US_Ranger

Yo Damien. I did an AMA awhile back about doing anti-poaching work in Zambia. I spent some time in Victoria Falls/Livingstone as well, amazing place. I was a US army ranger and did quite a few patrols out in the bush looking for the same people you're going after. Do you need any more boots on the ground out there?

A lot of people lie about being gay to get out of the military once they realize it wasn't what they wanted to do in the first place. Making people call their mom/dad is used to prevent people from making up lies about it.

1. I was tracking a group of poachers with some local scouts. We must have gone 15+ miles over shitty terrain at this point and I shared my small amount of water supplies with the locals since they never brought water. We finally caught up to the poachers and they decided to lose us by starting a brush fire. The thing burned and burned and burned and the whole area was an inferno. I was following the scouts through the smoke and, just like a cliche movie scene, stepped into an elephant footprint and fell on my face. When I got up, no one was around me. I heard them calling for me so I bolted towards their voices and saw them on the other side of a wall of fire. I held my breath and ran through the fire. It got some of my hair, eyebrows and my clothes but nothing major. The poachers got away but left all their spoils behind. We waited for them and one came back but he got away because he sensed something was up as we were laying in ambush. Tis a shame since he turned out to be the most wanted poacher in the area.

2. Wild animal stories are weekly. A few come to mind. One morning I was on the porch just watching the sunrise when I suddenly looked down and realized the twig I thought I was standing on was actually a venemous vine snake. It was so cold that morning that it didn't bite me. After some research I realized I would have been fucked since there was no hospital or anti-venom remotely near me.

Another time, a wild elephant chased me and the locals I was driving. It came out of the woodline and knocked over a solid 3-4 trees as it ran at us. It was catching us and I wasn't used to driving with the steering while on the ride hand side so I started to stall. The locals in the back of the land rover were pounding on the roof and yelling to go faster as I was stalling out. I managed to get it back in gear and get away as the damn thing was almost on top of us.

One night, after walking back to my cottage after dinner, I brought up my head-lamp and noticed a hippo standing in front of me. It charged and I turned and ran. I remember hearing the heavy footsteps as I ran down the trail. I jumped on top of the landrover in the parking area of the cottage I came from as the hippo came up on me. It then turned and ran for the water. I remember sitting on the roof hoping I didn't pee myself.

Your comment isn't going to get far in this community but you're 100% correct. Source: I was in a SOF unit.

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1y5yhc/im_the_former_army_ranger_who_tracked_poachers_in/