WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:08.480 I never dreamt in a million years that I would 2 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:12.240 ever have an experience, let alone speak of it. But 3 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:15.960 I feel comfortable to tell it. The only ones who 4 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.359 know about it are my mother, my son, my daughter, 5 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:23.440 and myself and now you. I am a believer of 6 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:27.320 many things. I believe in the paranormal. I believe that 7 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:31.519 dreams come true. I believe people may have seen something, 8 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:35.520 but a bigfoot. I wasn't sure what to think of this. 9 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:41.359 I wasn't sure until twenty fifteen. That is. We moved 10 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:44.679 from Houston to Central Texas, and the way best to 11 00:00:44.759 --> 00:00:47.600 describe it was it was a neighborhood, but it was 12 00:00:47.640 --> 00:00:51.320 a country version of a neighborhood, where each property was 13 00:00:51.320 --> 00:00:55.119 at least an acre, give or take. We had wildlife 14 00:00:55.159 --> 00:00:58.039 out there, and I was quite excited to see wild 15 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:01.200 deer in our front yard. And of course we would 16 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:06.200 hear a bobcat and hear codes occasionally. I am a 17 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:10.519 single mom of two beautiful adult children. My youngest girl 18 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:14.400 has a disability. It's like dealing with a giant four 19 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:17.840 year old. I'm very close to my mother, and we 20 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:22.560 all decided that we wanted to live together. We moved 21 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:27.200 into a huge four bedroom manufactured home, and let's just 22 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:29.840 say that we could meet in the kitchen and would 23 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:33.359 be halfway through the house, and basically each side of 24 00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:36.400 the home had the privacy of a two bedroom apartment. 25 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:40.599 One night, I was outside with my son walking one 26 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:44.640 of our German shepherds. I adore German shepherds, and we 27 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:47.840 have three of them and a pit bull puppy, and 28 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:52.439 they're all rescues. We spend a lot of time outside. 29 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:55.079 One of the gentlemen that used to live around the 30 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:57.719 neighborhood stopped in the road and he told us that 31 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:01.719 we shouldn't be out there in the night. In his words, 32 00:02:01.719 --> 00:02:06.000 there's a big animal that roams around here. We assumed 33 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:08.199 that he was either messing with us or he was 34 00:02:08.280 --> 00:02:11.080 talking about a big coyote or even a mountain lion 35 00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:14.000 that had been seen in the town next to us. 36 00:02:15.080 --> 00:02:17.400 My son and I said, thank you, but I think 37 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:21.360 we'll be okay. He said, trust me, you won't be 38 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:25.639 if this thing comes out. At that point we knew 39 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:29.479 he was being over dramatic. Maybe he was even drunk. 40 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:33.080 One night, my son was out and I was in 41 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:35.599 the kitchen having a cup of coffee with my mother 42 00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:38.840 and talking about some plans we had. The following day, 43 00:02:39.960 --> 00:02:42.520 my daughter came in and announced that she saw a 44 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:46.240 big man looking in her window. We assumed that she 45 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:50.560 had been dreaming, and we treated it like that. She said, no, Mom, 46 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:53.159 it was a big man outside he was looking in. 47 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:57.759 It's a monster man. My mother mentioned that my son 48 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:00.599 had been allowing her to watch scary mo movies while 49 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:03.199 he was supposed to be watching her, and now she 50 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:07.639 was having nightmares. So I asked what did the monster 51 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.800 look like, and she said that he had red eyes 52 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:14.599 that glowed in long hair on his face, that he 53 00:03:14.680 --> 00:03:18.479 looked really scary. Well, none of that made sense, but 54 00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:22.319 she slept with her grandmother that night and all was quiet. 55 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:27.360 My daughter attends the school for adults with disabilities. My 56 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:30.120 mother had taken her there the next morning, and I 57 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:32.960 asked my son if he had allowed his sister to 58 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:36.479 watch a scary movie. He said, no, Mom, I would 59 00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:39.879 never do that. I told him what she said, and 60 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:43.039 my son became concerned and looked around the house and 61 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:46.439 under the window, but we found no evidence of anything 62 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:50.840 being there. Four nights later, while my son was out 63 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:55.240 walking our shepherd, he caught a horrible odor in the area. 64 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:58.400 We assumed it was a septic tank, but my son 65 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:02.199 said the odor was much worse than that. Suddenly, the 66 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:05.400 dogs began to growl and pace around at the front door. 67 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:09.800 They wanted out. They did this when they knew deer 68 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:11.919 were in the yard, and I was afraid they were 69 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:15.120 going to start barking and annoy us for the next hour. 70 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:19.600 But they never did bark. They acted different than when 71 00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:23.160 a deer was close. Their hackles were raised and they 72 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:27.560 were all growling, a really strange growl. I had never 73 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:31.480 heard them do this. I pushed past the dogs to 74 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:34.600 look out the window, fully expecting to see deer in 75 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:38.279 the yard, but instead I saw what looked like a 76 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:42.240 giant man. It took a step forward, and it triggered 77 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:44.959 the motion lights on the front of the house, and 78 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:47.920 there it was fully illuminated in the glow of the 79 00:04:47.959 --> 00:04:53.040 security light. I could not speak or move. I think 80 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:55.680 my mouth was hanging open trying to speak, but I 81 00:04:55.720 --> 00:05:00.079 couldn't form the words. My son was beside me, looking 82 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:03.560 out the adjacent window. He immediately reached for me and 83 00:05:03.639 --> 00:05:06.399 pulled me away from the door and closed everything up, 84 00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:09.959 and then he checked all the locks. My mom yelled 85 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.879 and said to call the police. And my response was, so, 86 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:15.720 what are we gonna say? What do I say, mom? 87 00:05:15.959 --> 00:05:19.720 That a monster was in my front yard. My son 88 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:22.800 had left the room, and soon he returned loading his 89 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:26.800 grandfather's deer rifle, and then we heard a gunshot in 90 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:31.040 the distance and everything got quiet. We never went out 91 00:05:31.079 --> 00:05:35.120 to investigate, and that night was a fitful night of sleep. 92 00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:38.399 Not much of us got any sleep at all. And 93 00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:41.079 I don't know what got into the dogs, but for 94 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:43.480 the rest of the night they stayed away from the 95 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:47.519 front door. Maybe they recognized the odor, or maybe they 96 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:50.759 knew what this thing was, but they were not interested 97 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:54.439 in going out. Still today they will not go out 98 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:57.279 into the front yard, only out back, where they are 99 00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:02.240 inside a fence. The following day we ran into that 100 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:05.680 strange neighbor. My son and I had seen that one 101 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:09.199 night and had stopped by and he said, I told 102 00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:11.920 you that thing was big, didn't I? And I asked, 103 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:14.600 what was that thing? And he said, you saw it, 104 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:17.439 didn't you? You know what it was? And then he 105 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:22.399 drove away. It was really weird. After that night, we 106 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:25.839 never saw it again. There are times when I think 107 00:06:25.879 --> 00:06:28.839 it was near, though. The dogs always let us know 108 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:33.240 when something was not right. News reports were on TV 109 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:37.800 about bigfoot sightings in central Texas soon after this happened, 110 00:06:37.959 --> 00:06:42.480 and they continued sporadically for a year. Even after seeing 111 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:45.079 the creature that night and then backed up by the 112 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:48.839 strange man and the news reports, I still had a 113 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:53.040 hard time believing that it was a bigfoot. I rationalized 114 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:56.079 that it was a prank. We live in a college town, 115 00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:59.519 and maybe I thought some local kids were just playing 116 00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:03.240 a joe. But I remember how big this thing was, 117 00:07:03.879 --> 00:07:06.560 every bit of eight to nine feet tall, and it 118 00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:10.120 was very broad in the shoulders, and there were those 119 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:14.279 red eyes. They were not fake, they were real. I 120 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:16.720 don't know any college kids that are eight or nine 121 00:07:16.759 --> 00:07:20.720 feet tall, so I rule that out. The reports I 122 00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:23.959 saw on the local news and on the internet began 123 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:27.079 to concern me, and I began to believe that it 124 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:31.920 was a bigfoot. We have become believers since then. We 125 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:36.040 didn't stay there much longer. Within a year, we moved away, 126 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:39.839 not because of the bigfoot. We made the decision to 127 00:07:39.879 --> 00:07:42.800 get closer to the city for my daughter and my mother. 128 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:47.120 I have not discussed this with anyone outside the family. 129 00:07:47.720 --> 00:07:49.720 This is the first time that I have made the 130 00:07:49.800 --> 00:07:53.600 event known. It feels good to get it off my chest, 131 00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:56.319 but I will admit that as I type this, the 132 00:07:56.439 --> 00:08:00.240 memories and panic of that night are flooding back. My 133 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:04.279 hands are shaking here on the keyboard. It was all 134 00:08:04.439 --> 00:08:07.360 so shocking, and then when I saw my son walking 135 00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:11.079 in the room loading that rifle, I knew things were serious. 136 00:08:12.519 --> 00:08:15.759 After careful thoult though I do not think the creature 137 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:20.360 meant us any harm. It made no aggressive gestures towards us. 138 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:23.800 I think it may have been passing through or just wandering, 139 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:28.079 and our yard provoked its curiosity. Thanks for allowing me 140 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:35.720 to share my story, Signed Angela. I spent my teenage 141 00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:38.720 years growing up in the nineteen seventies outside of New 142 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:44.200 York City and the cement covered suburbs. As teenagers, me 143 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:47.840 and my buddies were fascinated with anything to do with Bigfoot. 144 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:52.200 The legend of Boggy Creek and the Leonard Knemoy Bigfoot 145 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:55.799 documentaries with Patterson. Film was about all we had to 146 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:58.799 learn about these creatures, and most of the time we 147 00:08:58.840 --> 00:09:02.159 had to go to Saturday Nay's to see a re 148 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:07.159 release of these films. We didn't have YouTube in those days. 149 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:11.480 From everything we knew Bigfoots inhabited the woods, mountains and 150 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:16.639 forests that stretched from northern California to British Columbia, and 151 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:21.279 that was their territory. Even Boggy Creek, a story from 152 00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:25.279 the swamps of Texas Counta, Arkansas, was told as a 153 00:09:25.320 --> 00:09:28.559 weird folk tale of a three toed creature, and it 154 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:33.120 was never identified as a bigfoot. It was only when 155 00:09:33.159 --> 00:09:36.000 I started college that I would learn this was incorrect. 156 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:39.879 Bigfoots live a lot closer to my New York home, 157 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:45.399 something that haunts me to this day. My encounter took 158 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:48.120 place in nineteen eighty and I need to provide some 159 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:52.039 background to the encounter. The group of us that grew 160 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:55.159 up together were what you would call city slicker, good 161 00:09:55.159 --> 00:09:58.679 old boys. We lived in the city, but were all 162 00:09:58.679 --> 00:10:01.240 born with a longing for the the country in the woods. 163 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:07.240 We were commuter and community college brethren. We all had 164 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:11.720 CBE radios in our cars with handles and everything. This 165 00:10:11.879 --> 00:10:14.960 was during the Burt Reynolds phase of male bonding, and 166 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:17.240 it kept the group of four of us pretty much 167 00:10:17.320 --> 00:10:22.559 tight together during our college years. One of our group, NICKI, 168 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:25.639 was a seasoned deer hunter and had been hunting his 169 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:30.559 family's upstate property since he was twelve. His parents owned 170 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:33.879 a two bedroom hunter's cabin set on thirty five acres 171 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:36.919 in the Catskill Mountains, one hundred and twenty miles north 172 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:41.159 of New York City. We would visit Nicky's cabin on 173 00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:44.919 occasion when deer season had ended and get away from civilization. 174 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:50.000 We had fun initiating other New York friends to nature 175 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:53.600 by taking tough talking city folk up there and seeing 176 00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:56.039 if we could scare them enough so the tough guys 177 00:10:56.039 --> 00:10:59.600 would wet their pants. One easy way that we would 178 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:02.120 scare the tough guys and see what they were made of. 179 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:05.240 We would hike up the mountain just behind the cabin, 180 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:07.799 and on the way down, one of us at the 181 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:10.759 end of the line would tossh rock sideways into the 182 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:14.679 woods adjacent to the trail, giving the impression that we 183 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:19.080 were being stalked by a mountain lion. We lost a 184 00:11:19.159 --> 00:11:22.440 lot of city slickers that way. Most would never make 185 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:25.519 a return trip, and we had many lives over this. 186 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:30.679 Imagine Rocky Balboa in a leather jacket walking the woods, 187 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:33.519 imagining he's about to be attacked by a mountain lion, 188 00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:37.080 and then asking to go home. You get the picture. 189 00:11:38.759 --> 00:11:42.120 In nineteen eighty, right after college midterms, it was just 190 00:11:42.279 --> 00:11:45.399 Nicky and I. We made the rounds of the local 191 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.919 convenience stores and stocked the snow bank with some beer, 192 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:53.000 coal cuts, and provisions. We lit up the Franklin stove 193 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:55.720 and then had more than a few adult beverages before 194 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:59.519 turning in. We each took a bedroom. I had the 195 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:03.440 bedroom with the window facing the stream. I loved this 196 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:05.919 room In the summer when I was lucky enough to 197 00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:09.639 get it. The sounds of the stream flowing came through 198 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:12.279 the open window and would put me to sleep, like 199 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:16.519 watching golf on TV. But April was still too chilly 200 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:20.720 for open windows in the Catskulls. In the middle of 201 00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:23.600 the night, I felt myself being woken up by NICKI. 202 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:26.480 He was saying that he was hearing some noise rustling 203 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:30.320 on the cabin's porch. I didn't pay it any mine. 204 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:32.480 I thought he was messing with me, which made him 205 00:12:32.519 --> 00:12:36.080 get a bit angry. When he finally had my attention, 206 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:40.320 I listened, and I thought it was just raccoons. It 207 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:44.559 wasn't unusual for raccoons to overlook the mothball snow bank 208 00:12:44.679 --> 00:12:47.320 and smell the food inside the cabin and look for 209 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:50.679 a way to get in. So we clang two cast 210 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:54.720 iron pots together and everything quieted down, and that was that. 211 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:58.840 The next day we woke up together and found some 212 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:03.240 raccoon tracks on the porch, proving my point. We ate 213 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:06.759 breakfast and practiced our shooting skills in the pasture, knocking 214 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:10.039 cans and bottles off the fence, and then joking how 215 00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:13.759 a raccoon didn't have a chance against us, But in 216 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:16.679 reality I must say that the raccoon did have a 217 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:21.000 great chance. And though we were familiar with firearms, where 218 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:24.960 we lived didn't provide much opportunity for practice, and it 219 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:27.960 showed because at the beginning of each gun outing I 220 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:30.120 could not hit the side of a barn with a 221 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:33.639 dead cat, and only improved to nicking a bottle at 222 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:36.399 twenty yards with a twenty two after a few hours 223 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:41.120 of practice. However, a twelve gage shotgun on improved cylinder 224 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:45.399 choked could make anyone feel like Sergeant Yorke. The rest 225 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:47.320 of the day was more of the same, and we 226 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:50.159 settled in for a good meal, a pan of seer 227 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:53.559 chicken and pasta and wine and one too many wild 228 00:13:53.559 --> 00:13:58.240 turkey shots for dessert. One thing Italian guys can do, 229 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:01.440 even in the Sahara desert, is find a way to 230 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:05.759 make some good pasta. That evening, in the middle of 231 00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:08.240 the night, Nikki woke me again to say the raccoon 232 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:11.960 had returned. I was a bit tick, this time him 233 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:15.200 being the deer hunter, suggesting he scared the raccoon off 234 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:18.480 by himself. Forget the twenty two. He knows the drill. 235 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:21.960 I didn't hear the pots, and then, thinking about it, 236 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:25.200 the rifle option would lead to an unwanted cleaning of 237 00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:29.559 a raccoon drill. Thankfully, I didn't hear the twenty two 238 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:32.039 or the port sounds, and I went back to sleep 239 00:14:32.200 --> 00:14:37.080 on my wild turkey. The next morning, I woke early 240 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:40.240 and decided I would do one of my rituals. I 241 00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:43.039 would hike the trail behind the mountain alone, which I 242 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:45.559 would often do in the summer to work off the 243 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:48.559 pasta in the wild turkey, and then I would come 244 00:14:48.600 --> 00:14:51.919 back and make a mean ham and egg breakfast. This 245 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:55.440 would be an apology for not helping with the raccoons. 246 00:14:56.120 --> 00:14:58.799 After all, that was his cabin and I wanted to 247 00:14:58.840 --> 00:15:03.120 come back to this play. I grabbed my walking stick 248 00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:05.559 and I told half sleeping Nikki that I was going 249 00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:07.519 to do my hike and that i'd be back in 250 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:10.039 a while and he could make coffee, but leave the 251 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:14.360 breakfast to me. I headed out to the porch and 252 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:17.679 I found it covered not in raccoon prints, but lumps 253 00:15:17.720 --> 00:15:21.559 of sandy dirt. It was like someone squashed a few 254 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:26.120 ant mounds on the porch. In retrospect, there weren't any 255 00:15:26.200 --> 00:15:29.159 signs of footprints or anything that would give me pauls 256 00:15:29.240 --> 00:15:32.919 to investigate. There were no bear tracks, though I knew 257 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:36.240 enough that any black bear mama probably would not drag 258 00:15:36.279 --> 00:15:40.279 her cubs onto a porch with humans. Maybe a New 259 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:44.840 Jersey black bear, but not one of the catskills. Still, 260 00:15:44.919 --> 00:15:47.960 I didn't see any bear or mountain lion tracks, and 261 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:50.559 I had seen both in my travels to the cabin, 262 00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:56.200 So off I went on my height thirty minutes up 263 00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:59.279 the trail. Just over a mile up the mountain behind 264 00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:03.120 the cabin, I noticed a pile of wood occupying the trail. 265 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:07.159 This struck me since the trail was maybe twenty or 266 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:10.679 twenty five yards wide and the wood debris pile looks 267 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:14.919 like it was deliberately placed there more In fact, they 268 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:17.519 looked inder woven, like a nest of the way you 269 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:21.480 would see a beaver dam. At this point, I looked 270 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:23.480 at the stream on my right and I found it 271 00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:27.000 almost dry. I thought a beaver might have built a 272 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:29.840 dam on the stream, and this could be a problem. 273 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:33.399 If the dam were large enough and broke, it could 274 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:37.039 reroute the stream directly toward the cabin below. So I 275 00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:42.600 slowly approached to investigate. I heard a water slapping sound 276 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:46.519 like a beaver's tail on the water before diving. I 277 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:49.559 was still walking uphill and where the beaver chose to 278 00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:52.120 build this dam was one of the only flat areas 279 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:55.399 that the stream flows, but not typically wide enough for 280 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:59.720 a dam in a pond. As I climbed, I saw 281 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:03.639 a tough to fur over a mound, and then it disappeared. 282 00:17:04.759 --> 00:17:07.960 I climbed to investigate the level area. It was a 283 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:12.279 modest dam and lodge. The pond could only have measured 284 00:17:12.279 --> 00:17:15.839 one hundred feet long and maybe forty feet wide, pretty 285 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:19.480 small for a beaver. And even though I hadn't been 286 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:23.319 there since last summer and Nicky was there during deer season, 287 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:26.000 the dam could have been there a while, but it 288 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:30.839 looked like new construction. It was the only extended flat 289 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:34.920 spot on this trail until you reach the mountaintop. I 290 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:38.319 was excited about the prospect of seeing a beaver build 291 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:41.519 his dam and lodge, so I walked quietly and was 292 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:45.079 able to walk around it. I watched it for some 293 00:17:45.319 --> 00:17:49.160 time while not disturbing anything, and suddenly, from deep off 294 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:52.079 the side of the lodge, I heard a loud branch snap. 295 00:17:53.160 --> 00:17:55.599 I thought the beaver was at work and out of sight. 296 00:17:56.160 --> 00:18:00.720 I should let him be. After hiking further up the mountain, 297 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:04.079 I visited an old abandoned cabin that I knew about, 298 00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:08.240 and I looked at the larger hilltop pond. It looked 299 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:11.519 the same. It was two hundred feet wide, and I 300 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:14.839 wondered why the beaver didn't build his lodge there, And 301 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:19.119 then I decided to head back down. I approached the 302 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:21.799 part of the trail and stream that leads to where 303 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:26.279 the beaver pond was, and I began humming loudly, sounding 304 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:30.519 out song words to make myself heard. I didn't want 305 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:33.960 to mess with a beaver, even though they're slower on land. 306 00:18:34.279 --> 00:18:36.839 I knew that their territorial and could have a mean 307 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:41.319 streak when you approach them or when they're surprised. When 308 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:44.480 I was fifty yards away. My jaw dropped when I 309 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:47.519 saw the outline of a black bear sniffing around the 310 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:51.559 beaver lodge. I stopped and was gripping my walking stick, 311 00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:55.839 wishing I had the shotgun. I was worried. I stumbled 312 00:18:55.880 --> 00:18:59.319 on a mama black bear with some cubs nearby, so 313 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:03.319 I looked around, but I didn't see any black bears. 314 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:06.519 And mountain lions are the most dangerous things in these parts, 315 00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:09.519 and black bears are more violent with people than grizzlies 316 00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:13.720 or brown bears. I did have the small pond separating 317 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:16.440 me and the bear, but the bear looked strange in 318 00:19:16.519 --> 00:19:21.079 the shadows of the morning forest canopy. It acted uninterested 319 00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:23.920 in me and my noise, and more interested in the 320 00:19:24.039 --> 00:19:28.920 dam and pond. And then it stood up and it 321 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:33.839 wasn't a bear. My mind drew a blank. I was 322 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:39.359 looking at a seven foot broad shouldered monkey. I couldn't 323 00:19:39.400 --> 00:19:43.400 believe what my eyes were seeing. I am six foot 324 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:46.039 one and the width of this thing was from my 325 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:50.880 toes to my chest about three feet plus. I admit 326 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:53.599 that I thought for one split second that Nicky had 327 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:56.519 pulled the greatest prank on me, but This was a 328 00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:59.880 costume no one I knew could fit inside or mate. 329 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:02.759 And the way the skin and muscles moved under its 330 00:20:02.759 --> 00:20:08.000 silky black fur, this was no costume. Whatever it was, 331 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:12.200 it was definitely a male and well over seven feet tall. 332 00:20:12.920 --> 00:20:17.720 It probably weighed five hundred pounds. There was only two 333 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:20.799 hundred feet between me and this thing. Now I could 334 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:24.000 make out its face. It was a cross between a 335 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:29.279 gorilla and a man. Its skin was gray, like a gorilla, 336 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:34.200 protruding nostrils and mouth. There was a large brow ridge, 337 00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:36.839 and the lips were more like that of a human 338 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:41.319 compared to a chimp. Well, I was half confused, since 339 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:45.200 I thought bigfoots only lived in the Pacific Northwest. They 340 00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:48.279 weren't one hundred and twenty miles north of New York City. 341 00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:52.559 Well I stared at it for an eternity, and the 342 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:55.880 creature raised its arm and grabbed a tree to its side, 343 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:58.559 and I watched how it wrapped its fingers around the 344 00:20:58.599 --> 00:21:03.000 trunk of that tree. I didn't smell anything, and then 345 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:07.960 the creature began slowly swaying side to side, always gripping 346 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:11.400 the tree trunk and pulling himself closer to the tree 347 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:15.480 with its right hand and then pushing out. Its eyes 348 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:19.440 were on me the whole time. If it wanted to 349 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:22.200 come at me, it would either breach the pond or 350 00:21:22.279 --> 00:21:25.519 move fast to get around it. So I never moved. 351 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:29.839 My only defense was my three foot walking stick that 352 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:33.119 I was clutching like the grim Reaper, and regretting that 353 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:37.720 I didn't have my forty five or even my twelve gage. 354 00:21:38.119 --> 00:21:40.680 Looking at the size of this thing, I thought my 355 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:44.279 forty five would have been suicide. This thing would get 356 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:48.799 to me before the bullets did their final damage. I 357 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:51.240 was calm, though now I began to sense that this 358 00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:54.880 thing didn't want to hurt me. It never growled or screamed. 359 00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:58.319 It just rocked back and forth into that one tree 360 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:03.160 that it was grabbing. Suddenly, it pulled itself in one 361 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:06.240 swinging twirl motion to the other side of the tree 362 00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:09.279 it was holding, turned its back to me, and it 363 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:13.559 walked off. I slowly moved down the side of the 364 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:17.319 pond opposite the side where I spotted the animal. I 365 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:20.680 couldn't see it, and I didn't hear it. I didn't 366 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:22.599 want to see it again, but I had to watch 367 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:25.960 for it. I know. The only thought I had in 368 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:27.759 my mind was to get the hell out of that 369 00:22:27.880 --> 00:22:32.039 place as soon as possible. Not just that trail, I 370 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:34.839 had to get off that mountain and away from that cabin. 371 00:22:36.200 --> 00:22:41.400 I practically ran to the cabin, aided by the downhill slope. 372 00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:44.119 I nearly fell a few times, but I made it 373 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:48.599 down in record time. When I got back, Nikki was 374 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:52.319 still sleeping. I gathered my thoughts and I decided I 375 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:56.200 wasn't saying anything about this, but I needed an escape plan. 376 00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:01.000 I cooked breakfast like nothing was wrong, but Nicky knew 377 00:23:01.079 --> 00:23:06.200 something was up. After breakfast, instead of shooting, I suggested 378 00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:08.480 we go into town and get something that I needed 379 00:23:08.519 --> 00:23:12.000 for dinner. We buzzed off and I went off to 380 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:14.799 a payphone, and I came back with a story of 381 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:17.920 a sick relative in the hospital and that I needed 382 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:21.880 to head back. Well. He was bummed, but he understood. 383 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:26.519 We packed up and left right after lunch. I never 384 00:23:26.599 --> 00:23:29.680 mentioned the pond or the beaver dam. I didn't want 385 00:23:29.720 --> 00:23:33.319 to go back and investigate. I never said anything about 386 00:23:33.319 --> 00:23:36.319 what I saw, and I never went back to that 387 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:42.160 cabin again. A few days after getting back, Nicki and 388 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:46.240 I talked and he apologized. He thought I wanted to 389 00:23:46.279 --> 00:23:49.759 get home because he was bugging me about the raccoons. 390 00:23:50.200 --> 00:23:53.000 A friend can always tell when a friend isn't right. 391 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:58.440 We were good after that. During dear season, I would 392 00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:02.240 be asking Nicki for hunt stories, waiting to hopefully hear 393 00:24:02.279 --> 00:24:06.160 a story of a bigfoot sighting from a hunter. There 394 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:09.960 were none. Instead, I was invited to get my license 395 00:24:10.039 --> 00:24:16.240 and join their hunting party. No thanks. In hindsight, in 396 00:24:16.279 --> 00:24:20.359 researching the creature, we've had an aggressive bigfoot living about 397 00:24:20.359 --> 00:24:24.079 two hundred miles north of my sighting in Whitehall Mountain 398 00:24:24.279 --> 00:24:28.759 near Lake George. Also, the one I saw, his side 399 00:24:28.759 --> 00:24:32.720 to side moving gesture looks somewhat playful, but it's a 400 00:24:32.759 --> 00:24:37.599 Semian act of agitation and aggression. So the bigfoot that 401 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:41.119