There’s a piece of land 10 miles east of Siler City, in western Chatham County, that’s as creepy as they come. It’s a perfect circle, 40 feet across, lying just off the highway. Nothing grows inside the circle. Dogs and wildlife won’t step inside it, and birds won’t land in it. There aren’t even any rocks or sticks within this unnatural ring. It’s called the Devil’s Tramping Ground.

Early settlers in Chatham County first saw the circle in the 1770s. Since that time some people have planted grass and vegetable seeds in its soil, but nothing has ever come up. O t h e rs have put objects inside the circle only to find them gone the next morning. A few brave folks have tried to spend the night in the circle, but something — a noise, a moving object, or a ghostly shape — has scared them away.

What caused this eerie ring on the ground? Over the years stories and legends have grown up about it. An American Indian legend says that generations of Indians danced in the circle at celebrations. The Great Spirit now protects the spot to honor members of the tribe who were driven from their lands by European settlers. Another Indian legend says that Chief Croatan, a great tribal leader, was killed in the circle during a battle and is buried there. The Great Spirit keeps the circle empty to honor him.

One story about the circle is really out of this world. It says that visitors from outer space landed there in a UFO! Another story says that magic treasure is buried deep in the ground. But the best-known legend also explains the name of the circle.

According to this legend, every night the devil walks around in circles thinking up evil plans. At the first light of day, he turns into a bat and flies off to carry out his plans. His tramping throughout the night leaves the ground bare and grim. Some people think that a farmer who owned the land where the circle lies made up this story to keep hunters off his property. Even if this is true, it doesn’t explain the mystery.

There are also believable explanations. One explanation says that the circle is on the site of a molasses mill that used horses or mules to pull the mill wheel. It was their hooves that damaged the ground. Yet other mills at that time didn’t leave such circles.

Scientists finally stepped in to solve the mystery. They found that the soil in the circle has a high level of salt. And they know that the spot was an ancient salt lick for bison and deer. This explains why nothing will grow there, but it doesn’t explain why the area is a perfect circle or why it has lasted so long.

No one has figured out what caused this strange circle near Siler City. Can you explain the Devil’s Tramping Ground?

Wings at Night

Fall is here and so is the time to venture out on All Hallow’s Eve. Ghosts will float from trees, pumpkins will glow in the dark, and tiny winged creatures will create silhouettes in the night sky. The wings belong to the many types of bat that soar in the North Carolina night, a total of 16 different species. Bats in North Carolina range from the Eastern Pipistrelle (the smallest in the state, weighing less than a nickel) to the Hoary Bat (the largest in the state with a wingspan of 16 inches). Red Bats are common in urban areas and often found feeding around streetlights, while Big Brown Bats commonly set up camp in attics or under the eaves of houses.

Bats hail from the scientific order of Chiroptera, meaning, "winged hand." A bat’s wing has the same formation of a human hand, where a "thumb" and four other "fingers" control the motion of the wing. Bats are the only mammals that can fly, making them unique predators of flying insects ranging from mosquitoes to larger, agricultural pests such as beetles and moths. (Some tropical bats even feed on small frogs and fish.) Research suggests a single Evening Bat may consume 21,000 flying insects per year. A bat will eat 1/4 to 1/2 of its body weight daily. This is equivalent to an average 9-year-old eating 250 to 500 bowls of cereal every day.

How can such a small, erratically flying mammal catch its prey? The old saying of "blind as a bat" is a bit misleading. Bats can see, very well actually. However, in order to catch their prey, bats use echolocation, or the production of mute sound waves that bounce off an object and travel back to the bat for "analysis." This helps the bat "see" their prey and navigate in the dark.

For a bat, there is no place like home. Some bats like the protection of caves and old-growth hardwood forests. Other bats prefer the coverage of large leaves in trees, Spanish moss, loose bark and inside hollow trees. (The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences has a life-size display of bats roosting in a hollow tree.)

Most bat species occurring in North Carolina only breed once per year in the fall to produce a single offspring (called a "pup") in the spring. Surprisingly, the life span of a bat can last 30 years or more!

Activity

Look in the newspaper over the next week or so for spooky stories and legends, ads, articles, or art dealing with scary images and unexplained events. Why do you think there is so much of this kind of information at this time of year? Why do you think people are so fascinated with mysteries and unexplained events? Write a story to explain the Devil's Tramping Ground or write a story about a mystery you read about in another article.

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.