From time immemorial, humanity has fought for its survival against the myriad beasts and animals with which we share this planet.

And while creatures known to us have challenged our existence, there are those creatures unseen, unstudied, unknown, which have proven to be our biggest threat.

Now, brace yourself as you encounter the creature known throughout history as the Moon Crawler.

Greetings, sleepless listeners, and welcome to the No Sleep Podcast. I'm your host, David Cummings.

Well, we're now well into September. Does it feel like autumn yet? Probably not, since a lot of our listeners are in places where the heat remains oppressively summer-like.

But we were recently treated to a haunting blue moon in the night sky. I hope you had a chance to gaze upon it. In a safe place, of course.

As we're learning in this series of episodes, there are creatures out there that use the cover of dark and the moonlight to hunt. Some hunt for us.

In this episode, we feature tales of hunters, and while we now know how the Moon Crawler hunts, we also learn of how humans can be both the hunters and the hunted.

And so, dear friends, lock the doors and get settled in a place of relative safety, because you're going to encounter a series of creatures that will undoubtedly leave you sleepless.

In our first tale, we delve into the world of cryptids from a rather unique perspective, searching for these strange creatures, but not to study them for science, but rather to hunt them, to rid them from the property of those who can afford this rather expensive form of pest control.

But as we learn in this tale, shared with us by author, El Pine, when a professional big-game hunter is offered a large payday to eliminate a mysterious creature, the mystery only gets deeper and deadlier.

Performing this tale with me are Christendimicurio and Jesse Cornett.

So, despite the claim that humans are the most dangerous game to hunt, I think you'll find something even more dangerous when you hunt the things with furry skins.

Shaw led out a triumphant whoop as the last echoes of gunshot faded into the trees. He marched over with long, confident strides to where the beast lay, but still displayed the caution that came with experience.

You always had to be just a little careful, making sure things of that size were actually dead, and not just stunned.

But he had his skill to count on, and the bullet had hit straight through the skull, leaving it lifeless by the riverbank, with its muzzle lolling in the mud. Black eyes wide open and glassy, and its limbs buckled beneath it at odd angles.

Shaw gave another exhilarated laugh, still rushing from the high of adrenaline and gunfire. He prodded the carcass with the tip of his steel-toed boot, before giving it a rougher nudge with the barrel of his gun for good measure.

That's going to be $10,000 for me!

He squatted down on the bank, and peered closely at his kill, scratching at the black stubble on his neck.

And just what the hell are you?

He'd never seen anything like it before, in his entire profession as a hunter. And now that the thrill of the hunt was over, he could allow himself to be curious.

It looked like a weasel. If a weasel could grow to the size of a bear, bigger, even. The head wasn't quite the right shape. The muzzle was too long. The head too bullet-shaped.

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