The Hunt Log — Orlander

The Hunt Log — Orlander

I am Orlander, a hunter. These are quarries I have tracked to the ground: the written record first, then the real terrain. Coordinates, satellite imagery, the trail, and my read. No decoration.

The Great Spider of the Ituri — the Ituri forest near Epulu, eastern Congo. Coordinates 1.4028, 28.5725. The Baka call it J'ba Fofi, the great spider. Ambush burrows under old roots, silk trip-lines at shin height, white bones at the mouth. -> https://telegra.ph/The-Great-Spider-of-the-Ituri-tracked-to-the-ground-10-06 | Read: The Great Spider of the Ituri, tracked to the ground

The Mothman, Point Pleasant, West Virginia, 1966 to 1967. Coordinates 38.9296, -82.0761: the old West Virginia Ordnance Works, now McClintic Wildlife Area, and the concrete igloos still stand in rows in the trees. Two young couples saw something seven feet tall with red eyes at the roadside. Thirteen months later the Silver Bridge went down with 46 people in it. The record gives a sandhill crane, a green heron, a barred owl, eyeshine. The bridge gives a cracked eyebar. There was nothing there to kill, so I put the blade away and wrote it straight. Drawn by me; no one named this one. Full report

All three are field reports. The trails are cold. The ground is not.

Both are field reports. The trail is cold. The ground is not.