My net veggies at our Lagunitas Creek banding site have been punctuated by visits from strange folk. The first time I was there I completed nets 2-4, after spending the morning banding with Libby, Anna, and Irene. While finishing up net 2, a man walks down the net trail with a briefcase in his hand. We introduce ourselves and explain what our business is here in nature. It turns out he is sampling the stream because he works for a dam upstream. This is all well, but he turns out to be a talker. When he discovers that I'm sampling the plants, he warns me about poison oak and goes on to describe plants he's seen but that don't sound familiar to me. He incorrectly identifies an Alder and talks about his trip to Costa Rica. After a while I begin to make the motions to get back to work and he leaves me to sample the water. On his way back he talks a little more. He seemed harmless, just appreciative of his captive audience.
The next visit I started the morning attempting to survey net 1. While standing in Quadrant 3, trying to figure out if this blackberry clump is connected to or separate from the rest, I see a dark-grey furry-tailed cat-sized shape out of the corner of my eye. Before I can get a look at its head, it has leaped into the blackberry. I try to chase it away with my measuring stick and yelling. I think it has gone, but then it begins growling ferociously from not very far into the shrubs. It's also making loud coughing or barking-like sounds. I keep yelling, and it keeps growling. I decide that it's either rabid or feeling cornered; either way it's dangerous. I collect my things and leave the area, all to the cadence of growls and barks. At the end of the day, after completing nets 5-10, net 1 remains the only net left, but I'm tired and unwilling to face the adrenaline rush again. Matt and Amanda banded there the next day and they had a Grey Fox growling and barking at them from out in the open, so that must have been what it was.
So, today, I return to Lagunitas with only net 1 needing to be finished. When I arrive, there is a man jogging down the road, away from me, in a blue basketball-style jersey and pants. When I gather my tools and begin down the trail, I see he is now walking and looking back over his shoulder. While climbing over the fence, I notice a side trail in which someone has stashed a large black duffel bag. I'm curious, but I walk past it and get to net 1 where there are no growling animals. While setting up, I hear footsteps above me (net 1 is down low in the blackberries) and clear my throat (ahem!) in an attempt to let whatever human, animal or monster know that I'm here. I walk to where I can see, and there is the Jogging Man, carrying the black duffel bag. He is creeping carefully among what I later find out is poison oak, looking to see if anyone is around. He's not very good at making sure no one is around because he doesn't see me, and apparently didn't hear my ahem. I am thinking he must be getting ready to change out of his jogging suit and so go further down the net lane to where I can't see him. I hear some rustling, and then it's quiet. I decide it's time to get to work and go about my business. Later on, I walk uphill to measure a Bay tree (which was a whopping 84cm DBH!) and notice the black duffel has been moved, right next to the tree I need to measure. I take the measurement, and then curiosity gets the better of me. Looking around (hopefully being more aware than he was), I pull up a cover and peek inside. There's some clothes, folded neatly, and a rolled-up sleeping mat that one would use for camping. I'm not sure what I was expecting: drugs? money? a chopped up dead body? Whoever he is, if he wanted privacy, he picked the wrong site on the wrong day to stash his boring belongings.
So, I surveyed all the nets and I won't be going back. Though I'm sure if I did, some other strange person or animal would be there to greet me.