They grow them weird up in Maine. 

Some guy up there, a couple of years out of high school, decides, for reasons he can't even explain today, decides to hike into the woods and become a hermit.

For 27 years, this dude lived alone, even in a Maine winter, and survived by stealing food from nearby camps.

  "In June 2005, the Morning Sentinel published a story about the "hermit of North Pond," who, it said, "for the last 15 years has been picking his way through dozens of the 300 or so camps around North Pond."

He became a legend, the shadowy figure who burgled but only took what he needed.

  "In between, Knight told police, he committed more than 1,000 burglaries, always taking only what he needed to survive. He became so familiar for his thievery and elusiveness that he spawned the local legend of the North Pond Hermit, who for years confounded both locals and police investigating the break-ins."

Finally, he got himself caught, and with one exception, spoke for the first time in 27 years to another human being.

   "Christopher Thomas Knight's first contact with another human being in 27 years — outside of that hiker with whom he exchanged a greeting in the mid-1990s — came around 1:15 a.m. Thursday.

Hughes said he arrested Knight as he carried meat and other food from Pine Tree Camp in Rome, which serves children and adults with disabilities.

Knight estimated he had broken into the camp more than 50 times over the years and taken thousands of dollars of meat, beer, coffee and other supplies.

Hughes heard about the case when he joined the Maine Warden Service 18 years ago and has been involved in investigating the burglaries in recent years.

"He made one fatal mistake," Hughes said. "He hit this year on my birthday."

That mid-March birthday break-in, combined with Hughes' interest in the case, spiked his determination to catch the burglar. Working with U.S. Border Patrol in Rangeley, Hughes set up surveillance equipment that would trigger an alarm at Hughes' nearby home if someone entered the camp's dining hall after hours.

"I was extremely confident he would be apprehended," Hughes said. "I knew sooner or later he was going to trip that camera."

That moment came last Thursday morning. Hughes made it to the campground within minutes and watched from outside as Knight went through the kitchen collecting food items.

Hughes said he knew it was the hermit. "There was absolutely no question," he said.

Knight left the building and Hughes identified himself as a warden before ordering Knight to the ground and placing him under arrest. Knight had been carrying about $280 worth of food.

Knight was relatively clean-shaven, his hair was cut to a normal length and he was balding, Hughes said. He was wearing a clean pair of jeans and a clean shirt.

"You could walk into a store and walk by him and never know," Hughes said.

Police said they found Knight carrying a wad of bills — some of the money dated back to the 1990s — and some of it was moldy. Knight told them "he carried it in case he ever needed to go to a store someday," Perkins-Vance said."

I think this guy should be teaching classes on how to survive a Maine winter without lighting a fire.   I simply can't imagine doing that year after year.  Crazy, but amazing at the same time.