Stan Courtney

No more updates - please visit StanCourtney.com

2008-12-29T16:27:00.001-06:00

It has gotten too hard for me to keep up blogs in several different areas so I will only be posting on my home website at:

StanCourtney.com

The newly revamped website still will feature my own nature recordings, guest nature recordings, wildlife photography, my own blogs, guest blogs, forum, live video chat and lively discussion.

So please stop by and say hello,

Live Video Chat

California - 48 in '08

2008-05-09T21:01:00.000-05:00

California was my ninth stop squatchin' in all 48 contiguous states in 2008. I was invited to go squatchin' with Bart Cutino. Bart is a member of the BFRO , AIBR , and SRI . Also interviewed was Robert Leiterman, BFRO_California Curator.

About twenty researchers gathered at a remote location in Northern Mendocino County. The expedition was held the 1st through the 4th of May, 2008.

Several techniques were used including woodknocking and limited sound blasting. Members reported a possible trackway in the snow on a high ridge, woodknocks, whistles and a possible rock throwing.

A special thanks also to Tom Yamarone, BFRO_ California Investigator and Bobo Faye, BFRO_ California Investigator for a sing-a-long session by the campfire. Tom's website and CD's can be found at Bigfoot Songs by Tom Yamarone.

Thanks for allowing me to tag along Bart!

To listen to an audio recording of this segment click here.
California - 48 in '08

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Washington - 48 in '08

2008-05-09T21:00:00.001-05:00

Washington was my eighth stop squatchin' in all 48 contiguous states in 2008. I was invited to go squatchin' with Kristine Walls, BFRO_Washington Curator, David Ellis BFRO_Washington Investigator, and John Andrews, an independent researcher. John has recorded many vocalizations at this site and they can be listened to at Sasquatch Research.net

On the 12th of April, 2008 I accompanied Kristine, David and John into the woods of Western Washington.

John demonstrated his call blasting techniques using his own voice and a PA electronic megaphone. We all took turns trying out the system. John is a real expert at doing different types of calls. The sound really echoed through the mountains but we did not hear any return vocalizations.

A few woodknocks were tried but the night was unusually quiet.

This area had been partially logged in the last two years. It is unclear whether or not this has affected the resident sasquatch population.

Thanks for allowing me to tag along Kristine, David and John!

To listen to an audio recording of this segment click here.
Washington - 48 in '08

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Louisiana - 48 in '08

2008-04-19T09:48:00.007-05:00

Louisiana was my seventh stop squatchin' in all 48 contiguous states in 2008. I was invited to go squatchin' with Lonny Rabalais, an independent researcher.

On the 8th of April, 2008 I accompanied Lonny into the bayous of South-Central Louisiana. Lonny showed me several locations where he and his friends had heard vocalizations, woodknocks and found stick structures and possible footprints.

While checking out one site for a recently found branch break we came upon a possible teepee stick structure.

It was a beautiful spring day, the foliage on the trees was fully out and the birds were singing.

Thanks for allowing me to tag along Lonny!

To listen to an audio recording of this segment click here.
Louisiana - 48 in '08

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Werewolves in Nevada?

2008-04-19T09:45:00.001-05:00

On the 5th of March I was sitting in a truck stop in Caldwell, Idaho. I am not hesitant to talk about my interest in bigfoot / sasquatch research. It all depends on the situation. Some people couldn't care less, and others are very interested. I don't recall exactly how the subject came up but truck drivers are one group of people who see lots of wildlife. Some of the most interesting reports I have read were by travelers of the road.

This fellow told me that he did not exactly believe in bigfoot but he did know where some werewolves were seen. I ask him to explain. He said that there is a stretch of road in Eastern Nevada that has had lots of reports of werewolves running along side the big trucks. The speed of these animals is incredible, at least 50 miles per hour. He said that he never believed the stories until one day a fellow driver who had experienced a sighting showed him claw marks on the cab of his truck.

Then one night, the truck driver I was speaking with, said that he had pulled over along the edge of the road and was sleeping. He woke up to hear an unusual sound of something being dragged along the pavement. He said that there was almost no travel along this road and no other trucks were stopped. He was hesitant to get out and check it out and went back to sleep. The next morning he found a large logging chain laying along his truck. He assumed that the noise he heard was that chain being dragged up and down the road.

He asked me what I thought about this. I told him that I did not accept the existence of werewolves but that it was my opinion that stories of werewolves were probably misidentified bigfoot. There are several reports of bigfoot running along side vehicles. Although Eastern Nevada does not seem like habitat for bigfoot he assured me that this area had several year-round springs and trees in the draws and gullys.

What does it mean?

2008-03-23T10:57:00.009-05:00

My family and I have lived along a small wooded creek in Central Illinois for almost twenty-two years. Until May of 2005 we had neither seen nor heard anything unusual.

Wildlife that we have seen along and near the creek includes: beaver, bobcat, coyotes, deer, groundhogs, fox, mink, mountain lions, opossum, rabbits and raccoons. For a great article on mountain lions in Illinois see:
The beast of the bluffs by Scott Maruna.

There has been nothing unusual about the wildlife we see. Most people when they travel through Illinois see mainly corn and soybean fields not realizing the miles and miles of wooded rivers and streams that drain the fertile prairie.

From 1986 to 2002 we raised llamas on a two acre pasture that borders the creek. We had several Great Pyrenees dogs for protection from the coyotes. The Great Pyrenees are quite vocal but nothing strange was noticed or heard in all those years.

On the 23rd of May 2005 my world changed forever. My wife came home one evening around 8:30 p.m. I went outside onto the driveway and noticed that my seven
month old Karelian Bear Dog puppy (Belle) was out by the barn barking towards the creek. I told my wife I was going to take the dog to the creek and show Belle where the deer bedded down in the tall grass close to the creek.

I put a lead on the dog and as I approached the edge of the backyard going into the pasture I heard what sounded like a giant man roaring towards the house. It is difficult to put into words exactly what it sounded like, but it was a very clean sound, not like a scream. And it sounded like whatever the animal was, it's chest cavity was very large. The roar also had a distinctively human sounding element to it. The closest sound that I can find is a Digital Bigfoot Recording created by Matt Knapp and featured on Lets Talk Bigfoot! with Teresa Hall.

After that night I started recording nightly. I have recorded wood-knocks, howls, unusual voices. Then on the fourth of April 2006 I recorded on five different nights what I call the Illinois Howl. This recording has been discussed by THE BLOGSQUATCHER in an article entitled: The voice of bigfoot? The Illinois Howl.

What has bothered me since that time is why did that animal pick my home to stop by and howl? Why only howl that April and May, and why not since then? Why did I not hear this animal sometime before during the twenty-plus years we have lived here? Assuming that what ever is howling is intelligent and has a purpose what is the reason for the howl and why only at my home? I have spoken with neighbors and none of them have heard anything unusual.

Recently I was visiting a fellow researcher and I asked her to listen to some of my sounds and to give me her honest opinion specifically about the Illinois Howl.

Stan - "Do you think this is a locator call, the animal trying to find other members of it's family?

My friend - "No."

Stan - "Do you think this is some type of mating call?"

My friend - "No."

Stan - "Do you think this is imitating the coyotes?"

My friend - "No."

Stan - "Then what does it mean?"

Her answer was "Stan, I believe it is imitating Belle."

Stan - "What do you mean, imitating Belle and why?"

My friend - "It is a well known phenomena for coyotes to send in a lone member of the pack to play with a dog, get it's confidence and get it to follow out into the woods where the pack descends upon the dog and kills it." I think whatever is doing those howls is doing the same thing, trying to get Belle to come out so it can kill her."

I was shocked. I had never considered that perhaps Belle was the single thing different about my place in the last twenty-two years. When we had the Great Pyrenees they were restricted to the pasture, and seldom ventured into the woods. Belle from the age of three months to two years ran with wild abandon through the woods much as a teenager. Being a hunting dog, she is extremely alert, and always looking for something to chase, whether squirrels , rabbits or deer. As Belle has matured she has calmed down, she sleeps more and is more satisfied to be let out in the evening to exercise and then be restricted to a fenced in area of the backyard for the rest of the night. Belle spends her nights on a brick wall that encloses our patio.

Like most dogs Belle does bark some but once in about every six weeks goes into a strange drawn out howl. The first time I heard her do the strange howl was the fourth of April, 2006 when I recorded the first Illinois Howl.

On this recording you can hear coyotes, followed by Belle's barking, followed by the Illinois Howl and then Belle's strange drawn-out howls.

So why have I not heard or recorded the Illinois Howl in two years? My only conclusion, is that since Belle is no longer in the puppy stage, she stays out of the woods and stays closer to the house. Belle has become less of a threat, or a perceived threat to whatever is out in those woods and making those howls.

Oklahoma - 48 in '08

2008-03-08T19:19:00.002-06:00

Eastern Oklahoma was my third stop squatchin'in all 48 contiguous states in 2008. I was invited to go squatchin' with Doug Bilby, also know as "Bullet maker". He is a member of the Mid America Bigfoot Research Center.

On the 7th of March, 2008 I visited with Bullet maker and his wife at their home which is set on a beautiful 200 acre site. This setting is richly blessed with a great variety of wildlife, from mountain lion & bobcat to deer and smaller game and birdlife. The area is a mixture of bluffs, creeks and a large expanse of woods.

Although the weather was cold and blustery with some snow we were still able to check out several areas using Bullet's Kawasaki Mule. Doug has had many experiences with squatches on this property. His stories have been posted on several bigfoot forums and is also available on a series of CD's entitled IN THE SHADOWS WITH BULLET MAKER. If you are interested you can contact him directly at chiggers@hughes.net.

Thanks for your hospitality and allowing me to visit your wonderful place Bullet maker!

Click here to listen / subscribe to a short podcast of:
In The Field with Stan Courtney

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Illinois Howl - California Postcard

2008-01-17T15:25:00.001-06:00

News10 ABC Sacramento, California - "CALIFORNIA POSTCARD"- is a weekly look at the people, places and things across California that make it the unique state it is."

Recently they featured the Bigfoot Discovery Museum and interviewed Michael Rugg. The museum is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Central California in South Felton in the San Lorenzo Valley.

Among several sounds heard in the background is the Illinois Howl.

Illinois Howl - Springfield FOX 55 Illinois WRSP

2008-01-17T15:22:00.001-06:00

During the fall of 2006 the Illinois Howl was used as a background sound for a short promo for Springfield FOX 55 Illinois WRSP in Springfield, Illinois.

Sasquatch Sounds

2008-01-17T15:19:00.001-06:00

One of the most significant new recordings was recorded by DB Donlon in April of 2007 in Ohio. This new sound clip soon became known to the bigfoot community.

The story behind the recording and it's subsequent analysis and comparison to the Bigfoot Recordings by Sierra Sounds can be read on:

THE BLOGSQUATCHER

The voice of bigfoot? East Central Ohio Chatter

Comparison of East Central Ohio Chatter with Sierra Sounds

The recording was brought to the attention of Ron Morehead of
Sierra Sounds, who thought it was significant enough to mention it in July of 2007 while a guest on

COAST TO COAST AM WITH GEORGE NOORY

Ron includes a link on his website to the sound clip.

East Central Ohio Chatter

Coast to Coast displayed the following notice on its main webpage.

Illinois Howl

2008-01-17T15:13:00.000-06:00

This information was originally posted on my website about a year and a half ago.

When THE BLOGSQUATCHER started his blog this was the topic of one of his earlier posts. So you may want to check out this information also over on his blog for Thursday, October 11, 2007 titled:

The voice of bigfoot? The Illinois Howl

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Illinois Howl

This post will attempt to answer some of the following questions:

What is the Illinois Howl?
What animal is making these vocalizations?
What are its characteristics?
What does it sound like compared to other animals?
What does it look like graphically compared to other animals?
Why am I wasting my time on something so obvious?

What is the Illinois Howl?

The Illinois Howl is the vocalizations of presently an unseen and unknown animal. They were first recorded on the 4th of April, 2006. It was recorded five times that spring. I record nature sounds every night. The following five clips have been cleaned up to eliminate rumbling and hiss.

05.24.2006 Illinois Howl
This was recorded at 04:14 in the morning.

05.18.2006 Illinois Howl
This was recorded at 01:30 in the morning.

04.12.2006 Illinois Howl
This was recorded at 11:58 in the evening.

04.07.2006 Illinois Howl
This was recorded at 4:45 in the morning.

04.04.2006 Illinois Howl
This was recorded at 3:45 in the morning.

The complete series of recorded howls can be found at:

Illinois Howl Recordings

What animal is making these vocalizations?

There are many opinions as to the origins of these sounds. Opinions range from coyote, coy-dog, dog, wolf, fox, bigfoot, cow.

As an attempt to get an answer I posted this question and a poll on many of the outdoor forums on the internet. These discussions can be found at:

Unusual Howl - 24 Hour Campfire
What Do You Think Of This One? - Bigfoot Forums
What Kind Of Howl Is This?? - Bigfoot Forums
What Animal Do You Think This Is? - Bigfoot Forums
Unusual Howl - Graybeards Outdoors Forum
What Animal Do You Think This Is? - Graybeards Outdoors
Unusual Howl - Jesses Hunting & Outdoors (JHO) Forum
Unusual Howl - Marlinowners Forums
What kind of howl is this? - Rimfirecentral
Unusual Illinois Howl - Shooters Forum
Unusual Howl - US Hunting Forums

What are its characteristics?

On the five recordings it exhibits several traits that are discernible on all five. The howl starts out as a low volume sound that seems like it is just clearing its throat. It then delivers three somewhat equal volume howls. The second and third howl are spaced a little bit further apart than the first and second howl. The waveform in Cool Edit 2 Pro looks like -

DB Donlon has done extensive research on this sound and has written the following analysis:

Stan's sound has a main frequency of 689Hz and a fundamental of 344Hz, according to SoundRuler.

(SoundRuler is a free application, now several years old (a new version is promised this year) that does have limitations. I think it was made for birders, for instance, and may therefore be based on assumptions that aren't so good for large mammals.)

In SoundForge, a completely different program (that costs money) you can look at prettier sonograms. I can also watch the PowerGraph in real time, and see where all the power of the call is going. By looking at the sounds in the SoundForge Powergraph window, I can see how the frequencies are interrelating. For instance, Stan's howl gets "dirty" several times, where the voice is no longer producing a clear note, but instead is moving into the growly "noise" range. We know that dogs can do that, but so can any other mammal that has enough voice, including man, and anything that roars. The dog file I have does a little of it at the beginning of its call too. So there is a similarity between them. But they do not match in where they use this modulation of the sound. You might not expect them to, but then we also all know the classic wolf call, and how that modulates. It's a classic because wolves do it, rather than using a completely chaotic repretoir of noises such that we can detect no pattern. This is not a major point, but so far as it goes, Stan's sound isn't matching what other dog calls I can find do in the way that it modulates its call. So it sounds like what a dog can do, but it sounds different from my dog examples. Make sense?

Here's another difference. You can see that both calls are very close to the microphone, as nature sounds go, because the high end information is well preserved above the noise-floor. I limited my view to around 4.2KHz so that I could see the fine details of what was going on in there, and both sounds gave me numbers in the 3.8-3.9KHz range. So insofar as distance from microphone goes, it appears there isn't a difference that makes a distinction. But the dog sound looks absolutely normal, hitting almost all its harmonics on the way up. These are the rough numbers in Hz:
Dog Howl:

420 648 850 1073 1269 1508 1720 2521 2997 3260 3417 3895

The fundamental frequency is at about 220Hz here, so every number above should be a multiple of 220. The differences are because of measurement errors and the fact we are using software that wasn't designed to do exactly what we're asking it to do. I have to hold the mouse cursor and read the number, write it down, etc. So 850 ought to be 860, or the fundamental was perhaps closer to the 215Hz that SoundRuler gave us (though SoundRuler was giving us the average, and I'm taking a snapshot of the "moving" sound, so we can expect this kind of difference).

Stan's sound is a little different.

Illinois Howl:

xxx 662 971 1309 xxxx 1960 2270 2615 xxxx xxxx xxxx 3936

There are gaps, and the numbers don't match the fundamental as closely as the dog's sound did.

These are two important points, I think, to bear in mind. The sound sounds weird to us for these reasons -- it doesn't conform to what we normally expect. I can explain the fact that the numbers don't match the fundamental, which ought to be around 340Hz according to SoundRuler, because the noise this animal is making is dirtier than the sound the dog is making. It's much more like a roar than the dog's howl is, even at those points where it sounds relatively clear. What this means is that when I move my cursor looking for the peak, I have a lot of wiggle room. In figurative words, I choose the highest relative peak on a plateau. The frequency looks like a plateau because the animal was introducing distortion into its voice -- kind of like a guitar with a stomp box. Use enough of that distortion and you just get a noisey roar. Use a little, and it sounds cool. I don't know enough about dogs and their barks to say that dogs don't do this sometimes in exactly this way, but I don't have any sound files of them doing it.

About the gaps I am just confused. I can explain the upper gaps away due to distance, although that peak at 3.9KHz was a good one. I expected the other peaks to be there. Maybe if I focused down in on those frequencies, I'd find them, but then we'd still have to explain why they had been so damped when other frequencies hadn't. I checked some of Stan's other files of other animals in the same location, and it doesn't appear that there is any environmental reason for it. And I noted the same kind of gapping in the other files with this same animal doing its call. I don't know what it means, but I am entertaining the idea that it means something.. The gap where the 1.6KHz peak should be is a strange one.

So while I won't come out and say, "Yes, this is it, this is a bigfoot call," I'm not writing these sounds off. I will say that I doubt this call was made by a coyote, as has been hypothesized elsewhere, or any other mammal smaller than a large dog. All the coyote calls I have have a fundamental at around 600Hz, much too high to be the Illinois Howler.

If it's a dog or a wolf, we ought to be able to find matches for the Illinois Howl that have already been recorded, or get new clean recordings of the howls with the animals under observation.

What does it sound like compared to other animals?

For comparison let's look at the Illinois Howl and three other known animals.

Click on each link for the mp3 of each animal:>

Belle, my Karelian Bear Dog

Coyote (Canis latrans)

Illinois Howl

Wolf (Canis lupus)

What does it look like graphically compared to other animals?

Visually each animals howl is seen in the waveform view. I have used Adobe Audition 2.0 as the sound editor:

Belle, my Karelian Bear Dog

Coyote (Canis latrans)

Illinois Howl

Wolf (Canis lupus)

Then each animal's howl is seen in the spectral view:

Belle, my Karelian Bear Dog

Coyote (Canis latrans)

Illinois Howl

Wolf (Canis lupus)

Why am I wasting my time on something so obvious?

Many people have stated that it is quite obvious that the Illinois Howl is nothing other than a coyote or dog, certainly canine. They wonder why I would be so naive to suggest that this sound is anything else. On the other side of the coin are those people who have told me that they have spent a great deal of time in the woods and maintain that it is impossible to be a coyote.

My original interest in the sounds in the woods and along the creek behind my home started last spring. On the 23rd of May, 2005 I went out into my backyard to check on my dog, Belle. She had been barking for some time and would just not settle down. So I grabbed my 3rd gen night vision and proceeded to take her toward the creek and show her where I had seen deer bedding down. As I reached the edge of the yard I heard what sounded like a very large roar coming from the creek bottom. The call was very deep and full. The sound lasted for about 15 seconds and then all was quiet. It appeared to be coming from something with a huge chest. The call had a somewhat human quality to it. I went into the house to ask my wife to come and listen. Nothing else was heard. The dog settled down and did not bark again that evening.

Since that time I have been placing my audio recorder down near the creek or on the hill above it. Although this is Central Illinois we have a large deer population. Other wildlife seen along this creek include several sightings of mountain lion and bobcat. We also have a sizable population of coyotes. About 3 miles to the east of me is a state park with a large lake and lots of marshy areas. And about 10 miles north of our home the creek flows into the South Fork of the Sangamon River.

Will this riddle of the Illinois Howl ever be solved. Yes, of course!

Virginia - 48 in '08

2008-01-17T15:10:00.002-06:00

Northern Virginia was my second stop squatchin' in all 48 contiguous states in 2008. I was invited to go squatchin' with DB Donlon. We were joined by Billy Willard and Tom of Sasquatch Watch of Virginia.

On the 6th of January, 2008 we were in a wooded area about 45 miles from Washington, D.C. We spent about 5 hours hiking, setting up recording gear and listening for night sounds. This particular area has a history of several sightings and many vocalizations.

Although nothing unusual was heard this particular night it was still an enjoyable experience. The guys were a little disappointed that the evening was so quiet, but with the rainfall and additional researchers at the site things just didn't pan out. If every time we went into the woods evidence was gathered it wouldn't still be a mystery.

Thanks for allowing me to tag along DB, Billy and Tom!

Click here to listen / subscribe to a short podcast of:
In The Field with Stan Courtney

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Ohio - 48 in '08

2008-01-17T15:06:00.002-06:00

North-Eastern Ohio was my first stop squatchin' in all 48 contiguous states in 2008. I was invited to go squatchin' with Mark Maisel, BFRO_Ohio investigator.

On the 5th of January, 2008 we checked out Cuyahoga Valley National Park near Cleveland, Ohio. Cuyahoga is a 33,000 acre park well known for a myriad of deer, many coyotes and numerous bigfoot sightings, the latest reported to the BFRO being on Christmas Eve of 2007. The temperature was in the mid 20s and the park was gorgeous with its steep ravines, rocky cliffs and snow cover. Thanks Mark!

Click here to listen / subscribe to a short podcast of:
In The Field with Stan Courtney

A podcast interview will be added to this Ohio segment in the near future.

Are you interested in being part of this project?

48 in '08

2008-01-03T12:30:00.003-06:00

With the New Year of 2008 upon us I have been evaluating some projects and goals. My number one priority is nature photography and recording and I hope to do some long term recording both in my home area and other places in the country.

My other top goal is to do squatchin' in all 48 contiguous states in 2008. So I hope to post often of new areas that I am able to explore with pictures of scenery and researcher friends.

I leave home tomorrow -

SquatchMarks

2007-11-11T19:46:00.002-06:00

I have been on the internet for over 11 years now. During that time I have always struggled with a decent start page or set of bookmarks.

It is a very difficult undertaking to keep a current set of bookmarks. Every month there are many new websites that come on line as well as those that become broken links. I want to include all the websites, forums, podcasts, blogs and related sites.

Here is my attempt to have a bigfoot & cryotozoology bookmark / start page.

SquatchMarks

http://www.stancourtney.com/squatchmarks.html

It is called squatchmarks (combination of sasquatch and bookmarks). If you want to use it either bookmark it into your bookmark section, set it as your home page or save it on your computer and simple click on it when desired.

I am constantly deleting outdated links and adding new ones but it is a never ending job. I am always open to suggestions, if you find a page that you think needs to be added or a broken link just send me a note.

The Deer Swath

2007-09-20T12:07:00.000-05:00

A Sand County Almanac With Essays on Conservation from
Round River by Aldo Leopold was first published
posthumously in 1949 with certain additions in later additions.
It has become a classic read for those interested in
conservation and the environment. I first read this small book
over forty years ago. If you have not read it I wholeheartedly
encourage you to do so.

Within the book there is one small essay entitled The Deer
Swath. I found it summed up my thoughts about those of us who
spend time in the woods observing nature and how we perceive
what we see and hear. We all have different areas in which we
are better than others. My chief interest is sounds, whether
bird or mammals while my wife is busy concentrating on
looking for tracks in the dust. She is always saying "What
bird, I didn't hear anything" while I could have a herd of
elephants walk through the area and not notice the footprints.
I have a friend in New Mexico who excels at looking for elk
and deer sign and another friend here in Illinois who is quite
adept at looking at 'sign" as described by the author.

We can not all be good at everything so my advice is for you to
have several friends with you as you do your research and
concentrate on those areas that are of particular interest to you
and allow your friends to concentrate on their areas of interest.
The correct dog can be a great asset in the woods. With keen
senses my Karelian Bear Dog many times has alerted me to
the fact that we were not alone in our section of forest.

The Deer Swath an excerpt from A Sand County Almanac
- published June 1989

When the deer hunter sits down he sits where he can
see ahead, and with his back to something. The duck
hunter sits where he can see overhead, and he behind
something. The non-hunter sits where he is
comfortable. None of these watches the dog. The
bird hunter watches only the dog, and always knows
where the dog is, whether or not visible at the moment.
The dog's nose is the bird hunter's eye. Many hunters
who carry a shotgun in season have never learned to
watch the dog, or to interpret his reactions to scent.

There are good outdoors men who do not conform to
these categories. There is the ornithologist who
hunts by ear, and uses the eye only to follow up
on what his ear has detected. There is the
botanist who hunts by eye, but at much closer
range; he is a marvel at finding plants, but seldom
sees birds or mammals. There is the forester who
sees only trees, and the insects and fungi that
prey upon trees; he is oblivious to all else. And
finally there is the sportsman who sees only game,
and regards all else as of little interest or value.

There is one illusive mode of hunting which I cannot
associate exclusively with any of these groups: the
search for scats, tracks, feathers, dens, roostings,
rubbings, dustings, diggings, feedings, fightings,
or preyings collectively known to woodsmen as
'reading sign.' This skill is rare, and too often
seems to be inverse to book learning.

The Interview

2007-06-30T21:43:00.001-05:00

Many bigfoot researchers are leery of giving interviews to
the press. The main emphasis should be about the
undocumented upright walking North American primate not
about the researchers.

Search For Bigfoot - A Documentary

My eldest son is a pastor of a church in Columbia, Missouri.
He contacted my wife early in February about allowing a
couple of University of Missouri students to spend the night.
They were traveling to Bowling Green, Ohio for a church
conference and we were conveniently located halfway between
Ohio and Missouri. As an aside, he also mentioned that
Peggy was interested in interviewing me about my bigfoot
research for a class project. I reluctantly agreed, not
thinking much about it.

I was a little surprised when they arrived and she set up a
video-camera. She did an impromptu interview as I showed
her some of my footcasts and recording equipment. I took
them out sound-blasting later in the evening and did hear
and record some distant howls.

Two months later my son again contacted me and asked if I
would allow her to tag along in my research area to see what
I do when I am looking for bigfoot evidence. I again agreed
and met Peggy, a school friend of Peggy's, and my son and
his wife at the park.

We spent about an hour and a half walking through some
areas where I have found footprints and recorded several
vocalizations. I did ask if I could have a copy of the DVD
when she finished. She said of course.

Saturday I received my copy of the DVD. I was a little taken
aback and disappointed that the focus of the short
documentary was on the sincerity and saneness of me as a
researcher and not on the true subject which is bigfoot /
sasquatch.

Man or Beast?

2007-03-17T11:15:00.002-05:00

One question that continues to plague bigfoot researchers is
"What is this animal, is it a man (albeit different or primitive) or
is it just an ape?"

Man has always had to cope with uncertain feelings when it
comes to apes and monkeys. We can not gaze into the eyes
of a chimp at the zoo and not have some thoughts about our
similarities.

Two thousand years ago when Europeans were first exposed
to seeing monkeys, it was easy to say "Well we are not
closely related, they have tails, walk on all fours, are covered
with hair and have no language." When stories of chimps and
gorillas started coming out of Africa, disbelief was common.
Here was a group of animals that had no tail, walked closer
to upright and looked more human-like. The first "body"
presented to science surely was a momentous event.

So how does this all relate to bigfoot studies? We are
confronted with an animal that -

1. Is upright walking (Patterson-Gimlin, Memorial Day, and
Freeman films).

2. Has footprints that are somewhat similar to mans as shown
by many photographs and footprint casts.

3. Is very vocal, whether these sounds are related to true
language or is simply mimicry is open to debate.

4. Has a highly social family structure as reported by eye
witness accounts.

5. Facial features look more human-like than apelike. I have
interviewed over two hundred witnesses that have had a bigfoot
encounter. Of those individuals who have seen the face,
almost all of them emphasized its human-like characteristics.

So where does this leave us with the question as to
whether bigfoot is man or beast? This debate has been
going on for decades and will only intensify as new films,
audio recordings and someday a body is produced.

Perhaps the question should be "What is Man?"

Mankind cannot be defined simply by being intelligent, using
tools and language or being bi-pedal.

The final answer can only come from the Bible. We read
in Genesis 1:27

"So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them."

Only man is aware of God and only man is capable of
fellowshipping with Him through a right personal relationship
through Christ. .

Ephesians 4:24

"and to put on the new self, created to be like God
in true righteousness and holiness."

So friends, it is your decision what you will believe, for myself I
believe what separates man from all the animals, whether it be
monkey, ape or bigfoot is that only man was created in the
image of God and only man is capable of a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior.

References:

Special thank you to:
Pastor Dale B. Huelsman
Bethany Lutheran Church
Wellington, Ohio

A Short Explanation of Dr. Martin Luther's Small Catechism with
An American Translation Text - A Handbook of Christan Doctrine.
Christian News - New Haven, Missouri 63068

A Summary of Christan Doctrine by Edward W.A. Koehler
Concordia Publishing House, St.Louis

How is Man Created in God's Image?
Come Reason Ministries

BibleGateway.com
http://www.biblegateway.com/

Wilderness Paradox

2007-01-16T17:54:00.000-06:00

One concept that I see being repeated over and over again is
that if there is a large bi-pedal ape in North America it must
live in only the most remote, secluded wilderness areas.
Commonly areas pointed to as likely habitat are the Pacific
Northwest, British Columbia, Northern California or if "back
East", only inaccessible mountainous terrain.

But do witness reports really bear out this assumption?

Let's take a look at several reports that have been posted by
the BFRO, The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization.

Omaha, Nebraska
Various sightings near the Missouri River in Omaha, Nebraska.

I interviewed this witness. Although the report only goes into
recent activity she told me that her family has had several
sightings and heard vocalizations going back as far as the early
1960's. What is significant is that this area is bounded on all
four sides by major thoroughfares: I-480 on the west and
north, I-29 on the east, I-80 on the south. It is also within
1 1/2 miles of the central district of Omaha, Nebraska.

Of special note is that Marlin Perkins who hosted Mutual of
Omaha's Wild Kingdom made a trip to the Himalayas with
Sir Edmund Hillary in 1960 to check out reports of the Yeti.
While on that trip they examined a supposed Yeti scalp that
turned out to be a hoax. Perhaps they should have saved
their money, stayed home and talked to local witnesses in
Omaha.

Topeka, Kansas
Hiker finds footprint near Topeka, Kansas.

What is significant about this report is the excellent picture that
he was able to obtain of a possible juvenile bigfoot print. The
exact location although not stated is within a couple miles of
downtown Topeka and along the Kansas River.

St.Louis County, Missouri
Bow hunter observes animal in Creve Coeur bottoms.

This report comes from an area that is 15 miles from downtown,
St.Louis, Missouri and along the Missouri River. It also is only a
couple of miles from very populated suburbs in west St.Louis
County. This area is bounded on the west and south by I-40,
on the north by I-70 and east by I-270.

Madison County, Illinois (unpublished)
This rural location in Madison County, Illinois has been the site
of ongoing bigfoot sightings. It is near a small creek and
approximately 15 miles from the Mississippi River. I did an on
onsite investigation and saw several sets of footprints.

Central Illinois. (unpublished)

Another rural location in Central Illinois. This site is also located
on a small wooded creek that flows through corn and soybean
fields. It is located 13 miles from the Sangamon River.
Numerous whistles, woodknocks and howls have been
recorded at this site.

Lee County, Illinois
Hikers find footprint along Franklin Creek.

This footprint was found along a small wooded creek in an
agricultural area of Northern Illinois. It is located 5 miles
from the Rock River.

Food - Water - Cover

The important factors for possible bigfoot habitat seem to be
wooded streams or river systems and an adequate food
supply, particularly a large deer population. Reports
continue to come in whether they are close to major urban
centers or agricultural areas.

It has been stated that the Pacific Northwest has a resident
population of bigfoot on every watershed. A growing number
of researchers are gradually coming to realize that perhaps
it is the same situation east of the Rockies.

Vocal Mimicry

2006-12-10T18:22:00.000-06:00

Vocal mimicry in bigfoot has been talked about among researchers. However it is difficult enough to recognize a bigfoot sound let alone a bigfoot imitating birds or other animals.

Mimic is described by Wikipedia as:

"....any species that has evolved to appear similar to another successful species in order to dupe predators into avoiding the mimic, or dupe prey into approaching the mimic."

"....a mimic doesn't try to blend with the surroundings, but to appear as some other creature."

Sound mimicry has been described in many birds, marine mammals as well as primates, humans, cetaceans, seals and birds. Especially in birds is mimicry well known and accepted. Mockingbirds, catbirds, and various other birds do some really great imitation calls. I have seen a blue jay give a perfect red-tailed hawk's call which I wouldn't have believed if I weren't watching it just ten feet away.

There is a great amount of scientific literature available that deals with all aspects of vocal mimicry, the great apes and human speech:

The Life of Mammals, Vol. 4 DVD
David Attenborough
.."only feet from an orangutan .. discussed the intelligence and mimicry abilities of these great apes. "..."and mimicry are all primate traits according to Attenborough. "

The evolution of speech: a comparative review.
Trends in cognitive sciences, 4(7):258--267.
Fitch, W. T. (2000)
"At least two changes were necessary prerequisites for modern human speech abilities: (1) modification of vocal tract morphology, and (2) development of vocal imitative ability."

The Biology and Evolution of Language
Philip Lieberman
Man, New Series, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Sep., 1986), p. 542
"All great apes have large air sacs attached to their larynges, ....."

Humankind Emerging
Bernard G. Campbell
"Vocal mimicry not only makes speech possible, but is used by hunters..."

Social Imitation In Neonatal Monkeys
"Mimicry exists throughout the animal kingdom, but imitation with a purpose--matching one's behavior to others' as a form of social learning--has been seen only in great apes."

The Cognitive Prerequisites for Language
"Vocal mimicry, to say nothing of vocal imitation, seems to play, at most, no more than a very minor role among any species of primate other than humans (Seyfarth and Cheney 1997)."

Although none of the following examples can be proven to be a bigfoot vocalization most occurred in areas that had previous eye-witness bigfoot sightings.

Suspected bigfoot vocalizations:

1 - Barred Owl - I spent the night of 27th of August 2005 near Seneca, Illinois in my van and kept the microphone on the roof. I heard about fifty whistles and then rock knocking. After the barred owl hooting the rock knocking starts up again.

2 - Barred Owl and dogs from the Argosy Project - quoting - "The day after the rock clacking incident, I came back to the location alone to leave the Bigfoot more food. It was about 6:45 p.m. and I was finishing packing up my gear at my spotters station when I heard a hoot to the east in the woods. I would call it more like someone doing a bad imitation of a barred owl hoot. It hooted a few more times, and each hoot seemed to be very low to the ground about 250 feet away."

"Then I heard a dog barking just north of the hooting. The barking didn't seem very convincing to me. I've heard it numerous times before, and the barking sound is always stationary. After a brief pause, whoever was doing the hooting and barking moved closer together. I could hear rustling in the undergrowth as the two individuals met. I've never heard of an owl walking to a dog before. Shortly afterward I heard two whoops almost immediately to my left."

3 - Dog barks - I have a report from Madison County, Illinois from a witness who has had several sightings this summer and fall. He relates that he heard what appeared to be a military type formation moving along the creek behind his house. He described the sounds as being dog-like "but not quite". The sounds were proceeding forward, being answered left and right as it moved upstream, perhaps following a deer.

4 - Wild Turkey Clucks - On the 12 of April 2005 I went my local state park. As I was sitting on a log near a large thicket I heard what I thought was wild turkeys clucking. When I turned around to investigate the sounds stopped and I heard a loud wood knock coming from the top of the hill.

5 - Raccoon - I have a friend that does nighttime recording close to St.Louis, Missouri along the Missouri Bottoms. He has recorded what he describes as raccoon-like sounds but not quite.

6 - Raccoon - I recorded this raccoon-like sound near a feeding station where raccoons are not seen.

7 - Coyote - I recorded an unknown howl this spring in Central Illinois. This has been discussed at the Illinois Howl webpage. It has been labelled as either a coyote or wolf. However I have a Native American friend who reassures me that it is a bigfoot mimicing a coyote. I have reports of the same type of vocalizations being heard by hunters and researchers in Georgia, Oregon and four different locations in Illinois.

8 - Jungle birds - I have a report from Northern Illinois and I myself have heard in Central Illinois in the daytime during the winter what can only described as a jungle bird type sound.

What is the purpose of all these suspected vocalizations? Although no one knows for sure I think it is safe to assume that it is a way for an elusive animal to stay hidden and not give away their presence and position whether it be to prey animals or humans.

The Jennifer Syndrome

2006-11-20T16:28:00.000-06:00

I have a friend at work by the name of Jennifer. Now when the topic of bigfoot research comes up in conversation she goes into a tirade usually along the lines of - Where's the evidence? Where's the body? Why hasn't one been shot?

If you mention to her that all of these questions have already been addressed on many of the websites, she laughs boldly and walks away.

BFRO - Frequently Asked Questions

This reaction to the mentioning of the word bigfoot I admit is very common in our modern American society. I am not a psychologist so I can not adequately explain or understand it other than I suspect its root causes are:

1) Fear of the unknown.
2) Fear of anything associated with the dark.
3) Fear of the "boogie man" or "monsters in the closet".
4) Concerns that we humans are not the only upright walking ape.

What about me? Am I insulted or feel put down because of the ridicule? No. Although I may disapprove of their reaction or taunts I know that it has been a common situation for a long, long time.

What about the witnesses?

I have interviewed several hundred people who have seen an animal that is not accepted to exist by the general public.

I spoke with a lady in Southern Missouri who had been traumatized by seeing an animal who came very close to her car while she was driving. She was distraught and close to tears the hour I spent with her on the phone. My role of investigating the report for the website became secondary to counseling the witness and trying to reassure her that although she had been frightened by being so close to the animal she was in no real danger.

Nighttime sighting on country dirt road in Southern Missouri.

Other encounters that can be considered somewhat harrowing are:

Couple has car shaken and sees large animal up close near Tebbetts, Missouri.

Two teenagers have sighting east of Seneca, Illinois.

Considerations for witnesses coming forward with their stories.

To even report an encounter to a family member, co-worker or a website requires that the witness admits to themselves about the incident. I have a contact who after relating the story to me about the sightings he and his wife had been having I cautioned him about telling people about it at work. It was too late, his wife had already shared her story at the office. Her co-workers laid out a trail of M & M's down the hallway and through the office and played a game called "follow the bigfoot".

Many witnesses that I contact express their relief that they have someone to tell their story to. Often times they are not interested in having their stores published, they are just appreciative to have had someone to listen to them. Several times I have been told "in the twenty years since my incident I have spoken to no one about this other than my spouse and you".

Several years ago when I got involved in research my wife's family, although not outwardly skeptical, did seem to harbor a little doubt about what I was doing. One nephew told me "I am forty years old and have hunted these woods all my life and I have never seen or heard anything out of the ordinary nor do I know anyone that has".

On the 23rd of Jan I gave him a phone call. I said "If you are not too busy I have something I want to show you."

As he knelt in the trail and felt the depression that each toe had made in the ice and snow I saw a different look in his eyes.

It is amazing to see someone discover for themselves what the truth is and not what they have been told by society.

Peeping "Uncle Harry"

2006-10-16T18:10:00.000-05:00

It seems strange that an animal that supposedly is as shy and reclusive as the sasquatch would have gained the reputation for being a "peeping tom".

The Free Dictionary defines a peeping tom as a person who stealthily peeks into windows.

There are numerous reports of sasquatches either observing people or looking in windows at people.

BFRO: Youngster frightened by "monster" peeping in window

BFRO: Daytime sighting by swimmers in Wolf Creek area

I have a contact who as a child would frequently see “red eyes” outside her bedroom window at night. This went on intermittently for seven or eight years. I spoke with her mother, now in her seventies. The mother related how her child was punished for making up stories and not wanting to sleep in that particular bedroom. It all changed one night when the mother, while checking on her daughter, also saw the “red eyes”. The family was never for sure who their peeping tom was.

An older story is found in:

Bigfoot Of the Blues by Vance Orchard (C) 1993 Walla Walla, WA p.81

That concerned the story of Jim Ralph, retired Forest Service employee. In 1942 he was assigned to lookout duty at Hoodoo Lookout on the Walla Walla Ranger district. [This is 7 miles west of Troy, Oregon]. After spending the daylight hours in the lookout tower, Ralph would come down to spend the night in a log cabin at the base. One night after retiring he had the sensation someone was looking in his window. Checking outside he could see nobody so went back to bed.

The next morning there was a set of hugh footprints, toes pointing toward his window, when he arose! Ralph recalls he followed the tracks leading away from the cabin for several miles but had to return to duty in the tower. He says he covered the two tracks at the window with a washtub until his boss came up from headquarters. "He asked me what I was going to do about them," Ralph said. "I told him he was the boss and it was up to him. That's the last I ever hear of it, though." unquote

My parents and my oldest brother (who was three years old son at the time) spent the summer of 1941 at this lookout tower in Wallowa County, Oregon. I wonder what my mother would have said if she had seen those giant footprints outside her window. Maybe she wouldn't have been so skeptical.

My only conclusion is that these animals have an extreme curiosity about us and feel secure being hidden either by the darkness or the bushes.

*photos courtesy of Rex Hamstra

Be Prepared

2006-10-10T19:01:00.000-05:00

If there is one recommendation in research that I try to live by and encourage others to do so also is "be prepared". The Boy Scouts of America certainly picked an appropriate motto. Although I have not necessarily recorded anything significant I have tried to learn by my mistakes, have the correct gear and hopefully keep myself alert for opportunities to record when they are presented.

In doing wildlife research I feel that the two most important pieces of equipment are some type of camera or camcorder and a audio recorder. There are many new digital camcorders on the market and prices continue to drop. For doing a remote video setup I happen to like the Sony analog because it has 4 hours on long play and the aperture can be opened up to allow in more light. For audio recorder recommendations please see my soundrecording page.

I have had some successes and many failures in my quest to be ready. In March of 2005 I happened to be fortunate enough to get a digital still picture of a bobcat.

I was walking along a pond when Belle, my Karelian Bear Dog, assumed a point position. I saw some motion in the grass at about 300 yards distance. I immediately started clicking pictures. I did not know at the time what it was, I thought perhaps coyote until I downloaded the pictures on my computer. Even in the corn stubble the bobcat was still very well camouflaged.

On the 29th of August 2006 I had a cougar cross the road in front of my pickup at 7 a.m. in broad daylight. Was I prepared, no. If I had my camcorder running, sitting on the dash I would have perhaps recorded an excellent sequence. I had stopped the vehicle to allow my dog to greet the farmers dog that always comes out to say hello. When I looked back up the road the big cat was crossing the road only 50 feet in front of me. Since then I keep my camcorder running on the dash when I get within a mile of my research area.

I try to do 10 hr remote audio recording every night. My audio recordings can be found at:

my unknown sounds and bird and animal sounds.

Doing remote video setup I have taken video's of deer, possum, coyote, bobcat, fox, squirrel, rabbit. Of course using night vision the pictures are never as good as daytime. Some of these can be found at:

bird and animal videos.

I think the future is bright for researchers getting new recordings. Prices have plummeted for both audio and video equipment. Almost everyone can now afford to have at least some type of recording gear. And whatever you do, always keep your recorders running while in the field.

The Patterson Film

Sound Recording Recommendations

Big Cat Crossing

Big Cat Crossing

Habituation

2006-10-10T18:59:00.000-05:00

Habituation is an interesting controversial subject in Sasquatch research. Over the years there have been several cases of people making claims of long term interactions with families of bigfoot. I have been fortunate enough to personally investigate two of these situations.

I have a Native American friend, John, who lives along the Illinois River in North-Central Illinois. For the last twenty years he has routinely spent time in the woods near his home. I can not prove his claims nor do I have any evidence as to what I have witnessed while I was with him. My friend is a soft spoken man, suspicious of outsiders and what their intentions are when it comes to the large animals that live in his woods. He was concerned about both the welfare of the animals plus how I would handle myself if the animals came in real close. After several meetings with John he eventually agreed to allow me to tag-along with him on one of his outings.

We arrived on location about forty-five minutes before sundown to take up our positions. As we stepped into the woods I heard a howl coming from around the hill, and then it was repeated again. I was amazed. John said "They know me". Slowly we worked our way through the brush and upwards the base of a low lying hill. As the sun was going down we sat on the ground and awaited our "guests" or should I say that perhaps we were the "guests". John explained that he had this "special technique" to draw the animals in. He would bang together two wooden sticks and set up a rhythm while singing a traditional chant. Many times the animals would come in very close to investigate, sometimes within ten feet. John said to keep our heads down and not to make eye contact. As with the great apes, eye contact would be considered a threat and the animals would leave.

During the twilight John sang his chant and we anxiously waited to see if we would be visited. On top of the hill 125 yards away I heard a wood knock. John said "they are coming". I could hear movement behind me and to my left. For the next fifteen minutes we could detect brush being moved out of the way as something was approaching. I expectantly waited for whatever was hidden to show itself. The movement stopped about fifteen feet away in the nearest brush. We sat there for thirty minutes listening to the night sounds. Our "friends" did not come out in the open that night. Perhaps they were just being cautious about this stranger carrying a camcorder and recorder. We slowly made our way back to the van in the dark. Although somewhat disappointed I was still excited to have been let in to one man's world, a world that the general public does not acknowledge or understand.

Bigfoot Contactees: 50 Years Of Coquettishness

Some Thoughts triggered off by the Kosovo Sighting

A Quiz and a Challenge

2006-10-10T18:33:00.000-05:00

One of the most interesting areas of research in wildlife is sounds. Whether it is different frogs croaking, bird singing or coyotes howling we can make recordings and do computer analysis of these sounds.

In the area of bird identification when so many times the birder is not able to see the vocalist because of heavy brush, bird songs and calls have become a major resource. CD collections of American birds are inexpensive. Examples are:

Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs

A Field Guide to Bird Songs: Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guides)

The major institution that is deeply involved with bird sounds is:

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

When it comes to mammal sounds it is more difficult. Darkness does not lend itself to easy identification of sounds. Most birds are active in the daytime (owls and nighthawks and a few others being the exception). The mammals are a different story. Although all mammals are seen at different times of the day, other than the squirrel family, most are chiefly active in the night.

Numerous websites have collections of mammal sounds:

Guide to Animal Sounds on the Net

Naturesongs

JungleWalk

Sounddogs

Hunting websites often carry large collections of the more common mammals:

Varmint Al's Coyote Hunting Page

Allpredatorcalls

Bioacoustics

According to Wikipedia:
Bioacoustics is the study of how animals use sound for communication and echolocation.

Major institutions that are involved in bioacoustics include:

Texas A & M University-Corpus Christ

Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Bioacoustics Research Program (note: also includes mammals)

Sound Analysis

The advent of computers has allowed scientists and amateur alike to study sounds in an objective manner. It is not enough to say â€œoh that sounds like a coyote or that is just a mountain lion screamingâ€. It needs to be recorded with high quality field recorders and microphones. It then needs to be analyzed by computer software.

There are many different programs for evaluating sounds:

Adobe Audition

Audacity

Soundruler

For a longer list of programs check out:

Sound Analysis Software for bioacoustics

A Quiz and a Challenge:

What is this animal? I recorded this sound during April and May in Central Illinois along a creek in a mixed oak-hickory forest.

Illinois Howl - Recording

To answer the challenge one must be able to have a recording that is good enough quality to be analyzed. A poorly recorded and distorted recording has no value. To be considered the same animal the recording must:

1. Display the same pattern.
2. Display the same resonant frequency and overtones.

If you think you know what this animal is please send me a recording for analysis. My email address is: stancourtney@hotmail.com

For a further discussion on this howl please see:

Illinois Howl webpage

and for all the recordings of this howl see:

A Complete list of the recordings of the Illinois Howl

Nguoi Rung, a letter from Viet Nam

2006-10-10T18:12:00.000-05:00

Mr. Courtney,

While looking for some information on the Internet, I encountered your website. At the time I was at work and was unable to pursue the website as well as I wanted. After spending much time on the website, I have decided to tell you something I have told to very few people. It brings back frightening sometimes painful memories of my tour of duty in Vietnam. I, as with many other veterans never fully received the recognition or the gratitude deserved serving our country, I do not wish to be remembered for what I am about to divulge and will deny any knowledge of it.

It was 1969; I was on patrol one evening, just before dark in the North Two Corp in North Vietnam. We were returning to the hill, when we encountered hostile fire, the squad was caught off guard so we used what cover was available. The fight had been going on for only a few minutes when movement caught my eye. Through the thick vegetation I saw what I thought was a large man breaking cover from behind my left side. As the thing ran past me I realized it wasn't a man, and was not really sure of what I was seeing. The thing was about 7 feet tall and had an enormous build, though not completely covered with hair, the thing had reddish brown hair covering a good portion of its body. It had covered about 30 yards very quickly passing within just yards of my position, when it got hit in the crossfire. The thing stumbled once or twice but never fell. All of a sudden the enemy broke and ran, one even left his weapon behind, they were yelling something, but none of us ever knew what it was they were yelling. We slowly regrouped and made sure no one was wounded and discussed what we thought we had seen. As it was getting dark and there were hostiles in the area, we decided to get back to the hill. That night we heard several howls sounding very similar to the ones that you have recorded, coming from all over the place. Some sounded like they were just outside of the hooch and others sounded more than a mile away. There were all kinds of sounds from whines to growls to sounds that sounded like barks. Needless to say no one slept very well that night.

Below is an artist conception of the Nguoi Rung.

The next morning, all of us that were on that patrol, decided to try to track this thing. It took a lot of talking to get Tops to let us go looking for it, but after hearing the same story from the whole squad he decided to let us have a chance to bring it back. We returned to the area and found a blood trail, leading into the jungle. We trailed it for quite some time when we found the body of an enemy soldier that had been almost entirely torn apart. We do not know exactly what happened, but I have a good notion to what may have happened. We basically ran out of the area back to our hill. The rest of the time we were in Vietnam, I never heard the sounds or saw anything like it again. The talk of what we had seen spread very quickly, and some of the locals called it a name that I can neither pronounce or remember, but the translation if I recall was Stench Monkey or Foul Monkey, something like that. I can't remember for sure. What I do know is that it bothered me so much that I transferred from there, to a job on a helicopter so that I wouldn't have to be in the jungle anymore.

After returning home to Alabama when my tour had ended, I occasionally heard sounds that reminded me so much of that encounter. It had been years since I left Alabama and moved to west central Illinois. I seldom thought of that day in Vietnam or the things I heard and saw. The recording is exactly what I had heard over there, I could close my eyes and still hear the howl in Vietnam. Regrettably I have mixed feelings about discovering your website, relieved that someone else may now know what I went through, frightened that I that there may be something in the area of where I now live.

I realize that you are interested in pursuing this creature or one like it, but let me warn you from someone who has seen what it is capable of first hand. Don't.

Bigfoot: The Nguoi Rung GI Story 2001

Nguoi Rung, Vietnamese Forest People, Wildman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tree Breaks

2006-10-10T17:58:00.000-05:00

I don't like evaluating tree breaks or twists. I don't recognize them as being bigfoot related. There are just too many other things they could be attributed to: storms, winds, old age. I don't say that Uncle Harry didn't do it as some type of territorial marker, I am just saying it is "not my thing."

On the 1st of July 2006 this twelve foot tall four inch diameter maple tree was snapped in two along the path in the pasture just up the hill feet from my feeding station. There had not been any other damage on my property or my neighbors property. There was a path of knocked down tall grass from the hay field to the east directly to the tree.

Big Cat Crossing

2006-10-10T17:06:00.000-05:00

The 29th of July I went to my favorite park squatchin'. There is about 4 miles of very curvy roads that meanders through heavily wooded hills.

It was 7:00 a.m. I was trying to beat the heat as the forecast was for temps in the upper 90's.

There is a small farm with a very large dog that I pass by. I always slow down to allow Belle and this other dog to look at each other though the glass. I was going about 15 to 20 mph. The dog was not in sight so I started to speed back up.

There was a quick movement out of the brush on the left side of the road and a large tawny longtailed cat rushed across the road and was gone. I was awestuck. I felt privileged to see such a magnificant beautiful predator.

I was also a little taken back. I have to realize for all the time I spend in the woods these elusive creatures are out there with me.

Excellent article in the Illinois Times By Scott Maruna The beast of the bluffs

The Waterman and Hill-Traveller's Companion, a Natural Events Almanac Cougar Watch

IDNR Officials Sort Out Reports Cougar or Bobcat Sightings in Northern Perry County