Field biologist had a terrifying encounter straight out of Annihilation
If you've never seen Annihilation, it's outstanding and terrifying and on Amazon Prime. For those who have seen the movie, read this anecdote by field biologist Emily Taylor about a frightening experience she had in Arizona:
As a field biologist, some scary stuff has happened to me in the past. I radio-tracked rattlesnakes for years in Arizona. You encounter weird stuff at night in the desert. #scarystories
- Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) October 31, 2019
One day I kept smelling a strange scent all evening. It was musky, feral, and funky. I couldn't place it.
- Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) October 31, 2019
The smell was really strong when I tracked a snake deep up into a rocky area that I had never gone to before. I rounded a bend and was struck in the face with the smell.
- Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) October 31, 2019
I had found a little den where a large mammal bedded down. The duff on the ground was all flattened, the smell was strong, and there were big prints in the dirt.
- Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) October 31, 2019
I scuttled away rapidly. Me, the fearless scientist studying big rattlesnakes, was completely freaked out from stumbling into a large creature's empty bedroom.
- Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) October 31, 2019
Later that night, after dark, I was tracking some snakes down in the flats. The smell kept hitting my nostrils. I would sniff my field shirt, thinking "Am I just super stinky today?" Nope. I mean, I was stinky, but this smell was not coming from me. It was the smell from the den.
- Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) October 31, 2019
I kept looking around, but of course I didn't see anything. My strong flashlight lit up the area around me within a few meters, and everything outside that ring was black. I was alone.
- Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) October 31, 2019
Done tracking snakes for the night, I returned to my truck around 2am. I got out my sleeping bag and plopped on the desert floor, as was my routine. I would wake at 6am and track the snakes again.
- Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) October 31, 2019
I remember staring at the stars, just starting to drift off. That's when I heard the sound. It was close. It was coming from a wash on the other side of a large crop of mesquite trees.
- Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) October 31, 2019
To this day I cannot adequately describe the sound. It was unearthly. It was like a loud, piercing wail of anguish. A curdling, guttural, feral cry in the utter and complete darkness.
- Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) October 31, 2019
The best parallel I can draw is almost as creepy as the sound itself: it was like a cross between an animal being tortured and a person being violated. I'm sorry. But that is exactly what it sounded like.
- Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) October 31, 2019
I shot up in my cocoon and immediately tumbled back over, face in the dirt. I scrambled out of my bag and stood there, unable to hear anything but my heart thumping in my chest.
- Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) October 31, 2019
That's when I smelled it, again. Stronger even than when I had unwittingly found its den. The musky, predatory smell literally punched me in the face.
- Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) October 31, 2019
I couldn't see past the mesquites. I didn't need to. I could hear and smell it. It was about 20 feet away.
- Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) October 31, 2019
Read what happened next in this thread.
Via Ed Yong.