I live in a small town too, and believe me, we have our share of weird-os. Actually, I'd be willing to bet that we do, in fact, have more weird-os per capita than a city or a suburban area. And some very weird weird-os at that.

I think picking up on creepy vibes is like a 6th sense...you need to pay attention to it. You did the right thing listening to your instincts. He needed to leave you alone and he should've realized he was acting creepy. There's the chance he was just a harmless weird-o, but why risk it. He's a stranger...you owe him nothing. Self preservation and safety is a lot more important that being chatty with a creepy stranger. I think this is exactly why our mothers told us never to talk to strangers.