1 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:16,039 Growing up in central Florida. My interest in our Florida sasquatch or skunk cape 2 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:20,280 began when I was eleven years old. It was at the right age for 3 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:25,359 an impressionable young mind. In early nineteen seventy four, there was a rash 4 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:30,719 of bigfoot or skunk ape sightings all over Florida, and this fueled my imagination. 5 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:36,000 Even some of my friends told me of experienced they had while camping and 6 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:41,200 seeing the skunk ape or sasquatch. My best friends and I would tell the 7 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,679 scariest stories and scare the bejeebis out of each other. I was with my 8 00:00:45,759 --> 00:00:50,600 boy Scout troop camping at a Scout camp on the edge of Okalla National Forest. 9 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,840 Years later I would learn that there were also many reports of sightings within 10 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,640 a few miles of this area, as well as a couple of strange encounters 11 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,879 of my own that I couldn't explain at the time. My best friend Tim 12 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:08,400 and I were the youngest kids on the troop camp out. After nightfall, 13 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:14,079 the older kids decided to hike to a small general store two or three miles 14 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:18,640 away. Tim and I weren't interested in doing that, so we sat around 15 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,920 the campfire and told each other scary stories to get each other riled up, 16 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:30,079 especially a frightening incident out in Oklahoma where campers were torn to bloody ribbons by 17 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:34,560 a monstrous bigfoot with long, sharp fingernails. Well, unbeknownst to us, 18 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:40,159 scout Master Bruce, who was also the Church of Youth pastor, heard us 19 00:01:40,239 --> 00:01:45,200 loudly carrying on. He came up and told us, boys and y'all quit 20 00:01:45,239 --> 00:01:49,040 fooling around and help out with the kp wash the pots and pans from supper, 21 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:53,079 take two buckets down to the picture pump and fill them up with water. 22 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:59,799 Saying back then that I was naive would be an understatement, because I 23 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:01,519 did. I hadn't noticed that. As soon as we grabbed the pails to 24 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:08,120 fill up, scout Master Bruce immediately disappeared. The old iron hand crank pitcher 25 00:02:08,199 --> 00:02:14,120 pump was about fifty yards away, maybe less, but the distance at night 26 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:17,759 seemed like a mile for Tim and I. The pump needed to be primed 27 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:22,280 badly, which took a lot of work. There was a jug of stale 28 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:24,960 rust water next to the pump that I poured down the chef of the pipe 29 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:30,439 to prime it, and after much cranking of the old iron handle, the 30 00:02:30,479 --> 00:02:35,639 water began to flow. Finally, Tim and I were filling up the buckets, 31 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:38,800 and the nearby bushes started to rattle and come to life. And then 32 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:44,199 there were loud grunts. Maybe it was a wild hog or bear, or 33 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:49,159 even a bigfoot with long fingernails. I grabbed the buckets and told Tim in 34 00:02:49,199 --> 00:02:53,280 a trembling voice, I think we have enough water. And we scurried back 35 00:02:53,319 --> 00:02:57,479 to the camp like squirrels on a hot pavement. As Tim and I were 36 00:02:57,599 --> 00:03:02,400 washing pots and pans, scout Master reappeared, laughing. He let us know 37 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:07,800 that it was him rattling the bushes, But the story of our trip to 38 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:12,840 the picture pump became Troop folklore. It was retold by my Eagle Scout Awards 39 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:17,000 ceremony by the former Scout Master Bruce, who came back for the occasion and 40 00:03:17,039 --> 00:03:24,400 repeated my famous quivering line, I think we have enough water. Another story. 41 00:03:25,199 --> 00:03:29,319 It was in the mid nineteen nineties after I got out of the Army 42 00:03:29,319 --> 00:03:32,719 and returned home to Florida. But this time nearly all of my friends had 43 00:03:32,759 --> 00:03:38,360 moved elsewhere. I was between jobs and I wasn't really liking being around people, 44 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:43,000 and I took trips out of the Ocala Forest and I hiked alone. 45 00:03:43,879 --> 00:03:46,280 I was starting to notice things in the woods that did not seem natural, 46 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:52,759 like a tree top twisted off. One afternoon, I was at home and 47 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:57,159 I was lounging around. My Dad comes in the room. Dad grew up 48 00:03:57,199 --> 00:04:00,879 in New Jersey and had a tough childhood, but severed and became someone who 49 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:06,520 could endure hardships but still keep his sense of humor. At the same time, 50 00:04:06,599 --> 00:04:11,400 he had a moral and ethical standard, and he went to church twice 51 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:15,439 a week and always looked out for other people, and he could fix and 52 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,279 repair anything. My dad was my role model, but he would not stand 53 00:04:19,319 --> 00:04:27,199 for any foolishness. Dad knew about my interests for the Exclusive Cryptid and he 54 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:30,759 came in the room and he said, very seriously, my son, I 55 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:34,360 need you to promise me one thing. He would not tell me what he 56 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:39,120 was making me promise until I agreed to it, whatever it was going to 57 00:04:39,199 --> 00:04:44,160 be, and this meant that he was deadly serious. I was thinking that 58 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:46,959 he was going to tell me to stay out of jail. He had previously 59 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,079 said that if I ever went to jail that he would not bail me out. 60 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,879 Well, I love my dad, and I knew that his advice was 61 00:04:54,959 --> 00:04:58,839 always sound, so I relented and agreed to do whatever he asked me. 62 00:05:00,079 --> 00:05:03,399 He said, about these big hairy things, I want you to promise me 63 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:08,720 that you will never go chasing after them. Well, I was stunned and 64 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:13,800 speechless, so he repeated the request and I said, yes, sir, 65 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:18,639 I promise. My dad passed away ten years ago. I never did ask 66 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:23,759 him why he made me promise that, but he said it was such conviction 67 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:28,560 and such seriousness that I know he had a good reason, which I will 68 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:32,000 never know the truth. Growing up in the South, when your father tells 69 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,720 you to do something as serious as he was, you don't question him. 70 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:41,279 He was a tough old Korean War veteran, and I had no doubt that 71 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:45,879 he could still whip my bottom if he had the notion. I believe that 72 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:48,199 I have kept that promise, but I did not think at the time that 73 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:54,560 those big hairy things might find me. Ten years later, I got a 74 00:05:54,639 --> 00:05:59,000 job working for the Florida Park Service. I was working at a preserve on 75 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,639 the edge of the Everades in South Florida. At first, there was no 76 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:06,959 available residence at the park, so I had to live in town, and 77 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:13,000 after a year the park acquired property as part of the Everglades restoration project. 78 00:06:13,959 --> 00:06:16,800 The parcel had a few abandoned trailers, and with a little work, I 79 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:23,279 would get my small retreat in paradise, including the frogs, the mosquitoes, 80 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,360 and the alligators. It was a bit out of my way. It was 81 00:06:27,399 --> 00:06:30,480 about eight miles from the main area of the park where I worked. It 82 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:35,160 was accessible after going down a two mile road grade that would sometimes flood in 83 00:06:35,199 --> 00:06:41,439 the summertime, but it was solid enough to get through. I moved into 84 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:46,079 an abandoned double wide trailer that did not take much work to make habitable. 85 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:50,360 I thought that it was actually very spacious inside. I think that it was 86 00:06:50,399 --> 00:06:56,199 bigger than the apartment where I now live. It looked a bit mysterious that 87 00:06:56,279 --> 00:07:00,879 the front door was gone, having been ripped off the frame mall section of 88 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:04,000 wall. But I found another door, and I rebuilt the wall in the 89 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:09,759 frame, and I salvaged other parts from other trailers nearby, and I had 90 00:07:09,759 --> 00:07:13,800 a new well pump installed, and it made a decent place to live. 91 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:18,600 The electric company reinstalled a meter, so I had electricity, and I had 92 00:07:18,639 --> 00:07:24,759 no telephone except my primitive cell phone. If I stood by the kitchen window, 93 00:07:24,839 --> 00:07:28,079 I might get a signal. Otherwise, to make a phone call, 94 00:07:28,199 --> 00:07:30,439 I had to drive two miles down a dirt road to the paved road. 95 00:07:31,839 --> 00:07:35,839 In front of my trailer was a large canal. It was dug out decades 96 00:07:35,879 --> 00:07:40,639 ago to help drain the everglades, and later on it would be filled in 97 00:07:40,759 --> 00:07:45,319 as part of the Everglades restoration. But I would live here for two years 98 00:07:45,439 --> 00:07:50,240 until that happened. Behind my trailer was a retention pond, and at night 99 00:07:50,319 --> 00:07:55,399 in the summer, the noise made by the peeping frogs was deafening. And 100 00:07:55,480 --> 00:08:00,639 beyond that was a cypress swamp. I found another abandoned trailer in the woods 101 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:05,120 that was collapsed and it had fallen down. And there was an abandoned house 102 00:08:05,439 --> 00:08:09,399 with stories that the former owner buried a fortune that no one had ever found. 103 00:08:11,279 --> 00:08:15,519 There was even a tale of a forming Cuban insurgent camp that I was 104 00:08:15,519 --> 00:08:20,959 trying to find. The Remains of wildlife abounded. A Florida panther was seen 105 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:26,519 by a co worker. Black bears were common, and occasionally I had to 106 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:31,199 chase an alligator off the road in order to pass. Another time, I 107 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:35,039 had to stop in the road to pick up a baby soft sealed turtles who 108 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:39,120 had recently hatched, and I put them in the canal. I was keen 109 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:43,480 on spotting baby turtles on the roadway. There was a hawk nest in a 110 00:08:43,519 --> 00:08:48,399 pine tree outside my trailer, and she would wake me up at dawn. 111 00:08:48,759 --> 00:08:52,720 I didn't need an alarm clock to get ready for work. I loved my 112 00:08:52,879 --> 00:08:56,320 non human neighbors, and I would occasionally say good morning to them, although 113 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:01,960 they did not reciprocate. I saw more water moccasins than I care to count, 114 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:07,519 and we seemed to agree not to bother each other. At first, 115 00:09:07,639 --> 00:09:13,399 everything seemed natural for the outdoors, but as the months went on, I 116 00:09:13,519 --> 00:09:16,799 noticed a few things that seemed a bit off. Things in the back of 117 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:22,559 my pickup truck sometimes moved around at night, which I blamed on the raccoons. 118 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:26,720 One night, I got a quick glance of something large and hairy that 119 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:31,159 went by my big picture window. I thought that it was probably a bear. 120 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:35,039 Another time, I woke to a thud that hit the side of my 121 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:39,480 trailer. I supposed that it was an owl that impacted the side, or 122 00:09:39,519 --> 00:09:45,919 that it was just a dream. On a very still and quiet night. 123 00:09:46,159 --> 00:09:50,080 I swore that I heard voices in the distance, but they were too faint 124 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:54,200 to hear what they were saying. I figured that it must be fishermen on 125 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:58,639 the canal, or maybe campers. About every week I would borrow the riding 126 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:03,200 lawn more from the shop and mow the grass around my trailer. I noticed 127 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:07,919 that on the east side that faced the Cypress Swamp, the grass seemed flattened 128 00:10:07,919 --> 00:10:13,360 down, and I never had to mow that area, especially not under the 129 00:10:13,399 --> 00:10:18,039 awnings of the two large picture windows. I only used the blinds on the 130 00:10:18,039 --> 00:10:22,519 windows to keep out the sunlight from heating up the inside. No one else 131 00:10:22,639 --> 00:10:24,519 was supposed to be out there, so I felt no need to close them 132 00:10:24,519 --> 00:10:28,000 at night. But I found it odd that I never needed to mow the 133 00:10:28,039 --> 00:10:33,080 grass under those large windows. Not only did the grass seem to be beaten 134 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:37,519 down, but there was a game trail that went from them straight back into 135 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:43,840 the Cypress Swamp. November rolled around and I was off work the next day, 136 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:48,440 so I was looking forward to sleeping late. At about four thirty am, 137 00:10:48,519 --> 00:10:52,000 I got up to get a drink of water. I walked into the 138 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:56,159 kitchen and it was dark, and it was quiet. I checked the front 139 00:10:56,159 --> 00:10:58,919 door and it was closed up tight. Everything was good, and I went 140 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,720 back to sleep. I woke up late that morning, later than usual, 141 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:07,279 and the sun was high up in the sky and it was sunny but breezy 142 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:13,480 outside, but the breeze was blowing inside my trailer, and I woke up 143 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,799 to a draft. I got up and the front door was wide open, 144 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:22,840 swinging on the hinges, and there was a faint musty smell in my trailer. 145 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:26,759 I didn't think that was unusual because it was old and moldy with the 146 00:11:28,039 --> 00:11:31,320 occasional mice. I didn't know how the door opened by itself, though, 147 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:35,919 and I sat out loud. I don't mind if you visit, just close 148 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:39,440 the door when you go. I never woke to another door opening again. 149 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:46,519 There was a nearby citrus grove of tangerine trees. Since the park acquired the 150 00:11:46,559 --> 00:11:52,159 property, the trees were now abandoned and wild. This winter, they had 151 00:11:52,159 --> 00:11:56,000 a bumper crop of fruit. And one of my coworkers had emigrated from Central 152 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:01,360 America as a youth to escape the Civil war that killed many of his friends 153 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:05,559 and family, and besides being one of the hardest working people I know, 154 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:11,240 he was an expert at survival due to his background. The saying among us 155 00:12:11,399 --> 00:12:15,799 was that he could find food in a parking lot. Well, one day 156 00:12:15,879 --> 00:12:20,360 he came back to the park workshop with a bushel full of tangerines, and 157 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:24,480 I thought that he went a little overboard, picking more than would probably be 158 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:28,799 eaten. But that evening, when I went back to my trailer, I 159 00:12:28,879 --> 00:12:33,759 passed by the tangerine grove and I spoke out to the treeline of the cypress 160 00:12:33,759 --> 00:12:37,080 swamp, you better take some fruit before my coworker and all the tourists get 161 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:41,240 at it. The next week, I asked my coworker if he was going 162 00:12:41,279 --> 00:12:46,320 to get any more tangerines. He said that he had gone back and all 163 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:50,679 the tangerines had been picked clean. He said, those darn tourists must have 164 00:12:50,759 --> 00:12:54,639 taken it all. I did explore around a lot, and I still hadn't 165 00:12:54,639 --> 00:13:01,360 found any hidden treasure or stash. I did find where the former Cuban insurgent 166 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:05,039 camp used to be the only thing that was left was the concrete slabs of 167 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:11,399 the former buildings. The government cleaned that place up really good. One evening, 168 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:16,840 at sundown, I walked outside my trailer about one hundred and fifty yards, 169 00:13:16,919 --> 00:13:22,559 I heard a loud scream erupt The volume in length was about fifteen seconds, 170 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:26,480 and it was more than anything I had ever heard. No, it 171 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:31,559 was not a Florida panther. We were familiar with the Florida panthers and I 172 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:33,759 had one scream at me the first month that I was on the job. 173 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:39,720 That scream was terrifying and it curled the hairs on my arms, and I 174 00:13:39,759 --> 00:13:46,240 decided that my evening walk was over one of the invasive plants in the area, 175 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:50,480 or the Brazilian pepper trees. The limbs are like rubber and they don't 176 00:13:50,519 --> 00:13:56,279 easily lop off, and they don't snap off. Even using a machete is 177 00:13:56,320 --> 00:14:01,600 difficult with the elastic limbs bouncing back. The park purchased several sharp, sweetish 178 00:14:01,759 --> 00:14:07,200 axes to chop the limbs from the trees. It also takes constant chainsawing, 179 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,360 and they grow so thick that they will take over an area and nothing else 180 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:16,000 grows through their thick canopy. We worked most of the day to cut a 181 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:20,279 pathway inside the canopy where we could get to the tree truck to cut and 182 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:26,039 spray, and sometimes on hands and knees to get through the thick brush. 183 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:31,879 Imagine my amazement when I found a tunnel that went right through the Brazilian peppers, 184 00:14:31,159 --> 00:14:35,159 about one hundred yards in the length. One end of the tunnel ended 185 00:14:35,159 --> 00:14:41,679 at the canal, with the entrance slightly hidden so a passerby would not notice. 186 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,519 The inside of the tunnel had a seven foot ceiling, and the branches 187 00:14:45,559 --> 00:14:48,919 were not cut, but they were snapped off and made to a carpet of 188 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,799 branches on the ground. There were no branches to duck under, which was 189 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:58,039 impossible, and the far end of the tunnel ended at the beginning of the 190 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:03,039 Cypress swamp, and it was pa to go from Cypress swamp to canal without 191 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:07,559 walking out in the open. It was a very nice pathway, and it 192 00:15:07,679 --> 00:15:11,480 was the area where the scream had come from. Well. I decided that 193 00:15:11,519 --> 00:15:16,879 whoever my unseen neighbors were, I must have been very entertaining for them, 194 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:22,200 crawling under my trailer to fix a leaking pipe, having to do various odd 195 00:15:22,279 --> 00:15:26,320 jobs, and sometimes quite poorly, and on the side of the roof of 196 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:30,919 the trailer. They don't have TV, so I must have been the main 197 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:35,720 attraction. Maybe they thought of me as their pet. One November night, 198 00:15:35,759 --> 00:15:39,919 when the moon lit up the whole area. I was sitting in the living 199 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:43,480 room watching TV and with my back to those big windows that faced the Cypress 200 00:15:43,519 --> 00:15:48,639 Swamp. I think it was around eleven PM at night and I was watching 201 00:15:48,679 --> 00:15:56,159 a weird sci fi show, Cleopatra twenty five twenty five. Suddenly on one 202 00:15:56,200 --> 00:16:00,399 of the back windows was a loud sound of fingernails tapping tap, tap tap. 203 00:16:00,879 --> 00:16:06,720 The sound was unmistakable. Thoughts came to mind if times passed when I 204 00:16:06,799 --> 00:16:11,240 was misbehaving as a child and Mom would tap on the window at me. 205 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:17,360 Maybe the visitor wanted me to change the channel. I ran outside to face 206 00:16:17,399 --> 00:16:19,840 the intruder and I got to the other side of the trader, but I 207 00:16:19,879 --> 00:16:26,759 didn't see anything, only a pretty moonlit night with frogs serenading in the retention 208 00:16:26,919 --> 00:16:32,159 pond. Was I the victim of a ding dong dash? I decided that 209 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:36,240 whatever it was had a good laugh watching me run outside in my boxers and 210 00:16:36,279 --> 00:16:41,320 my boots. Maybe that was their objective. I bought a decent sized queen 211 00:16:41,399 --> 00:16:45,759 mattress for my bed. Unfortunately I didn't have a frame for it, so 212 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:51,080 the mattress was on the floor. It was a warm spring night and I 213 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:55,440 had just a single cotton flannel blanket for covering, And in the middle of 214 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:59,840 the night, something grabbed my legs on the calves above my ankles, and 215 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,240 it slid me from the bottom end of the mattress onto the wooden floor blanket 216 00:17:03,279 --> 00:17:07,640 and all. I was not roughly handled, and I was not hurt at 217 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:11,480 all. It was like a friend pulling a practical joke on me, but 218 00:17:11,559 --> 00:17:17,200 it was startling. I didn't look behind me. I didn't want to know 219 00:17:17,279 --> 00:17:21,200 who or what it was. I figured that if they wanted to kill me, 220 00:17:21,279 --> 00:17:26,720 they would have done so quickly and brutally or quietly. They could have 221 00:17:26,799 --> 00:17:30,279 eaten me and I would have never known. So I decided that if I 222 00:17:30,319 --> 00:17:34,079 showed humor and laughed it off and I might de escalate the situation. So 223 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:37,880 I laughed, and I crawled back into bed, and I rolled back up 224 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:44,400 in my blanket. And then it happened again in the same way. Well, 225 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:48,079 I crawled back in again and again, and I was pulled out of 226 00:17:48,079 --> 00:17:52,480 bed the same way five times that night. I looked back on the final 227 00:17:52,519 --> 00:17:59,240 time, but I did not see anyone. These incidents might make me pause 228 00:17:59,319 --> 00:18:03,359 and think. Many people would attribute this to the sasquatch behavior, but I 229 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:07,119 never got a good look at any of the night visitors. I didn't see 230 00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:11,160 who was tapping on the window, and I didn't see who pulled me out 231 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:15,039 of my bed. And I kept my promise to my dad and I did 232 00:18:15,079 --> 00:18:19,640 not go chasing after these things. Sometimes you have strange neighbors, and I 233 00:18:19,799 --> 00:18:26,079 just left it at that. It all came to an end when a Category 234 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:30,559 four hurricane came through. It ripped off the side of my trailer. I 235 00:18:30,599 --> 00:18:33,480 tried to repair it, and I hammered the wall back together, but I 236 00:18:33,519 --> 00:18:37,680 never found my water heater. That meant I had to take cold showers for 237 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:42,319 a few months until I moved out. It is possible to take a cold 238 00:18:42,319 --> 00:18:47,480 shower in the Everglades in January, just do it in the evening while the 239 00:18:47,519 --> 00:18:52,400 pipes were warmed up from the sun. The park was fixing up another ranger 240 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:56,920 resident. So it was time to move to a sturdier building anyway, and 241 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,720 this was right where I worked, so I could walk to work less the 242 00:19:00,759 --> 00:19:06,880 mosquitoes prevented it. But there was one more strange incident. When I left 243 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:10,799 the trailer for the final time to move into my new house. I left 244 00:19:10,839 --> 00:19:14,640 a deer knee joy bone in the grass outside of the front door of the 245 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:18,880 trailer. I thought, I don't need this for anything. And a few 246 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,839 months later, when I walked out the door of my new residence onto my 247 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:27,400 driveway, I felt something under my boot and I looked down, and I 248 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:33,720 was surprised with what I found. It looked like the exact same deer bone 249 00:19:33,759 --> 00:19:37,400 that I had left in the front yard of my trailer, but my trailer 250 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:44,240 was eight miles away. I moved five hundred miles north in twenty and thirteen. 251 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:48,519 I was back down south for a visit last January, but after a 252 00:19:48,519 --> 00:19:53,920 succession of hurricanes and floods, the area looks completely different. And the rider 253 00:19:55,079 --> 00:19:59,319 signs off, and that's a This is a single guy living out in the 254 00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:03,920 Everglades by himself, working for the park service man. What a life? 255 00:20:03,039 --> 00:20:07,039 What a life? Is a young guy just out on his own doing his 256 00:20:07,079 --> 00:20:11,519 own thing. But he did have a bunch of strange things going on in 257 00:20:11,559 --> 00:20:14,559 this place, and it is some interesting stuff. And what do you guys 258 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,680 think? Was it the skunkp messing with him or was it some other person 259 00:20:18,799 --> 00:20:22,039 messing with him? As far as getting pulled out of a bed. I 260 00:20:22,039 --> 00:20:26,440 don't think any animal on the planet is just gonna grab you by the ankle, 261 00:20:26,079 --> 00:20:30,400 jerk you out of bed, and then leave just for fun, unless 262 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:36,559 it's another human or a bigfoot. What do you guys think? Appreciate the 263 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:40,279 story? The writer did a great job right in it. Let's go to 264 00:20:40,319 --> 00:20:47,839 another one. Okay, here's a story that you guys. Give me a 265 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,680 comment. Let me know what you think. Is this a skinwalker or just 266 00:20:51,759 --> 00:20:57,799 a shape shifter? What is this this guy encounters in this story. Let's 267 00:20:57,799 --> 00:21:03,440 get into his story right here we go. This isn't my story, but 268 00:21:03,519 --> 00:21:07,039 it was told to me firsthand by a close army buddy some years ago. 269 00:21:07,279 --> 00:21:14,160 His name is Benton. The military frowns on us talking about sensitive material outside 270 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:18,680 of our unit. Well, most of the time we would swap stories around 271 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:22,559 the campfire pit in the summer, but on those chilled winter nights, we'd 272 00:21:22,559 --> 00:21:27,480 be inside a medium army temp huddled around a lightly glowing potbell eat stove. 273 00:21:29,279 --> 00:21:32,519 Well, these were some of the only safe havens we had to get some 274 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:37,920 of the crazy encounters off our backs. But this story didn't come from around 275 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,920 any campfire, and neither was it burnt around a potbell eat stove. It 276 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:48,119 couldn't wait for that late Saturday night, I was alone, sitting in my 277 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:52,839 Barracks dorm room, enjoying a scary movie and a night away from a thunderous 278 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:57,319 and rudely loud Nco club. The handle on my door jiggled a half a 279 00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:03,000 second before a soldier pled in. It was Woodsey. He was another army 280 00:22:03,039 --> 00:22:08,240 buddy. Woodsey would be Robbin if Benton was Batman. And to me, 281 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:14,079 Woodsey looked sort of like a Pringle's Potato Chip guy minus the smirk, and 282 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,720 he spoke like a Harvard professor, and I would bet that he was at 283 00:22:17,799 --> 00:22:22,599 least that smart. And Woodsy was funny, unpredictably funny. His jokes would 284 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:27,599 knock you over because he always kept that straight professor face that never let on 285 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:33,400 where or when or if a punchline was coming. There was a slightly stretched 286 00:22:33,519 --> 00:22:38,559 pause that waited for some kind of explanation from him. But yet there he 287 00:22:38,599 --> 00:22:42,640 stood, awkward and uncomfortable, with his butt against the door in hands seeming 288 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:48,559 to clench the doorknob behind him. If nothing was said, then there's a 289 00:22:48,599 --> 00:22:52,200 code that Woodley was violating. You don't just go barging in a soldier's room 290 00:22:52,279 --> 00:22:56,039 without a warning. I mean a soldier could have company, or a card 291 00:22:56,079 --> 00:23:00,119 game going on, or anything that could require more than a split second to 292 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:06,440 get things squared away before letting anyone in. Still, Woodsy just stood there, 293 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:08,839 all poker faced. Well, that was eerie to me, and I 294 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:15,079 knew then that this was no joke. I could hear that his breathing was 295 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:19,119 slightly labored, and glimpse of TV light only lit fractions of his poker face, 296 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:23,119 which would normally be frustrating. And I wouldn't mind that if he'd do 297 00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:29,359 something anything that gave me a sign that he was all right. You could 298 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,480 stab the tension in the air with a bayonet, and I could feel him 299 00:23:33,519 --> 00:23:37,039 about to say something, so I fought to hold my own tongue and wait. 300 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:41,200 I could taste the words, come on, man, get it out, 301 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:45,880 ready to dive out of my mouth and become spoken impatient words. But 302 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:51,400 he beat me to it. Benton's acting funny, he said him and I 303 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:53,160 had a little bit too much to drink, and we both figured it was 304 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:57,279 a good time for him to learn to ride a motorcycle and take my motorcycle 305 00:23:57,319 --> 00:24:02,519 out for its first solo spin. So he jumped on the bike, and 306 00:24:02,559 --> 00:24:06,279 after my quick lesson and how to make it go off, he went into 307 00:24:06,319 --> 00:24:10,720 the night. Well he was gone for two hours, and I was a 308 00:24:10,759 --> 00:24:12,880 little worried that he had wrecked my bike, but I gave him the chance 309 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:17,839 to get it done on his own. Then he staggered into our room, 310 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:22,640 all scratched up and dirty, and all he kept saying was go get the 311 00:24:22,759 --> 00:24:26,680 sergeant. I told you this was odd, said Woodsy as he went silent 312 00:24:26,839 --> 00:24:30,920 and wait for some response for me. Okay, so did he crash the 313 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:34,799 bike, I asked, leaping to my feet. He could have a concussion. 314 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,680 I'm not sure what a concussion looks like, said Woodsey. He's acting 315 00:24:40,839 --> 00:24:44,319 strange, though, that's for sure, and he's saying things that we wouldn't 316 00:24:44,319 --> 00:24:48,480 want anyone else to hear. I've seen at least a couple of men crack 317 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:53,039 wrestling to hold this stuff in, only to succumb to an explosive episode of 318 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:57,480 diarrhea of the mouth, which would end in a visit and an escort to 319 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:03,720 mental hygiene, never to return to our section, but be replaced with a 320 00:25:03,759 --> 00:25:07,960 new boot. Well, we didn't want Benton getting a visit, so off 321 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,920 to his room. We trotted before anyone else picked their head in his room 322 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:17,039 and got an ear full of ship talk if they weren't prepared to carry I 323 00:25:17,079 --> 00:25:21,400 thought we were too late as we approached and already a jar door to Benton 324 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:25,680 and Woodsey's room. But sure, Sugar, Benton was sitting up at the 325 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:30,559 foot of his bunk, even more disheveled than Woodsey had described. Man, 326 00:25:30,559 --> 00:25:33,720 are you all right, I said. Benton began his attempt to answer my 327 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:40,200 question, but the words were snatched away by dry heaves. His bedroom bucket 328 00:25:40,279 --> 00:25:42,640 was at his feet, which confirmed that he had been doing this a while. 329 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,559 I don't think so, Serge, I don't think so, he replied, 330 00:25:47,599 --> 00:25:51,839 as water began dripping from his mouth. Woodsy and I jumped back at 331 00:25:51,839 --> 00:25:56,400 the same time, and Benton exploded into a full round of dry eaves. 332 00:25:56,559 --> 00:26:00,359 He waved us to close the door tight as he wrapped and wiped his mouth 333 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:06,319 with his bdu shirt. I'm waste deep this time, Sorge, I am, 334 00:26:06,759 --> 00:26:10,240 Benton stated. He then looked at me square in the eye, and 335 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:14,599 he spoke again, You'll be signing me into the crazy house. You'll say 336 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:18,839 I'm crazy for this one. Well, Benton paused, with his glazy eyes 337 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,880 fixed on me. Well, I was motionless, and I caught his gaze 338 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,720 and hanging on the edge of whatever had him so out of sorts, and 339 00:26:26,799 --> 00:26:30,839 I reached back and I made sure his door was closed fully unlocked. Well, 340 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:34,799 tell me what you can, Benton, I coaxed. Well, Benton 341 00:26:34,839 --> 00:26:40,559 gathered himself and he began his explanation, and he started by looking directly at 342 00:26:40,559 --> 00:26:45,759 Woodsey. I am going to be a good motorcycle rider someday, he said, 343 00:26:45,799 --> 00:26:48,519 with a grin. Well, that light in the mood a bit, 344 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:52,400 but it just won't be on your motorcycle. Woodsey. You wrecked my bike, 345 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:56,839 didn't you, said Woodsey. I didn't really crash it, he said, 346 00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:02,440 but I did trash it pretty good good, And Benton clammed up and 347 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:07,119 wait for Woodsy's response, And as if on Q, Woodsey did, okay, 348 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:11,039 So what do you mean by trash, he asked, and Benton went 349 00:27:11,079 --> 00:27:15,880 into what happened. Well, I was doing good. I was up shifting 350 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:21,359 and down shifting and clutching and all that, and I went down custra hill 351 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:26,359 around and up the backside where there wouldn't be any traffic. Everything was going 352 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:30,519 fine, and then I felt the urge to puke. I figured i'd stay 353 00:27:30,559 --> 00:27:33,839 on the bike and let the vomit blow behind me. And when I let 354 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,279 it blow, I closed my eyes. I guess it's natural function of the 355 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:42,160 human body when you blow gritch to close your eyes, but it was terrible. 356 00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:45,160 I felt like I was in a car wash of vomit, and it 357 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:49,599 was blowing all back in my face. When I could finally get my eyes 358 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:53,440 open, I was already in a grove of fir trees, and branches were 359 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:57,440 whipping me in the face, and I was sure I could maneuver around the 360 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,160 trees and get back on the road, but I ended up in a ditch 361 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:04,759 and everything went black. I don't really know how long I was in that 362 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:08,680 ditch, but that bike must have flung me through the handlebars like a marble 363 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:12,759 through a wrist rocket. I was still hanging on to a bent handlebar when 364 00:28:12,799 --> 00:28:18,000 I came to. I scanned the darkness until my night vision kicked in. 365 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:22,680 There was no way I was going to pull this bike out of that ravine, 366 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:26,079 and so I pushed it with my feet until it blended in and was 367 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:30,559 all covered with leaves and dirt. There want anybody to steal it. I 368 00:28:30,599 --> 00:28:33,799 grabbed roots and limbs and I made my way up the ravine. It wasn't 369 00:28:33,839 --> 00:28:38,039 easy wearing sandals on my feet, but I finally got up to the road 370 00:28:38,079 --> 00:28:41,960 and a car came by after half an hour, but I was too embarrassed 371 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,960 and ashamed, and I acted like I was just out for a walk, 372 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:51,039 and the car passed by, and I wouldn't see another car until later in 373 00:28:51,079 --> 00:28:56,039 the night. I could see shapes of things in front of me, but 374 00:28:56,119 --> 00:28:59,880 they were all hazy looking because the night miss must have begun to move for 375 00:29:00,079 --> 00:29:04,000 And in the distance I saw something white, and within a few minutes I 376 00:29:04,079 --> 00:29:08,759 was close enough to read it. It said the fort Riley Buffalo Corral. 377 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:12,680 Do not enter. Well. I look both ways on the road, and 378 00:29:12,759 --> 00:29:17,039 I was thinking on a way to get back, and I saw the two 379 00:29:17,039 --> 00:29:21,839 big hills to climb in both directions. Right and straight in front of me 380 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,319 was the field and it was the shortest distance for me to get back. 381 00:29:25,359 --> 00:29:29,119 Here. I was going to have to cross the field the Buffalo Corral. 382 00:29:29,759 --> 00:29:33,119 It was the shortest shrout, but not the safest because there are buffalo in 383 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:37,759 there, and buffalo do not put up with humans. However, I figured 384 00:29:37,799 --> 00:29:44,519 they did sleep fairly sound on cool nights, but there were still buffalo I 385 00:29:44,599 --> 00:29:47,920 knew this was a risky move, and I even knew this in my drunken 386 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,799 condition, but there was no turning back now that I had this in my 387 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:56,759 head. I grabbed the fence and I began to climb, thanking god it 388 00:29:56,799 --> 00:30:00,920 had not been electrified, and I climbed into the old like a wrestler climbs 389 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:07,480 into a ring. Inside the pen, everything felt different. There was a 390 00:30:07,519 --> 00:30:11,720 heavier mist inside the gate, and an eerie separation and a different vibe. 391 00:30:12,519 --> 00:30:17,480 My vision was impaired greatly by the mist, and it was so dark that 392 00:30:17,559 --> 00:30:22,160 I had to walk in this weird sort of sideways crouch with my arms spread 393 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:26,400 out, feeling for anything in front of me. After one hundred yards, 394 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:30,680 the mists started to lighten and I could see just a little better, and 395 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:33,440 I had made it up a hill and I was heading to the center of 396 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:37,559 the corral. The air felt warmer here and the mist turned a fog which 397 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:41,640 was easier to see through. And by this time I had to be close 398 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:45,160 to the herd, but I couldn't see them around me, and I stopped 399 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:49,160 and I looked a little closer, and through the patches of fog, I 400 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:55,680 realized I was at ground zero. Those hulking beasts were all around me and 401 00:30:55,839 --> 00:31:00,599 grunting in their sleep and blowing short towers of steam with ea each of breath 402 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:03,599 through their noses. I got so close to one that I could see the 403 00:31:03,599 --> 00:31:08,480 big male's eyes open briefly and then close as he went back to sleep. 404 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:12,799 He had not realized what I was, and that was a streak of luck, 405 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:18,640 I guess. So I kept moving and creeping around the monsters and admiring 406 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:22,440 how massive and beautiful these creatures were, and thankful that they apparently were tired 407 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:27,839 from the day. I kept moving while the buffalo remained calm and sound asleep. 408 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:33,359 On top of the hill. It was muddy, and with each step 409 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:37,160 there was a sucking noise from my sandal. I heard another sound just like 410 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:41,559 that behind me, and at first I thought that it was an echo in 411 00:31:41,599 --> 00:31:45,559 the fog, but that didn't make sense to me, and I wondered what 412 00:31:45,759 --> 00:31:49,440 was walking behind me. Maybe it was a bison. So I kept walking 413 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:53,960 and listening, and then I stopped, and whatever was making that sound kept 414 00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:00,039 walking, and it was gaining on me. It was not an animal on 415 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:04,920 four legs. This thing was on two feet. So my pace quickened to 416 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:09,839 gain some distance, and the noise was still gaining on me. The bison 417 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:15,599 still surrounded me, but they were sleeping like babies. I didn't have another 418 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:19,279 place to hide other than behind one, so I duck down and I became 419 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:22,839 very still. My heart was in turbo mode, and it thumped in my 420 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:28,960 ears, drowning out the sound of the footsteps that were surely approaching. And 421 00:32:29,039 --> 00:32:31,880 I waited, and I let my heart settle, and I listened, and 422 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:36,960 I couldn't hear the sucking sounds of whatever was following me, so I thought 423 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:40,039 maybe I was safe. It was so quiet that I didn't even hear the 424 00:32:40,079 --> 00:32:45,039 sleeping bison around me breathing. A few feet down the hill, I saw 425 00:32:45,079 --> 00:32:50,640 the largest bison in the group. He had to be Even though my vision 426 00:32:50,799 --> 00:32:52,559 was bad due to the fog, I had not seen a bigger one than 427 00:32:52,599 --> 00:32:58,359 this one. Obviously, he was the big boss male. I wanted to 428 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:02,160 get to that big one, because whatever was following me surely wouldn't risk waking 429 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:07,599 this monster up. So I crept slowly down the slope and I got behind 430 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:12,680 him. He never showed any sign of waking, and I admired his massive 431 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:16,319 figure. As I duck down below the ridge of his back for a moment, 432 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:20,640 there was a break in the fog and a clear patch of air that 433 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:25,359 I had not seen since being in the Buffalo Corral. His silver dollar eyes 434 00:33:25,519 --> 00:33:30,400 were wide open, and he was watching every move I made, expecting him 435 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:35,200 to erupt in anger and plow me into the mud. I was surprised that 436 00:33:35,359 --> 00:33:39,359 my presence seemed not to bother him at all. Was this beast tamed well? 437 00:33:39,359 --> 00:33:44,319 I didn't know, but since he didn't seem disturbed, I moved closer 438 00:33:44,359 --> 00:33:49,440 and tried to blend in better with him and hide. The closer I got 439 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:52,039 to this creature, the less I could hear. Like all the night sounds, 440 00:33:52,079 --> 00:33:57,640 and there weren't many, seemed muffled as if I had hearing protection on. 441 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:00,799 While I was finally closer that I thought I was out of sight in 442 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:05,759 my pursuer, and without touching the bison that I was so close to, 443 00:34:06,279 --> 00:34:10,239 I listened for anything approaching. Now I felt like I was in a sound 444 00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:15,119 proof room, or that I had earplugs in because I couldn't even hear the 445 00:34:15,239 --> 00:34:20,639 natural noise that happens in my ears. Was this animal soaking up all the 446 00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:24,719 sound around me. As afraid as I was. This was so odd to 447 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:30,800 me. And then I heard a buffalo hoff. There was an immediate and 448 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:37,000 distinct sound, a huff, and then an exil. I raised my head 449 00:34:37,119 --> 00:34:40,400 instinctively, and I was getting ready to run because I thought I had awakened 450 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:45,840 the buffalo and that I had crossed the boundary between just a guy walking through 451 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:51,039 a field to something that annoyed the bison. I knew how they reacted to 452 00:34:51,119 --> 00:34:54,239 those threats, and I stopped and stood still, and I got ready for 453 00:34:54,320 --> 00:35:00,320 the rampage. But this huge beast just lay there, following me with his 454 00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:06,320 eyes and not moving. So I stood up and I found myself staring into 455 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:10,800 one big buffalo eye again, and I was faced to chest with that I 456 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:17,280 can only describe as a half man and half buffalo. From the waist down 457 00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:22,880 it was human and the chest to the head was a full on massive bison, 458 00:35:22,039 --> 00:35:27,760 with the exception of human arms and hands where a bison's front leg should 459 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:31,679 be. Its head was enormous, with dark curly hair on top and down 460 00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:36,519 the back of its neck, and the human parts of the creature seemed to 461 00:35:36,519 --> 00:35:38,599 be brown or black, but there was no way to know it was so 462 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:46,159 little light Around its waist was an animal skin, loincloth or skirt. This 463 00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:52,880 thing was a First Nations man and half bison. It huffed two shots of 464 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:59,519 steams from its nostrils and lowered its human hand to me and pointed and gave 465 00:35:59,599 --> 00:36:04,239 me the unmistakable motion with its hand for me to leave. Well, I 466 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:07,599 didn't need time to figure out what he was trying to tell me, so 467 00:36:07,679 --> 00:36:10,639 I backed away slowly for ten or twelve yards. I turned away from this 468 00:36:10,719 --> 00:36:15,480 weird creature, and then I took long strides heading out of that field. 469 00:36:16,519 --> 00:36:20,639 Well. I heard it behind me, pacing me in an effort to push 470 00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:25,679 me faster. It maintained a persistent pace behind me, and twice I could 471 00:36:25,679 --> 00:36:30,559 feel it gaining on me, pushing me harder, and I would switch to 472 00:36:30,639 --> 00:36:34,000 a try to let it know that I fully understood that I was to get 473 00:36:34,039 --> 00:36:37,960 out of there. To me, it seemed like forever getting across that field 474 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:42,079 to the road, and I wondered if I had taken off in the wrong 475 00:36:42,199 --> 00:36:45,760 direction, because I should not have taken so long. But eventually I saw 476 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:51,920 the lights of a couple of cars passing by on the main road. The 477 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:54,880 third car pulled over as I stepped to the edge of the road. I 478 00:36:54,920 --> 00:37:00,000 felt lucky they had seen me, and a woman's face peered through the open 479 00:37:00,159 --> 00:37:05,639 glass with a smile. The driver poked his head next to hers and said, 480 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:08,840 few more hours than you'd have beaten the dare. He was referring to 481 00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:15,079 the legendary stories of drunk soldiers that had been picked up by the MPs after 482 00:37:15,119 --> 00:37:19,800 making it through the Bison Corral on a dare from their buddies. Ah, 483 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:22,840 this wasn't a dare, I said. I wrecked my friend's bike over there 484 00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:25,679 on the mountain, and this was the fastest way back to the base. 485 00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:30,800 I did make it all the way through alive, though. Well, jump 486 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:34,719 on in, said the driver. I assume you're heading back to Custer Hill, 487 00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:37,639 right, yep? I said, man. Was I glad they had 488 00:37:37,679 --> 00:37:42,639 stopped to give me a hand. They opened the door for me and I 489 00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:45,440 jumped in the back seat before they could change their mind, and before they 490 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:49,960 pulled away, I was looking out into the field through the fog, and 491 00:37:50,079 --> 00:37:53,000 it had diminished a bit, and I was wondering how close the buffalo man 492 00:37:53,079 --> 00:37:58,519 had been. When I finally reached the road, I couldn't see anything there, 493 00:37:58,559 --> 00:38:01,599 and I turned my attention back in front of me. Looks like someone 494 00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:05,639 followed you. It's a good thing you stayed ahead of it, said the 495 00:38:05,639 --> 00:38:09,159 woman in the passenger's seat. Well, I yanked my head around to look, 496 00:38:09,199 --> 00:38:13,880 and sure enough I could make out the enormous head of a large male 497 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:19,760 bison through the fog, and steam was expelling through its nostrils. Its head 498 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:23,840 turned and its eyes followed our departure until it was out of sight. Ah, 499 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:27,639 that thing wouldn't have hurt him, said the driver. I think the 500 00:38:27,679 --> 00:38:31,239 bisoner used to dumbasses walking around through the area. Where do I need to 501 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:37,119 drop you off? I paused him minute and finally said one hundred and twenty 502 00:38:37,119 --> 00:38:40,800 first Signal Battalion, I replied, Headquarters Company, the first building on the 503 00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:45,320 top of the hill on the left. After they headed this way, we 504 00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:51,039 didn't talk much until they dropped me off. Benton gave us more thoughts on 505 00:38:51,199 --> 00:38:54,679 that night. There were only his opinions on what this thing was. He 506 00:38:54,800 --> 00:39:00,159 was never the same after that. You might say, well, he was 507 00:39:00,239 --> 00:39:04,119 drunk and he was seeing things, or maybe you might say that he made 508 00:39:04,199 --> 00:39:07,880 up the story to take the attention off the expensive bike he had wrecked. 509 00:39:07,519 --> 00:39:12,639 We'll never know for sure, but in the years that I served with him, 510 00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:16,760 I never heard him tell a tall tale either before and never again after 511 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:22,480 that night. All I can say is this is exactly what he told Woodsy 512 00:39:22,559 --> 00:39:28,199 and I that night. There are other odd things that happened on that base, 513 00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:30,559 and I can only think that the natives who still live in the area 514 00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:36,679 know about these things, but they're just not talking about it. Okay. 515 00:39:37,840 --> 00:39:40,639 As the first for this channel, a buffalo man's story, I've never heard 516 00:39:40,679 --> 00:39:45,639 one, but it was very interesting and the way the story happened was kind 517 00:39:45,639 --> 00:39:50,519 of funny actually, But I enjoyed it and I appreciate the writer. Thank 518 00:39:50,559 --> 00:39:53,320 you very much for sending it. You guys, comment in the comment section 519 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:57,800 what you think this was? Was it a shape shifter? What do you 520 00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:02,320 call him? A skinwalker, spirit walker, whatever those Native American things are. 521 00:40:02,519 --> 00:40:06,119 I don't know what do you all think it is? Give me a 522 00:40:06,119 --> 00:40:09,880 clue. Thanks again to the writer. Is a great story, all right? 523 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:14,119 That'll wind things up for this podcast. I hope you guys enjoyed it 524 00:40:14,159 --> 00:40:17,039 and we will catch you on the next one. Thanks and see you next time.