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Although skeptical, I have reason to believe that there may be a creature living in a forest near my house. Incoming wall of text. Perhaps grab a snack before this one.

Across from my neighborhood is a conservation zone (a plot of forest that is illegal for commercial use) that has been untouched for as long as I have known it (10+ years). Despite the density of the foliage, I found a large doorway-like opening in the trees with a path formed from stomped plants.

Skepticism 1: this could have been caused by other curious citizens like myself.

For safety, I turned on location tracking and set a stopwatch so that I don't lose too much time in the forest. After walking for maybe 20 meters, I came across a massively long trench; it was about two feet deep and all of the grass at the bottom was black and inky. My guard was up immediately, and I started to focus more on my surroundings to prevent something from getting the jump on me.

Skepticism 2: black sludge in the forest can be a result of chemical dumping, but I find this unlikely because nobody in the neighborhood has access to such materials. Furthermore, no one enters the neighborhood that doesn't live here (we're a little out away from the city; the majority of cityfolk aren't aware that my neighborhood even exists).

Continuing the trail, I kept hearing a skittering noise that was always out of view. Lizards are common where I live, but they usually keep themselves within a line of sight before running away. I didn't see any lizards on this excursion. The trench would stretch in and out of view, making it unable to see where it started or ended. Evening bugs were becoming an issue, so I picked up the pace. I checked the timer and it read roughly 4 minutes. Looking up from the screen, I found a nest of sorts. It was made of hundreds of broken branches and created a tunnel into the bushes. The opening to the nest was about 2.5 German shepherds in diameter, and visibility was locked to 2 feet in front of me. The nest/tunnel's darkness extended endlessly into the distance. I've never heard of an animal that could make this structure, nor any animal that could survive the possible chemical-dump poisoning.

The skittering grew more frequent and closer, and I was sweating. The timer said 5 minutes. I heard a branch break. I booked it. I ran out the same way I came in, and nearly passed out at the clearing from anxiety (high blood pressure runs in the family). I turned around, expecting a demon giving chase, but there was nothing. No skittering, no lizards, no bird sounds. Seeing my house down the road, I felt safe again. But something was still off. I checked the timer one more time - 15 minutes. A leisurely stroll took five minutes going in, but a panicked sprint took 10 minutes coming out? I'm just as clueless as you might be. Shaken and paranoid, I went back home and drowned my fear in TV. Any ideas as to what I encountered? Was it my imagination distorting everyday phenomena, or did I intrude on something's territory? I'm not planning of going back any time soon.

I accidentally posted this 3 times. How do I delete the duplicates?

I accidentally posted this 3 times. How do I delete the duplicates?

It's ok, I got them. [thumbup]

May be human activity, a den in the woods?

I have no clue where in the world you are, but hereabouts the wooded areas are pretty safe wild animal wise and non physical/ human entities don't need den like spaces where I'm from either, so I'm thinking it's not likely to be that kind of being.

How big are these woods?

Was there alot of rain recently? Was there dead wood and branches in the trench or around it? That could explain the black inkiness, as when some wood decays and is sodden with water for long periods of time it breaks down and can turn black, or cause black run off, especially if there is alot of vegitation around it. It would also have some... not so pleasant smells, depending on if it had enough carbon matter or not to prevent it from becoming anerobic. I find this to be a likely cause of the black inkiness due to it being in a trench, where water runoff collects, and there usually being less drainage for the soil at the bottom.

But yeah, some more details as to where the forest is and the such would help.

Hypothesis 1 : you're located near Ryhope wood and you've encountered mythagos.

Hypothesis 2: it's a boar nest, the black sludge consist of muddy and stained water.

Nahemah wrote:

I accidentally posted this 3 times. How do I delete the duplicates?

May be human activity, a den in the woods?

I have no clue where in the world you are, but hereabouts the wooded areas are pretty safe wild animal wise and non physical/ human entities don't need den like spaces where I'm from either, so I'm thinking it's not likely to be that kind of being.

How big are these woods?

Yeah, it could be a homeless person with dementia. Surprisingly, it's not the first one we've had around here. [bummed]

If I were you, I'd go back again with 1 or 2 companions, to investigate more thoroughly. Maybe some neighborhood teenagers made a little den to smoke weed in, maybe it's a schizophrenics temple, or maybe, just maybe, it's a witches hut.

This reminds me of a time I took a walk in the woods behind my apartment. It was around noon and I was drinking wine from a water bottle when I stumbled upon a homeless person sleeping under a tarp. I also found evidence of a fire with tin cans in it where they had cooked their food. I booked it, didn't want to make any new friends and I'm sure the feeling was mutual.