Wire in the woods - whodunnit?

The wire, possibly aluminium welding wire, was discovered by a walker who took it down immediately and reported it to police, also alerting the local cycling club.

This is the second sickening ’trap’ left in the woods this month.

At the start of April, The Oban Times reported how sharpened spikes, looking like caltrop Medieval warfare weapons or the kind of devices used in police stings to stop wanted cars, were found tucked into chicken wire over a board-walk area crossed by cyclists as well as other users - including children.

At the time North Argyll Cycle Club chairman Iain MacDonald said it felt like ’sabotage’ but there were no grievances to trigger such an action. He dubbed it ’crazy’ adding he hoped it would be ’a one-off’ - it was not.

Cycle club member Shane Wasik was sick to his stomach when a friend sent footage of the discovered wire trap as an alert and so others could be warned to watch out for more danger that could be lurking.

"There’s no way anyone would’ve seen that wire coming and no way anyone would’ve been able to stop in time.  This is way worse than the spikes. Is it someone being wreckless or intentionally wanting to cause injury? I don’t know what they want out of this. I don’t know if they understand what the consequences of their actions could be. Talking with other reasonable human beings, we all realise what the consequences of these actions could be. If this person or persons do not understand the consequences, then they’ve got with serious issues

"We are still nowhere nearer being any wiser to why this is happening. We would’ve thought if there had been any conflicts between cyclists and other users then it would’ve come out of the woodwork by now but nothing has.

"Oban has a relatively small population of about 9,000 people and not many of them even use the woods so you can’t compare it to any incidents that might happen in bigger places where you might expect more run-ins breaking out between different user groups or individuals.

"It’s super strange. Are they getting a kick out of it and not being identified? 

Another cyclist has also reported finding large boulders on the cycle trail. "At first he didn’t think much about it and just moved them but after hearing about the wire, he realised how odd it was for them to be suddenly there."

The club is now advising anyone cycling in the woods to walk and check out their route first.

"If someone is capable of doing something like this, then what else could they be capable of? We have people who go out on their own, we do night rides, it does prey on your mind.

"Hopefully if it’s wider known then people will know to be on the look out. If anyone knows anything about what’s going on or who the culprit is, please go to the police before anyone gets seriously hurt or worse."