WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:11.039 I live in rural Tennessee, and I was raised in 2 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:17.000 a multicultural family with Irish and Native American Cherokee roots. 3 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:20.600 Growing up, I heard many stories about wild things in 4 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:23.600 the world. I didn't pay much attention to them until 5 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:27.960 I started having my own experiences. Once, when I was 6 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:30.239 a young child, I was in the cemetery of the 7 00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:33.079 church where all my family had been laid to rest. 8 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:36.439 When I saw a young girl playing among the tombstones. 9 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:41.280 I knew she wasn't alive, but I wasn't scared. Not 10 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:43.840 long after that, my great uncle told me about a 11 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:47.640 time that he encountered a wild man nine feet tall, 12 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:51.320 and he was covered in hair. He moved so fast 13 00:00:51.399 --> 00:00:54.520 that he could vanish one second and reappear the next 14 00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:59.439 and possibly far away. I was playing outside once when 15 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:02.119 I heard a high pitched scream coming from the tall 16 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:05.599 grass across the road. I didn't know what it was, 17 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:08.760 but I knew it was big, and I took off running. 18 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:12.239 My father said it was probably the panther known to 19 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:15.519 live in the area. Needless to say, I was cautious 20 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:19.799 about being outside alone after that. Well, life went on 21 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:22.079 and I grew up, and now I have kids of 22 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:25.879 my own. It was a fall night, one where you 23 00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:29.879 know your hear codes all around. I didn't worry because 24 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:32.640 we had great dogs that kept us safe, and I 25 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:36.719 was inside with all the windows open. My children were 26 00:01:36.760 --> 00:01:39.840 tuck safely in bed, and I was watching my favorite show. 27 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:44.760 The next thing I knew, something started talking outside my window. 28 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:50.879 It sounded straight out of National Geographic like orangutang speaking 29 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:55.120 gibberish back and forth to one another. I quickly shut 30 00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:57.680 and locked all the windows and went to bed that night, 31 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:01.200 my heart filled with fear, not knowing what was outside 32 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:05.599 my house. The next day, I visited my sister, who 33 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:09.280 told me it was probably just owls mating, since it 34 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:12.759 was that season. That eased my worries for a while, 35 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:15.840 until one night I heard what sounded like a horse 36 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:20.159 breathing into one of my open windows. The window was 37 00:02:20.199 --> 00:02:23.639 ten feet off the ground. I rushed over and shut 38 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:27.520 the window, knowing no owl on earth had breath that heavy. 39 00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:31.039 About a year ago, I went on a walk to 40 00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:35.360 my friend's house a country mile away. On one side 41 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:38.759 of the road was a pasture with grazing cows, but 42 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:41.360 on the other side was a dense, dark wall of 43 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:45.039 trees so thick and dark you couldn't see into them. 44 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:48.520 I was walking, I noticed the sound of the brush 45 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:53.000 and the leaves crunching underfoot of something just inside the trees. 46 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:55.960 At first, I thought it was one of my dogs 47 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:59.400 trying to stay quiet while stalking a rabbit or a squirrel. 48 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:02.759 That was until I realized whatever it was, it was 49 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:06.759 keeping pace with me. When I stopped, it stopped, and 50 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:09.719 when I walked, it walked. I got scared, and I 51 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:12.199 picked up my pace, and I heard it following me 52 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:16.400 the whole way. It's footsteps weren't light like a dog's. 53 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:20.080 They were heavy, like something much bigger, taller than me. 54 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:24.199 When I finally got to the clearing before my friend's property, 55 00:03:24.280 --> 00:03:27.159 I sprinted across the open field all the way to 56 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:31.599 her house. Like everything else in my life, the more 57 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:35.599 strange things that happen, the more I get used to them. 58 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:38.639 I believe some of us are like beacons in the night, 59 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:42.280 and we can't control what is drawn to us. My 60 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:45.280 kids and I don't go on walks at dusk anymore, 61 00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:49.080 and I rarely leave my windows open at night. I 62 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:51.919 don't know if it's because I've become more cautious of 63 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:55.479 what's hanging around my family, or because of the logging 64 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:59.039 in the forest around our home, but we don't experience 65 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:02.639 nearly as many any strange things as we used to. 66 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:09.479 In the summer of nineteen seventy one in southern Kentucky, 67 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:12.400 my dad was in the living room with his family 68 00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:15.840 when a twelve foot tall bigfoot suddenly appeared in the 69 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:19.279 front window, so large that it blocked all the light. 70 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:22.600 It ran off when his dad jumped up and ran 71 00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:26.800 outside with his rifle in his hands. Well a little 72 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:29.680 while later, noise erupted from the barn, and my dad 73 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:33.600 ran outside and headed toward it, wondering what was going on, 74 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:37.079 And on the way he passed a giant footprint and 75 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:40.040 the mud. Then he decided to stop and wait and 76 00:04:40.120 --> 00:04:44.600 see if this thing would come out. The noise settled 77 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:47.160 for a moment and then picked up quickly again. As 78 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:51.079 it burst outside, my dad ran back toward the house, 79 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:54.600 shouting to his family that it was coming back. It 80 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:57.800 let out an ear splitting scream just as he made 81 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:01.560 it inside, and then turned worse and headed for the woods. 82 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:06.800 Nobody talked about it after that. It wasn't until I 83 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:10.279 began talking about bigfoot that they finally told me the story. 84 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:13.600 I had often played in those woods as a kid. 85 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:16.920 More than a few times I heard strange noises and 86 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:21.360 knocks nearby. Now that I know what they saw, I 87 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:24.160 wait for the day that I can see one myself. 88 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:30.920 I experienced something with my brother by my side, and 89 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:34.560 neither of us will ever forget it. I was eleven 90 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:38.240 years old in the summer of nineteen fifty one, and 91 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:43.000 we had recently moved to Lake Charles, Louisiana. Our dad 92 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:45.360 was assigned to a small neighbor group there as a 93 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:49.120 supply officer. We were cut from the cloth of the 94 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:52.279 nineteen fifties. We were told to get out and play 95 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:56.319 and not come back until dark thirty. My brother and 96 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:59.199 I lived wild and free, or at least as far 97 00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:03.360 as our minds and muscles would take us. Lake Charles 98 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:07.839 was surrounded by swamps of varying densities and darkness. My 99 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:10.639 brother and I found the remnants of a narrow gage 100 00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:14.120 railroad track the week before, and we were held bent 101 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:17.959 for leather to follow it. We knew it was not 102 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:20.360 in use due to the rust on the rails in 103 00:06:20.439 --> 00:06:25.160 the poor condition of the endless trustle so with our 104 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:28.639 sack lunches tuck securely in our belts, and our daisy 105 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:32.040 red Rider BB guns loaded up, we took off on 106 00:06:32.120 --> 00:06:36.199 our adventure. Some well meaning older people warned us to 107 00:06:36.279 --> 00:06:39.319 mind the gators, but their words of wisdom went right 108 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:42.600 over our heads because we couldn't think of anything an 109 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:46.600 alligator would tell us that we would have to mind. Hell, 110 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:51.480 we barely minded our own parents. We carefully walked the tracks, 111 00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:54.920 and then the trustle, then the tracks, going deeper and 112 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:58.800 deeper into the swamp. Occasionally we would shoot at water 113 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:02.360 moccasin swimming away away from us, And the further we went, 114 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:05.560 the more we wondered who would run a railroad through 115 00:07:05.639 --> 00:07:11.079 such a precarious trestle, and to what end? The tracks 116 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:15.600 turned south and came upon an eastern berm. Nestled next 117 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:18.279 to the berm were the remnants of an old rice mill. 118 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:21.920 Most of the brick walls were still standing, forming a 119 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:26.439 large square enclosure, and the floor was covered with brackish water. 120 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:30.319 There were snakes of plenty to shoot, and that we 121 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:35.279 did with much gusto. The pool of water erupted into 122 00:07:35.319 --> 00:07:38.360 a violent frenzy, and it scared me so bad it 123 00:07:38.360 --> 00:07:42.120 took two years off my life. A portion of one 124 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:44.800 of the brick walls had come down, allowing a ten 125 00:07:44.839 --> 00:07:48.199 foot long alligator to slip in during the high tide event, 126 00:07:48.680 --> 00:07:52.240 trapping it there. My brother was of the opinion that 127 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:54.519 he was going to kill this thing and drag it 128 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:58.199 back to the house and stuff it need. I remind you, 129 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:02.879 Daisy does not make high pur bb guns. The gator 130 00:08:03.079 --> 00:08:06.279 sank to eye level, all the water around it began 131 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:09.560 to vibrate from a deep throated sound that it started 132 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:13.879 to make. Our limited knowledge of this creature left us amazed. 133 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:20.040 Little did we know it was calling for reinforcements. During 134 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:23.720 this commotion, we heard another terrifying sound in the distance, 135 00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:28.480 a loud, promal roar, nothing like the sound of gator makes. 136 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:32.559 There was crashing and splashing coming toward us, and with 137 00:08:32.679 --> 00:08:35.840 our collective valor, my brother and I hauled our butts 138 00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:39.480 back the way we came. But before we ever got 139 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:42.440 out of the swamp, we heard the confrontation, the likes 140 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:46.080 of nothing we had ever heard before or since. We 141 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:49.320 never saw the creature that came to challenge the alligator, 142 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:53.759 nor did we know why. The following weekend we screwed 143 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:56.279 up the courage to go back and see what happened 144 00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:00.320 in that pit. We were apprehensive about going back, but 145 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:05.120 youth has no shortage of stupid. The rice meal was 146 00:09:05.159 --> 00:09:09.519 in shambles, mud and blood had been splattered at least 147 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:13.120 eight feet up the wall. There were tufts of reddish 148 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:15.639 brown hair caught up in some places of the wall, 149 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:18.360 and the head of the alligator was in the corner 150 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:21.320 of the room where it was shallow. It looked like 151 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:24.120 something had grabbed the upper and lower jaws and ripped 152 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:28.000 its mouth apart. That would not have killed the gator, 153 00:09:28.039 --> 00:09:31.000 but it sure made it impotent as a killing machine. 154 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:34.480 The neck appeared to have been separated by a series 155 00:09:34.519 --> 00:09:39.080 of bites. That alligator had been every bit of ten 156 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:42.519 feet long when we saw it, but besides the head, 157 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:45.279 the rest of it was missing. That had to be 158 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:49.159 at least four hundred pounds of meat and bone. We 159 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:53.919 never went back into the swamp that far again. We 160 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:57.000 mentioned in passing a little of what we experienced to 161 00:09:57.080 --> 00:10:00.519 our friends whose family lived on a houseboat and the 162 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:04.759 Caucasou River. He casually mentioned there was a swamp man 163 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:07.799 creature back in there, and we'd best not do that again. 164 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:11.159 Thank you for letting me get this off my mind. 165 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:14.159 I have never told a single soul of this event, 166 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:17.879 though my brother told everyone who would listen. Of course, 167 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:23.879 in Lake Charles, he was preaching to the choir. When 168 00:10:23.879 --> 00:10:25.960 I was twelve years old, a friend and I were 169 00:10:25.960 --> 00:10:29.480 messing around on the watch Tall River in Oklahoma, where 170 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:33.240 I'm from, running with my full blooded German shepherd and 171 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:36.720 shooting at cans and different things with our bebee guns. 172 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:40.600 We started thinking we were being messed with by some 173 00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:43.279 friends who must have followed us down the river, because 174 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:47.759 rocks and sticks started being thrown at us. At one point, 175 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:50.519 a boulder went right over our heads and landed in 176 00:10:50.600 --> 00:10:53.759 the river. We couldn't see who was doing it, and 177 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:57.000 when we yelled at whoever it was, we got no answer. 178 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:01.440 The whole time, the dog was acting skittish, which was 179 00:11:01.559 --> 00:11:05.039 unusual for him, so we finally decided to get out 180 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:07.600 of there, and we took the road instead of walking 181 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:09.879 through the wheat field the same way we came in. 182 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:14.440 We made it to the railroad tracks six hundred feet 183 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:16.960 from the river when we looked back and got the 184 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:21.360 biggest surprise of our lives. Right behind us was a 185 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:25.360 bigfoot crouched in the tall brush. My friend and I 186 00:11:25.399 --> 00:11:29.480 couldn't move. We just stared as it slowly stood upright, 187 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:33.519 towering over the branches of the trees around it. But 188 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:36.240 our legs started working again in a hurry and we 189 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:38.879 got out of There. Must have been a week later 190 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:41.960 along the same river that a farmer reported seeing a 191 00:11:42.039 --> 00:11:47.039 huge black creature walking upright like a man. I joined 192 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:50.600 the army at seventeen, and I became a paratrooper right 193 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:54.440 out of high school. In April of nineteen ninety three, 194 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:58.279 I was part of a training exercise at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, 195 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:02.879 on the border of Oklahoma. We were conducting patrols on 196 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:08.000 the Devil's Backbone, an area with rugged rocky cliffs. It 197 00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:11.559 was a clear and chilly night, and by training, our 198 00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:15.679 senses were on high alert. It's amazing how sharp they 199 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:19.480 become when you spend lots of time outdoors. Sight, smell, 200 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:23.840 and hearing all become sharper. At two in the morning, 201 00:12:23.879 --> 00:12:27.879 we heard a blood curdling scream as animal as it 202 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:31.039 was humid, and it echoed through the woods below the 203 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:35.399 Backbone and had all of our heads turning. We started 204 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:38.399 whispering to each other trying to figure out what it was. 205 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:43.039 When it screamed again, and then the knocking started, like 206 00:12:43.159 --> 00:12:47.159 something was hitting trees with a giant baseball bat. We 207 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:50.320 never figured out what it was, but the experience stayed 208 00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:53.519 with me. I know there's something out there, and I 209 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:56.799 have to believe it was a sasquatch or a dog man. 210 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:02.360 I'm a retired master who deployed three times to Iraq 211 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:05.879 during the Iraq War and the Global War on Terror, 212 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:10.039 and I served my country for twenty seven years. I 213 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:13.559 love watching and listening to your channel. Thanks mister Buckner 214 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:17.519 for reading my story. You're welcome, sir, appreciate everything you 215 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:20.120 did for us here in the United States. We do 216 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:26.240 appreciate you, and what a good story. Thanks. When I 217 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:29.039 was six years old, my parents built a house on 218 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:33.159 family land. For several nights after we moved in, I 219 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:37.960 heard steps outside. They were heavy, four steps past my 220 00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:41.879 window and then four steps back. When I was six 221 00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:45.159 years old, I knew it wasn't normal, and in the 222 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:47.879 morning I would look for footprints, but the ground was 223 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:52.679 always too hard. This happened every night until I finally 224 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:56.360 told my parents. One night, I waited for the steps 225 00:13:56.399 --> 00:13:58.799 and I told my dad, who went out and he checked. 226 00:13:59.399 --> 00:14:02.159 He didn't see it anything, And after that I never 227 00:14:02.200 --> 00:14:06.399 heard the steps again. Often saw trees crossed in the 228 00:14:06.440 --> 00:14:08.639 woods behind the house, and I would look for an 229 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:12.000 explanation of how they became bent like that, but I 230 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:15.840 never could find anything. This was years before I heard 231 00:14:15.879 --> 00:14:20.919 about Bigfoot or sosquatch, and long before the Patterson Gimlin film. 232 00:14:22.279 --> 00:14:25.039 I always wished I had looked out the window, and 233 00:14:25.080 --> 00:14:28.679 I was too afraid. Even to this day, fifty five 234 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:31.759 years later, I won't look out a window at night. 235 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:38.519 I'm afraid i'll see something looking back at me. Back 236 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:40.919 in the nineteen sixties, we lived in the woods of 237 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:45.039 Georgia in a place called aChn. It was wild back then, 238 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:49.639 just four or five old log cabins without houses. We 239 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:51.919 would fill a tub with water and put it over 240 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:55.240 the wood heater, and that's how we bathed. We were 241 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:58.000 poor growing up, but I look back and I know 242 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:02.360 those were the good old days. One morning, Mama wanted 243 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:04.600 me to walk with her down to the little pond 244 00:15:04.679 --> 00:15:08.799 by the house was overgrown with bushes and trees. As 245 00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:11.039 we turned off the road toward the pond, I saw 246 00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:15.320 some huge dog tracks. Right then Mama grabbed my arm 247 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:19.519 and she said don't move. Seventy five feet from the 248 00:15:19.559 --> 00:15:23.919 water's edge stood an eight foot long black panther, hissing 249 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:28.080 at us. My hair stood up at thing's legs were 250 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:30.639 as tall as mine, and all I had to defend 251 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:35.000 ourselves with was two cane poles. Mama told me, don't 252 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:39.279 turn you back on him, and don't run. His legs 253 00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:41.879 were as big as mine, and I had already made 254 00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:43.919 up my mind that I could hit that cat a 255 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:47.240 hundred times before you could take me down. But then 256 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:49.840 he turned, and he ran along the pone's edge and 257 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:53.960 leapt over a fallen tree, and he was gone. My 258 00:15:54.039 --> 00:15:56.559 uncle Daniel lived down the road, and the next day 259 00:15:56.600 --> 00:16:00.000 I told him what happened. He said he'd seen him 260 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:02.960 years earlier, but didn't tell us because he didn't want 261 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:05.759 to scare any of us. I told him I was 262 00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:08.600 going to catch that cat. My uncle gave me one 263 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:11.039 of his old bear traps, and I took it back 264 00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:14.159 to the pond, and every day after school I checked 265 00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:17.240 on it. On the third day, I saw the trap 266 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:20.320 was clamped shut, with a half inch cloth stuck in 267 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:24.720 it and black hair and some meat caught inside. I 268 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:27.200 showed it to the game warden who said there was 269 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:30.720 no black panthers in Georgia. I thought that man was 270 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:34.679 full of it. Almost got eaten by one. I couldn't 271 00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:37.039 believe he was a game. Warning didn't know about him. 272 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:40.639 Those cats would howl behind our house at night. Sounded 273 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:45.039 like teenage girls getting murdered. I'd shoot in their direction 274 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:47.240 to quiet them down, and it would work for a 275 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:50.600 few hours, but they always picked back up after a 276 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:55.879 little while. Always wondered why I'd find little wooden crosses 277 00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:59.440 tied together with vines in the woods, or why we'd 278 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:02.320 find rocks stacked on the banister of the back porch. 279 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:06.200 It makes me wonder what else was out there running 280 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:10.240 with that panther. Sometimes I'd be home alone at night 281 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:13.200 and I'd hear things hitting the house. I think I 282 00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:16.079 was only seventeen then, and it scared me because I 283 00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:20.200 thought it might be that panther trying to get in well. 284 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:22.720 About a year later, I was coming home with Daddy 285 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:25.799 and right at the pond, the panther ran across the 286 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:30.759 road with two smaller cats, all solid black. And then 287 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:33.319 three months after that, Daddy asked me to get my 288 00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:37.119 bike and go to Uncle Daniel's for some coffee. I 289 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:39.759 didn't want to ride through that branch that early because 290 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:42.359 it was really foggy, but I made it to his 291 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:46.119 cabin in one piece. I knocked on the door a 292 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:48.720 couple of times, but he didn't answer, so I gave 293 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:51.960 the door a good shove. It opened just enough for 294 00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:54.839 me to see inside, and even though he didn't have 295 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:58.920 any lights, I saw his feet in the bed. I 296 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:01.319 called out and started pushed my way in. When I 297 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:04.880 finally got through, I saw his face and his shoulder 298 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:09.640 were missing. I set the grass on fire. Leaving his cabin, 299 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:13.599 I got back to the house screaming for my dad, 300 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:17.480 telling him that Uncle Daniel was dead. And when he 301 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:21.119 rushed back to his cabin, I stayed outside and looked around. 302 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:25.039 I found those panther tracks outside, right below a window 303 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:30.000 with the screen torn out. Years later, in nineteen eighty two, 304 00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:35.000 I was bowhunting at the Sansavia Management Area. I parked 305 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:38.000 my truck about one hundred yards down an old logging road. 306 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.960 I took my eight foot tree standing bow, and I 307 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:44.079 set up down the road. I was sitting in my 308 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:46.119 stand when I looked to my left and I saw 309 00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:49.799 two doughs heading my way. I waited for him. But 310 00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:52.680 when they got near me, they froze. They were so 311 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:56.319 close I could see their eyelashes, but they weren't looking 312 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:00.880 at me. They were focused on my truck. Just as 313 00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:03.759 I started to draw back, they bolted and I heard 314 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:06.880 the most pissed off growl I'd ever heard sound through 315 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:10.839 those woods, coming from near my truck. I'd never heard 316 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:14.880 something so deep and angry in my life. Then I 317 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:19.160 heard trees breaking logs five to eight inches snapping. I 318 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:21.640 heard a growl again as it crossed the road, moving 319 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:24.079 away from me, and I got the nerve to leave 320 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:27.559 my stand. I held my ladder in front of me 321 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:30.359 the whole way, thinking I might need to fight my 322 00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:34.079 way out. I made it out okay, though, but the 323 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:37.839 growl scared me so bad it burned into my brain. 324 00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:42.200 Thanks for letting me vent. You really are a good storyteller, 325 00:19:42.759 --> 00:19:45.680 and he signs off, well, thank you. You're a good storyteller. 326 00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:48.319 You wrote it. All I did was just read it. Man, 327 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:51.920 You're a good storyteller. But I sure appreciate the story, brother, 328 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:58.720 Thank you. Okay, here's a story about dogs. You know. 329 00:19:58.759 --> 00:20:01.519 I asked for dog story while back. I've been dropping 330 00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:04.400 one here and there, let's read a good dog story. 331 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:09.119 I think y'all are like this. Watching your chickens amuses 332 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:11.799 me and it brings to mine. An experience that happened 333 00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:15.400 when my wife and I just moved to Bradenton, Florida. 334 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:18.240 We needed a place to park and live in our 335 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:22.720 converted step vand we found a newspaper ad for caretakers 336 00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:26.480 to watch over Honest Bob's Orange Grove while they were 337 00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:29.400 up north in New Jersey at the zoo where they 338 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:33.480 always took their animals during the summer. The couple had 339 00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:38.759 two African lion cubs, a chimpanzee named Timmy, a cougar 340 00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:44.400 named Dusty, and several show doverman pincers, which they displayed 341 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:47.480 at the zoo. It's so happened that a lot of 342 00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:50.559 circus and zoo people wintered in the same area with 343 00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:54.480 their animals. It was nothing to hear lines roar and 344 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:58.680 elephants trumpeting and a cougar snarl and Timmy doing his 345 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:03.240 chimp sounds and jumping around. Then there was an occasional 346 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:06.440 wild board that would come into the grove rooting around 347 00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:09.519 early in the morning. We were happy there and life 348 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:13.400 was really good. We had our jobs to go to 349 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:15.880 during the day and would come home to the grove, 350 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:19.240 as we called it. The couple soon took off with 351 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:22.480 their menagerie of animals in tow, and we would come 352 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:25.119 home and shoe the chickens out of a fenced in 353 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:28.960 area that had a small flatbed trailer in it. Then 354 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:31.839 we would let out our dogs out of a smaller, 355 00:21:31.960 --> 00:21:35.279 high fenced kennel area so they could roam and move around. 356 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:38.319 As luck would have it, The one chicken that the 357 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:42.240 woman cherished was a white Chinese silky, which we promptly 358 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:47.759 named Phyllis, after my wife's mother, who had the same shape. 359 00:21:47.799 --> 00:21:50.680 One evening, we came home and we shewed the chickens 360 00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:54.000 out of the enclosed yard and turned the dog's loose 361 00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:58.279 in it. My dog was named Dog. He was a 362 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:02.240 fifty pound German short hair pointer. My wife's dog was 363 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:05.559 named Ben. He was a mix of New Founlin and 364 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:09.799 black lab and he weighed in at eighty pounds. We 365 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:12.400 came out later and found both of them lying down. 366 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:17.359 They were looking guilty. Phillis, the Chinese silky chicken, was 367 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:22.079 lying dead nearby. Ben had this look on his face 368 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:26.440 like chicken, I don't know nothing about no chicken, all 369 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:29.200 the while sitting there with the white feather sticking out 370 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:32.039 of his big mouth. It was something like you'd see 371 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:35.960 in an old cartoon. Dog would occasionally glance at Ben 372 00:22:36.039 --> 00:22:39.640 and his partner in crime, chiding him for not wiping 373 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:43.400 the feathers off before we came out. We decided the 374 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:47.359 prize chicken had committed suicide, as it had hidden under 375 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:50.480 the trailer until we were gone and then left itself 376 00:22:50.519 --> 00:22:55.039 to the mercy of Beavis and butt Head. Every morning 377 00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:58.079 we would be up before daylight, and before heading off 378 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:00.000 to work, we would put the dogs in the high 379 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:03.720 fence pen. One evening, we came home to find the 380 00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:06.880 rooster dead in the pen with the dogs. It was 381 00:23:06.920 --> 00:23:09.240 stiff and it looked like it had been running around 382 00:23:09.240 --> 00:23:12.519 with them with no place to go. The fence was 383 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:15.839 at least six feet high. We finally figured out that 384 00:23:15.960 --> 00:23:18.880 he had roosted in a tree above the kennel, and 385 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:20.880 when he woke up, he flew to the ground and 386 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:24.920 he landed and the dog pin. Now, I like chickens. 387 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:27.839 I grew up around chickens, and I love eggs and 388 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:31.359 fried chicken. But the way these two met their demise 389 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:35.680 was a bit disturbing, even to me. Although this story 390 00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:38.079 has nothing to do with cryptids, I hope it gave 391 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:42.039 you a life. Two chickens were indeed harmed in this story. 392 00:23:42.119 --> 00:23:46.599 In fact, they were terminated. I have several Bigfoot stories 393 00:23:46.680 --> 00:23:48.880 for you, as well as a ghost story and a 394 00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:53.000 demon story, and lots of UFO experiences. I look forward 395 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:56.599 to relating them to you and your listeners. I was 396 00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:00.640 born deep in the Appalachian Mountains in southern West by God, 397 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:05.440 Virginia in nineteen forty nine and had an amazing childhood. 398 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:09.279 We grew up wild and free. My cousin Eddie and 399 00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:12.519 I ran those mountains like we owned them. We both 400 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:15.359 carried large hunting knives from the age of six or 401 00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:19.480