any he finds, and to return what is left of it to the lodge. I'm getting him used to the park, because to the unfamiliar, these forests can all look the same, but soon, he like I will know exactly where they are at virtually all times, he will soon get a feel for the land and which trails lead where and shortcuts. He has a map, as does any ranger, but the more experienced ones don't even need it for navigation, they actually mark on it locations where they need to investigate.

Soon he will be ready for solo patrols, he will have his walkie with him at all times so we can keep in touch, and for now when he isn't with me, I'm checking up on him every ten minutes. Soon it will be twenty, then half an hour, and then jump to the maximum time it is safe to be out of contact for. Even for experienced rangers like me, to be out of contact for more than an hour can be dangerous. But I've been on my own for the past few weeks anyway, so if I got in trouble- who would I call?

I am glad he is here though; I've been spotting poachers and finding evidence of their presence, from cigarette butts to old campsites. They are here to poach black bears, their paws and gall bladders sell for big money; it is almost as lucrative as the drugs and weapons trade. And many poachers see it as easy money, but many poachers have a record beyond poaching. Ben is trained in use of his weapon and how to react if he discovers evidence of poachers; he is to call it in immediately before doing anything else. Our mission is to prevent poaching and protect local wildlife, at most importantly at the moment, the black bears.

Their numbers are plummeting, and we must stop more from being slaughtered, otherwise one day we could wake up and they will all be gone. Along our tours of the park, I've been showing Ben how to properly set up camera-traps, to monitor animal activity and to catch trespassers in the act, usually poachers, but sometimes just campers and hikers.

I've noticed the bears are behaving in an anxious manner lately, but I don't think it is the poachers that are making them nervous. There have been strange sounds lately, we have both heard them, they are loud and lengthy, some sort of howling, or as Ben described it a 'mournful wail'. I've been here for a while and believe I know every animal there is to find out here, but I cannot identify what animal is making a noise like that. Ben suggested maybe it was actually the poachers who are using some type of horn to warn others of our presence in the area. Whatever it is, maybe time will reveal it, and maybe Ben will be right, if the sounds disappear once the poachers clear out. I've called in to headquarters to get some backup out here, because I feel the two of us might be dangerously outnumbered out here.

August 15th

On our rounds today, we found the remains of a campsite, and from what we can tell, it was only for a lone poacher. But where there is one, there is likely more. Are they more likely to work together, or if they alone get the prizes they keep the money themselves? I cannot imagine poaching being a particularly 'noble' business.

There are more people than just poachers out here at this time of the year, like I mentioned yesterday, hikers and campers from the towns and cities come up here to experience nature, yet are often amusingly ill-prepared, have you ever seen a city man's idea of 'forest wear'? Some people just don't belong out here; they have no power outlets in which to plug in their electronics and hairdryers.

We also have to keep them in order, such as making sure no dirt bikes start tearing up the hiking trail or someone tries to make a campfire which quickly turns into a forest wildfire. With these influxes of visitors to the park, both benevolent and those not, we really do need those extra rangers. But good news with that, they are on their way. They should be here in 36 hours, so at least another full day of just the two of us.

I can't imagine Ben is thrilled that his only company is a forty-year old woman, I'm hardly able to comprehend a lot of the things people of his age talk about, but saying that, Ben seems wise beyond his years, and most importantly I trust him, I can trust him to help me if I'm in trouble and to be a decent guy, because I've heard a story before where a female ranger was on her own with a male ranger and he ended up assaulting her, he was arrested and fired, he avoided jail but got a hefty fine and lifetime ban from all national parks.

The woman he assaulted, I know her, and she is a strong willed lady, and fortunately the experience hasn't deterred her from feeling safe in her park, she now has a new work partner who like Ben seems like a good guy.

Later on in the evening, Ben came back with more disabled traps and believed that he had an idea where the poacher's main camp was, as all the traps were in a circular radius of an area near the river which is flat enough to make camp on. Tomorrow we are heading out there to scope it out, because if we can find evidence of them being there, we can have the police up here within short order to either arrest them or chase them off.

Ben mentioned he found one of our camera traps seemed to have been tampered with, but it was nine feet off the ground.

The time was 11:48pm and while I was sleeping, Ben remained awake to keep an eye on things from the main room. He came and woke me up, he told me he heard that strange howling sound again, but it sounded closer than last time. I followed him outside onto the porch area and heard it, but this sounded more like a bloodcurdling scream. We reviewed the cameras, the live feed from all of them; none of them were showing anything out of the ordinary, except camera nine which Ben had mentioned being tampered with, that camera will need sorting out in the morning; it is too dangerous in the dark. I returned to sleep until Ben's watch was over.

August 16th

Ben and I headed out first thing towards camera trap nine to fix it if possible. Ben carried the ladder out for me after the short ride in the truck. I had a look at the camera while Ben had a look around the vicinity. He noted there was a musky mammalian smell in the air, like strong urine. He also found some long hairs on a tree where the bark was crumbling, something had rubbed against it and lost a few hairs, but they looked too long and light coloured to be a bear. They might have belonged to a poacher, and if it did, the authorities would have his DNA on record. He collected the sample and said he was going to have it sent to be analysed in the lab.

I found the camera hadn't been shot at as I had believed was the case, nor could I see any rocks that might have been hurled at it in an attempt to disable it. Whatever had disturbed it had indeed disabled it but left it more or less intact. I returned to the lodge to review the footage from camera nine to see if there were any clues in the recordings to what disturbed it while Ben went on his rounds and to send off the sample he had found.

Upon returning to the lodge I was quite unnerved when I found a piece of paper nailed to the front door with the words 'WHO IS WATCHING YOU?' written on it. I felt this was some kind of warning by a poacher. I remained on alert for quite a while. I reviewed the footage from camera nine, but it failed to capture whatever had disturbed it, but when the camera went down, there were no signs of any flashlights, the area was pitch black, so something could see the camera at that height in the dark. A bear came to mind; maybe a large on stood up on its hind legs and stretched up the tree, but the only problem with that idea was that I found no trace of bear claw marks on the trunk of the tree.

I am feeling more anxious when out alone, so I'm making sure Ben stays close by, never more than a few minutes away from each other. Because I can't shake the feeling I'm being watched.

Ben later returned with something, he believes he chased off a poacher and presented a video-camera which had seemingly been accidentally dropped. We plugged it in to our system to review the footage, it was quite unsettling, it was mostly footage of me when I was alone, down by the river and in the lodge, so some creep had been following me around and had even been outside this very lodge, if they were bold enough to get that close, what else would they do?

This extra help couldn't get here soon enough. The camera would be sent off as evidence; hopefully we could find who it belonged to. The footage confirmed that this creep was acting alone; he wasn't working with any other poachers, but I asked Ben to stay with me at all times, whoever was out there seemed interested in me, but hopefully if I stayed next to Ben he would keep away, Ben was not a small guy, he had a big-build and good height, more than intimidating enough for most.

August 17th

Where are you?

August 18th

The extra backup is late, but it is coming. The lab called us today by video-link, and asked if there was any chance that the hair sample Ben had collected could possibly have been contaminated, I told them I supervised Ben as he handled the sample and doubted any chance of contamination. They said it was strange, because the hair belonged to some kind of primate, not a bear, but no primates were in the Pacific Northwest.

That night, I was on watch while Ben slept. I heard shots and screaming, but the screaming was not like the howling, which was also blaring, the screaming was from a man, and a few more gunshots rang out. Ben woke up without me needing to rouse him, he took seconds to get his things, including his rifle and flashlight and we headed out in the truck towards where we both believed the shots had come from.

In the dark, we promptly found a small campfire, but the camp had been trashed by something, the tent torn open and a few empty rifle shells in the dirt. I checked out the camp, because there was no sign of the occupant, but plenty of evidence of poaching, good for a prosecution. Ben checked the nearby area, and quickly found something. He lead me out about twenty feet from the campfire where we found the poacher...hanging upside down in one of his own traps.

We checked him; he was dead, but only recently.

The next morning, the extra rangers arrived and brought with them the police and ambulance who took the deceased poacher away. The police identified him as one of their most wanted poachers; he had a record of stalking, assault, kidnapping and illegal animal trade. We inquired into what was the cause of death, and the coroner's office was reluctant to reveal it, but we found out the likely cause of death was a broken neck when the trap snared him, it dragged him off his feet, and his head and neck hit the ground at speed before being left dangling in the dark.

After this, the local black bear populations began to bounce back, to which we were happy to see, and the forests seemed more active with animal life in general, we began to see more elk, deer, rabbits and foxes.

Every now and then we would still hear the wailing howl noises, but the National Park Authority had no position on any unusual creatures in the area.