“I was the lone recreation ranger in a small district in southern Idaho. The nearest town from the guard station was about an hour and a half away by car. After moving into the guard station, solar power was not working, and I hadn’t slept for about a month due to various factors. The woods there always had an eerie feeling to them.
About two months into the seasonal job, I started to hear something walking and scratching on the deck at night…perhaps even on the door. Now, this district was known for its badgers and beavers so I didn’t think much of it. When leaving the cabin at night, I always had an eerie feeling like I was being watched. One night, I was returning from my grocery run, and I had a bad feeling. At the time, I did not have my weapon in the vehicle. After stepping out of the vehicle, I looked to the right of the cabin, about 50 feet from my front door. All I could see were two eyes about 3.5-4 ft in the air. To say I freaked out was an understatement.
I started yelling ‘Get out of here,’ but the eyes only crouched down, and inched closer. At this point, I could tell it was a large animal of some kind, definitely not a coyote. I tossed a piece of firewood in the general area and the creature leaped back a bit but did not make a sound. Tossed four or five more pieces and the creature still inched forward. At this point, I fumbled with the keys, of course, the solar power was out again. I managed to get inside and grabbed my weapon.
When I went back outside, the creature was a bit closer. I still could not get a good look with my terrible headlamp. So, I loaded the weapon and continued to throw pieces of wood with one hand. Finally, the creature walked back into the brush. That night, I slept with my weapon next to me.
In the morning, the trail crew came up and we found mountain lion tracks all over the porch, rocking bench, and compound leading back to the creek. After that event, I always heard the rocking chair move and someone or something walking on the porch but never found any tracks after that point. Considering that it was always muddy up there, it was weird to not find any tracks. I’ve been stalked by mountain lions before and never had that eerie feeling like I did in those woods.”
