With Halloween just days away, ghosts, goblins, pumpkins and corn shocks have been appearing everywhere. Recently I have been seeing photos and hearing stories about people that have grown mammoth pumpkins. The word pumpkin comes from the Greek word pepon, which means large melon.

Halloween means hallowed, or holy evening, because it comes the day before All Saints’ Day. Halloween is now celebrated with pranks, parties and customs that are more serious. When my brothers and I were growing up our favorite Halloween prank was to sneak up to a house and throw corn at the windows, hoping that we were scaring the people inside.

This prank backfired when a man, who lived across from a cemetery, got very upset with us when we pelted his home several times with corn. He came running out of the house and began chasing us. We ran across the road into the cemetery.

In my haste to get away, I hurt my leg when I ran head on into a tombstone. I laid there in great agony for what seemed like hours, while the man searched for us outside the cemetery. At any moment, I expected the ground to open and be confronted by a ghost.

Who could forget the 1993 Halloween snowstorm? It was quite a sight to see the many lighted jack-o-lantern faces setting on snow covered porches.

However, my most memorable Halloween occurred many years ago. Troy’s Halloween parade had been over for a while, and the groups of trick or treaters slowed down to a trickle when our phone rang.

The caller asked if it was the game commission and told me her dog was caught in a trap on a hill behind her house. I could tell that the caller was an elderly woman and that she was quite upset. She kept pleading with me to come and help her.

While leaving Troy, I realized just how dark it was that evening, and the wind had started to blow. The storm was getting closer. When I pulled into the lady’s driveway, I could hear a dog barking inside the house. I thought maybe the dog came home just as I told her it would

A very small and frail woman came to the door. I asked her if the dog had returned home on its own? She replied that the barking dog was another dog, however, the dog that she believed was caught in a trap had stopped barking. I could tell that the lady was greatly concerned. She told me I could drive my vehicle most of the way to the area where she had last heard the barking dog.

Now, I was told that she needed to show me the lane leading to the area. I told her to get in my vehicle, but she replied that she had to walk up the road to open the farm gate.

By now, the wind was blowing so hard that it was necessary to yell to be heard above its roar. I started to back out of the driveway when the lady suddenly disappeared. I stopped the vehicle and searched the area but never found her. I jumped out of the vehicle.

My heart was racing. I was concerned that I had backed into her. Suddenly, she stood up in a deep ditch that was along the side of the road. I rushed to her, asking if she was okay, and she assured me that she was fine.

After I helped her out of the ditch, she continued down the road to open the farm gate. This time I kept her in view with the headlights of my vehicle. She almost fell a second time, and I quickly got out of the vehicle to give her a hand. Once inside the car, she told me that the sidehill was quite steep. So, I put the vehicle in four-wheel drive and got a running start for the hill. The grass was about as high as the headlights, and with the darkness of the night, it was hard to see.

Suddenly there was a loud crash. The vehicle came to an abrupt stop and stalled. It sounded as if the whole under-carriage was torn out from under the vehicle.

I got out to survey the damage and found that the vehicle was sitting on top of an old piece of farm equipment. I started the vehicle, expecting the oil light to be lit but it wasn’t, and I gave a sigh of relief. However, there was still a problem since I was stuck on the piece of equipment.

Finally after some maneuvering, I was able to free the vehicle. In the meantime, I had convinced the lady to go back to the house. Once the vehicle had been freed, I drove up the hill. It was steep and scattered with multiflora rose and autumn olive bushes. I continued to climb the hill, but the cover became too thick, and I had to stop. Since I still hadn’t reached the area where the lady thought the dog was, I grabbed a flashlight and started out through the brush.

On the hillside, the darkness seemed even blacker. There I was, walking around, under and through the dense brush, calling for Toby. I would stop and listen for a response, but heard none. The wind had reached a high pitch, and the darkness seemed to engulf me. After about 20 minutes of walking and yelling for the dog, I gave up.

It was then I realized that I had yet another problem. Where was my vehicle?

I hadn’t paid particular attention to where I was, and now, trying to find my way back to the car proved to be a challenge. After about ten minutes, I spotted car lights. Thank goodness I had left the parking lights on, and it was a good thing going because the vehicle was nowhere near the area that I thought it was.

Although it started to rain, the ride down the hill was uneventful. When I reached the lady’s house, the barking dog again greeted me. The lady said that the dog had not returned. I told her that if the dog was indeed caught in a trap, the trapper would release the dog in the morning when checking his traps. I told her that if Toby hadn’t returned by the next day to give me a call.

She never called. Several days later, I stopped by and a younger woman answered the door. I introduced myself and asked to talk to the older lady. She said that the woman had moved in with her daughter because she was not capable of living alone.

I asked about if her dog ever came back and she told me she took the dog with her.

But what about the dog that was lost I asked?

“Lost? I don’t understand. She only had one dog, and it was never lost. As a matter of fact, I don’t think it ever left the yard,” she told me.

Could this have been a Halloween prank? I’ll never know, but one thing for sure, I’ll never forget that Halloween.

Bill Bower is a retired Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Officer. Read his blog and listen to his podcasts on the outdoors at www.onemaningreen.com.