WEBVTT

1
00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:09.839
<v Speaker 1>At two am, every dog of the neighborhood was going crazy.

2
00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:13.880
<v Speaker 1>My community is small and surrounded by woods, and we

3
00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:18.920
<v Speaker 1>have coyotes, so I wasn't overly concerned. However, I was

4
00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:21.920
<v Speaker 1>awake now and I wanted a cigarette. Plus I wanted

5
00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:24.960
<v Speaker 1>to check my own dog. He's a big boy and

6
00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:27.839
<v Speaker 1>he can definitely take care of himself, but he's my baby,

7
00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:30.280
<v Speaker 1>so I just wanted to make sure he was okay.

8
00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:34.840
<v Speaker 1>I stepped outside and I lit my cigarette. I took

9
00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:38.159
<v Speaker 1>a look around. He was definitely out of the gate.

10
00:00:38.759 --> 00:00:41.320
<v Speaker 1>All the other dogs in the area were still losing

11
00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:43.640
<v Speaker 1>their minds. As I walked down the street to look

12
00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:46.920
<v Speaker 1>for mine. I found him at the end of the

13
00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:49.280
<v Speaker 1>main road and I called him over to me and

14
00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:52.719
<v Speaker 1>I hooked him to the lease i'd brought with. When

15
00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:55.880
<v Speaker 1>we turned around and started heading back to my place,

16
00:00:56.280 --> 00:00:59.119
<v Speaker 1>I noticed a figure on the other side of the street.

17
00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:03.159
<v Speaker 1>It would have explained why the animals were all barking

18
00:01:03.320 --> 00:01:06.400
<v Speaker 1>like crazy, but it was odd that this figure was

19
00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:10.040
<v Speaker 1>about the size of a child. Sure, we have people

20
00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:12.920
<v Speaker 1>walking up and down our streets all the time, even

21
00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:16.200
<v Speaker 1>late at night, but we don't have any kids around,

22
00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:18.760
<v Speaker 1>and if we did, it would have been strange to

23
00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:22.879
<v Speaker 1>see one out this late. My dog lunged at the

24
00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:25.159
<v Speaker 1>figure and I had to hold tight to keep him

25
00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:29.159
<v Speaker 1>from breaking loose. I realized just how angry the other

26
00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:32.400
<v Speaker 1>dogs in the neighborhood were acting at this point. They

27
00:01:32.439 --> 00:01:35.159
<v Speaker 1>were all leaping at their fences or pulling at their

28
00:01:35.239 --> 00:01:38.760
<v Speaker 1>chains and snarling and barking like they wanted to fight.

29
00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:43.000
<v Speaker 1>I had grabbed my spotlight so I could see everything

30
00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:46.400
<v Speaker 1>clearly as this figure came within six feet of me.

31
00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:49.959
<v Speaker 1>It wasn't paying me any mind as it walked, but

32
00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:53.799
<v Speaker 1>I got a good view of it. This was no child.

33
00:01:54.599 --> 00:01:58.920
<v Speaker 1>This was a sisquatch. It may have been a small one,

34
00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:02.400
<v Speaker 1>but fear well up inside me as I thought to myself,

35
00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:07.439
<v Speaker 1>there's probably bigger ones nearby. Well, it ignored me, and

36
00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:10.719
<v Speaker 1>I was awkwardly trying to ignore it. As it passed,

37
00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:14.159
<v Speaker 1>I couldn't stop myself from turning around to get one

38
00:02:14.199 --> 00:02:16.800
<v Speaker 1>more look at it, though, and to my utter shock

39
00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:20.360
<v Speaker 1>and amazement, it slowly disappeared right in front of me.

40
00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:25.520
<v Speaker 1>It was like it dissolved. There was no way it

41
00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:28.360
<v Speaker 1>didn't see me, but it acted like I was never there.

42
00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:32.199
<v Speaker 1>I didn't smell anything, and it never made any noise.

43
00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:35.400
<v Speaker 1>All I really want to know now is if anyone

44
00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:38.240
<v Speaker 1>else has a story of a bigfoot disappearing right in

45
00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:41.080
<v Speaker 1>front of them, I'd like to know that I'm not

46
00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:47.360
<v Speaker 1>the only one. I live by State Park in eastern Illinois.

47
00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:50.479
<v Speaker 1>One day I decided to saddle up my old donkey

48
00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:53.280
<v Speaker 1>and take a nice long ride along some of the

49
00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:56.960
<v Speaker 1>many trails the park has to offer. Darling is a

50
00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:01.120
<v Speaker 1>pretty good old girl. Nothing really bothers her except water.

51
00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:04.240
<v Speaker 1>I can urge her through it, but she lets me

52
00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:07.719
<v Speaker 1>know that she ain't happy about it. We were heading

53
00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:10.560
<v Speaker 1>down the trail and I was enjoying the changing colors

54
00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:14.919
<v Speaker 1>of the leaves. Fall was extra pretty that year. It

55
00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:17.319
<v Speaker 1>felt like the trees had an extra batch of leaves,

56
00:03:17.319 --> 00:03:20.719
<v Speaker 1>and every one of them was a different shade of red, brown, green,

57
00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:24.479
<v Speaker 1>or yellow. I was paying more attention to the brilliant

58
00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:28.199
<v Speaker 1>colors than I was to Darling when she started acting skittish.

59
00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:31.479
<v Speaker 1>I don't know what was making her so jumpy. She

60
00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:34.840
<v Speaker 1>never acted that way before. But I got her attention

61
00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:38.719
<v Speaker 1>and we headed on down the trail. We hadn't gone

62
00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:41.400
<v Speaker 1>much further when I heard something coming up behind us

63
00:03:41.479 --> 00:03:44.919
<v Speaker 1>through the mass of fallen leaves. I twisted around to

64
00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:48.000
<v Speaker 1>see what it was, but there was nothing there. It

65
00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:50.680
<v Speaker 1>gave me an uneasy feeling, so I urged the old

66
00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:54.680
<v Speaker 1>girl into a trot. Whatever was back there picked up

67
00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:57.960
<v Speaker 1>its pace to match ours, so I stopped her, and

68
00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:01.319
<v Speaker 1>whatever was back there stopped too, and then started again

69
00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:04.039
<v Speaker 1>as soon as we did. Well. This went on for

70
00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:07.439
<v Speaker 1>a quarter of a mile until I finally stopped and dismounted.

71
00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:12.759
<v Speaker 1>Darling had her ears pointed straight forward and was snorting

72
00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:15.879
<v Speaker 1>like she wasn't happy. Well, this prompted me to look

73
00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:19.639
<v Speaker 1>a little harder at our surroundings. That's when I saw it.

74
00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:24.079
<v Speaker 1>Lurking behind a tree was a really big brown something

75
00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:26.839
<v Speaker 1>that kept poking its head out for a quick glance

76
00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:30.519
<v Speaker 1>at us before pulling back behind the tree. On this

77
00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:34.240
<v Speaker 1>part of Illinois, we don't have anything like bears. I've

78
00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:36.519
<v Speaker 1>seen a couple of mountain lions, but this was way

79
00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:39.560
<v Speaker 1>bigger than that. I guess he got tired of playing

80
00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:42.680
<v Speaker 1>peekaboo with me, because he finally walked out into the open.

81
00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:46.399
<v Speaker 1>He was about the biggest animal I had ever seen

82
00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:49.600
<v Speaker 1>in my life. He was eight feet tall, he had

83
00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:52.720
<v Speaker 1>no neck, and his shoulders were twice as broad as

84
00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:56.800
<v Speaker 1>a football player's. His arms were long, going all the

85
00:04:56.839 --> 00:05:00.160
<v Speaker 1>way down to his knees. Well, he just stood there,

86
00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:03.000
<v Speaker 1>sort of swaying back and forth while I stood there

87
00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:06.040
<v Speaker 1>staring at him, until I got nervous and moved up

88
00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:09.480
<v Speaker 1>toward Darling's head. I didn't know what to do, and

89
00:05:09.560 --> 00:05:12.560
<v Speaker 1>I know Darling didn't know, So I put my foot

90
00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:14.720
<v Speaker 1>in the stirrup and I climbed back up on her,

91
00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:19.000
<v Speaker 1>with every intention of beating a hasty retreat. Before I

92
00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:22.279
<v Speaker 1>queued Darling to run, though, this thing caught my eye

93
00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:25.199
<v Speaker 1>with a wave of its hand. It looked like it

94
00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:28.519
<v Speaker 1>was motioning for me to come over to it. Well,

95
00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:31.360
<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry, but I wasn't about to walk toward that thing.

96
00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:36.360
<v Speaker 1>And then it started walking toward me and grunting. I

97
00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:38.920
<v Speaker 1>didn't wait for it to get to us. I kicked

98
00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:42.279
<v Speaker 1>Darling into a dead run. I thought we were going

99
00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:45.000
<v Speaker 1>at a pretty good pace until I looked back and

100
00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:48.800
<v Speaker 1>I saw that this bigfoot thing wasn't forty feet behind us.

101
00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:52.480
<v Speaker 1>We were coming up on a fork in the trail, so,

102
00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:56.480
<v Speaker 1>thinking quickly, I turned Darling down the side trail, and

103
00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:58.480
<v Speaker 1>I was hoping we might throw it off a bit

104
00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:02.519
<v Speaker 1>at the very least game and some ground. It wasn't

105
00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:05.079
<v Speaker 1>until it was too late to take the first path

106
00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:07.360
<v Speaker 1>that I remembered that this one was going to lead

107
00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:11.480
<v Speaker 1>us straight to a stream. With Darling's aversion to water,

108
00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:14.000
<v Speaker 1>I figured this wasn't going to be good, but it

109
00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:17.759
<v Speaker 1>was too late to turn back now. Taking that quick

110
00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:20.839
<v Speaker 1>turn did seem to cross our pursuer up a bit.

111
00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:25.680
<v Speaker 1>We gained another ten feet on him. Darling was moving

112
00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:28.800
<v Speaker 1>faster now than I'd ever known her too, but that

113
00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:32.639
<v Speaker 1>stream was coming up fast. In Visions of her slamming

114
00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:36.040
<v Speaker 1>on her brakes and sending me over her head danced

115
00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:38.319
<v Speaker 1>through my mind. As I spurred her on to an

116
00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:42.240
<v Speaker 1>even faster pace. I thought, maybe if we approached the

117
00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:45.240
<v Speaker 1>water fast enough, she'd get through it without too much trouble.

118
00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:47.759
<v Speaker 1>But I could see the stream coming up and hear

119
00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:50.879
<v Speaker 1>the bigfoot closing in at the same time, and my

120
00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:55.240
<v Speaker 1>heart was racing with fear and anticipation of the worst.

121
00:06:56.199 --> 00:06:59.199
<v Speaker 1>We hit the water, and Darling ran through it like

122
00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:03.480
<v Speaker 1>she was half fish. The water turned white and sparkled

123
00:07:03.480 --> 00:07:06.560
<v Speaker 1>in the sunlight under her hoofs, and she acted like

124
00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:10.360
<v Speaker 1>it was nothing. As we reached the opposite bank, I

125
00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:14.120
<v Speaker 1>looked back, and the Bigfoot was gone. Maybe all that

126
00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:18.240
<v Speaker 1>water splashing startled him, Maybe he just gave up. I

127
00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:21.079
<v Speaker 1>don't know. What I do know is that I owe

128
00:07:21.079 --> 00:07:24.519
<v Speaker 1>that Bigfoot a debt of gratitude because after that day,

129
00:07:24.839 --> 00:07:32.079
<v Speaker 1>Darling never showed any fear of water again. Thanks for

130
00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:34.120
<v Speaker 1>what you do. It's a true joy to listen to

131
00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:37.399
<v Speaker 1>your shows. And as to your accent, I grew up

132
00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:40.439
<v Speaker 1>in a town called Cutting Shoot, and I now live

133
00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:43.920
<v Speaker 1>in a place called Nameless, Texas. It's a real place.

134
00:07:43.959 --> 00:07:46.720
<v Speaker 1>Look it up. So I don't think you have an accent.

135
00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:51.120
<v Speaker 1>Thanks brother. I appreciate that I understand me perfectly well,

136
00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:53.399
<v Speaker 1>so I don't know why anybody else would have any

137
00:07:53.399 --> 00:07:58.199
<v Speaker 1>trouble understanding me. Let's get to his story. They'd been

138
00:07:58.279 --> 00:08:01.439
<v Speaker 1>dating for a couple of months now. The discussion of

139
00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:04.879
<v Speaker 1>overnight backpacking had come up several times over the weeks,

140
00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:08.079
<v Speaker 1>and now that the weather was more agreeable, they packed

141
00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:11.160
<v Speaker 1>their gear and headed north from Houston to the Sam

142
00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:16.480
<v Speaker 1>Houston National Forest, just outside of Huntsville. Neither of them

143
00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:19.240
<v Speaker 1>had been there before, but the Internet was loaded with

144
00:08:19.319 --> 00:08:23.279
<v Speaker 1>the maps and camping suggestions, and the printer was loaded

145
00:08:23.319 --> 00:08:26.920
<v Speaker 1>with ink. They easily found the parking area and the

146
00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:32.039
<v Speaker 1>adjacent trailhead. It was lob lolly looped seventeen miles, read

147
00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:35.399
<v Speaker 1>the sign in a familiar brown and yellow pattern common

148
00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:40.279
<v Speaker 1>to all the national parks. Great, they thought, eight miles in,

149
00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:44.279
<v Speaker 1>we'll camp eight miles out. It's just the right length

150
00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:49.600
<v Speaker 1>without exhausting ourselves. Backpacks were donned and adjusted for the

151
00:08:49.639 --> 00:08:54.000
<v Speaker 1>perfect fit trekking poles were lengthened, and bandannas were made

152
00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:57.919
<v Speaker 1>into dew rags. Let's do this, they said to one another,

153
00:08:58.440 --> 00:09:02.360
<v Speaker 1>and down the trail they marched. He led the way,

154
00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:06.000
<v Speaker 1>with her close behind. They were young and in good shape,

155
00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:08.440
<v Speaker 1>and both of them had some steam to blow off

156
00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:13.080
<v Speaker 1>after a stressful week at their respective downtown Houston corporate jobs.

157
00:09:14.120 --> 00:09:16.759
<v Speaker 1>The pace was quick, and of course, here were two

158
00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:20.279
<v Speaker 1>twenty somethings still getting to know one another and hence

159
00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:25.039
<v Speaker 1>eager to impress the other with their physical prowess. Six

160
00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:27.799
<v Speaker 1>miles into the trek, they came upon a large curve

161
00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:30.720
<v Speaker 1>to the right, with thick undergrowth on the inside of

162
00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:33.720
<v Speaker 1>the curve and a more open stand of pines on

163
00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:36.919
<v Speaker 1>the outside, with most of the trees between the size

164
00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:41.279
<v Speaker 1>of the person's arm and thigh suddenly she stopped and

165
00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:44.480
<v Speaker 1>got his attention to do the same. Did you hear that?

166
00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:49.639
<v Speaker 1>She said, hear what? He replied, Ah, it's nothing, she said,

167
00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:54.279
<v Speaker 1>That's just it. It's nothing. No birds, no bugs, not

168
00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:58.519
<v Speaker 1>even gnats. They've all disappeared. And what does that smell?

169
00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:03.000
<v Speaker 1>He did indeed smell something, but he couldn't quite put

170
00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:05.879
<v Speaker 1>his finger on it. It kind of reminded him of

171
00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:09.240
<v Speaker 1>a roadkill left to bacon the Texas sun. But it

172
00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:12.200
<v Speaker 1>was faint, like an odor that could only be detected

173
00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:15.639
<v Speaker 1>when the wind was right. That's to be expected in

174
00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:19.440
<v Speaker 1>the woods, he thought. But the sudden silence, now that

175
00:10:19.639 --> 00:10:23.360
<v Speaker 1>was weird. And then it happened, and he saw it

176
00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:27.240
<v Speaker 1>before he heard it. Out of his peripheral vision. To

177
00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:30.720
<v Speaker 1>his right, from the undergrowth in the curve, a rock

178
00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:33.759
<v Speaker 1>flew in a lazy arc and landed with a soft

179
00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:37.159
<v Speaker 1>thud on the pine nettle covering the ground at his feet.

180
00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:39.720
<v Speaker 1>It was about the size of a golf ball, and

181
00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:42.919
<v Speaker 1>it was smooth, like a river rock worn by eons

182
00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:46.960
<v Speaker 1>of water. And she saw it too, What the hell?

183
00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:49.639
<v Speaker 1>And the rest of the world was swallowed by their

184
00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:53.000
<v Speaker 1>rapid succession of events that unfolded in front of her

185
00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:56.879
<v Speaker 1>Her hiking companion had bent down and picked up a

186
00:10:56.919 --> 00:10:59.639
<v Speaker 1>dead pine sapling about the size and length of a

187
00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:02.960
<v Speaker 1>base ball bat. She thought he was going to make

188
00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:06.679
<v Speaker 1>some macho threat to an unseen rock thrower, but she

189
00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:11.159
<v Speaker 1>couldn't have been more wrong. She was left speechless by

190
00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:15.840
<v Speaker 1>what transpired next. He had turned to face the inside

191
00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:18.639
<v Speaker 1>of the curve in the approximate location from where the

192
00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:22.440
<v Speaker 1>rock had been thrown. He dropped into what could only

193
00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:25.480
<v Speaker 1>be described as a batting dance, and he called out,

194
00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:28.279
<v Speaker 1>it's the top of the nine. With both teams playing

195
00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:32.519
<v Speaker 1>mostly defensive game, the pennant is riding on this matchup.

196
00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:36.360
<v Speaker 1>She recognized his weak attempt at sounding like a Howard

197
00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:41.759
<v Speaker 1>co Sell or a hairy Carey. She hated baseball. She

198
00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:44.480
<v Speaker 1>was forced to suffer through hours and hours of it

199
00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:47.279
<v Speaker 1>while sitting with her father when she was a little girl.

200
00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:51.159
<v Speaker 1>Her father was a wonderful man, and baseball was his

201
00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:55.360
<v Speaker 1>one fault. A second rock came from the brush, and

202
00:11:55.399 --> 00:11:59.200
<v Speaker 1>the same softball like arc as the first. Had to

203
00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:02.080
<v Speaker 1>adjustice position a couple of feet to get lined up

204
00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:05.440
<v Speaker 1>with the rock, but then made solid contact with the

205
00:12:05.480 --> 00:12:08.559
<v Speaker 1>projectile and sent it back into the bushes. Off to

206
00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:12.000
<v Speaker 1>his left base. Hit for the batter, but the runner

207
00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:14.960
<v Speaker 1>will be held up at second. She heard it in

208
00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:19.120
<v Speaker 1>the same Howard co cell voice. Then he took the

209
00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:22.480
<v Speaker 1>batter stance again, and this time the rock was right

210
00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:25.120
<v Speaker 1>on target in front of him, and he swung and

211
00:12:25.159 --> 00:12:29.840
<v Speaker 1>he missed. Swinging a miss strike one, said Harry. The

212
00:12:29.879 --> 00:12:33.879
<v Speaker 1>next pitch went foul. Right strike two, Harry called out.

213
00:12:34.679 --> 00:12:37.320
<v Speaker 1>Up to this point, she wasn't so much frightened as

214
00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:41.840
<v Speaker 1>she was dumbfounded. No one would believe this. You can't

215
00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:45.639
<v Speaker 1>make this crap up. And then she heard two things,

216
00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:50.360
<v Speaker 1>one curious and one terrifying. She could have sworn she

217
00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:54.879
<v Speaker 1>heard what sounded like giggling and growling in Japanese coming

218
00:12:54.919 --> 00:12:59.679
<v Speaker 1>from the undergrowth. Just as she was processing this, aloud

219
00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:04.639
<v Speaker 1>and commanding voice inside her head said leave now. She

220
00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:08.559
<v Speaker 1>peed in her hiking shorts and started to quiver. She

221
00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:12.440
<v Speaker 1>looked at her partner and his response was completely different.

222
00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:15.840
<v Speaker 1>He had dropped the stick and held both hands up

223
00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:17.720
<v Speaker 1>in front of him as if he was being held

224
00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:21.399
<v Speaker 1>at gunpoint. Hey, hey, we meant no harm, he said.

225
00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:24.639
<v Speaker 1>No need to be ugly about this. We're gonna go

226
00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:27.480
<v Speaker 1>camp A couple of miles up the trail, drop by

227
00:13:27.480 --> 00:13:31.279
<v Speaker 1>if you want to, And then, as if a switch

228
00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:34.240
<v Speaker 1>had been thrown, the birds started chirping, and a murder

229
00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:36.919
<v Speaker 1>of crows was making an awful racket in the trees

230
00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:40.679
<v Speaker 1>above them, and the gnats were once again finding annoying

231
00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:45.000
<v Speaker 1>ways to get into their noses. He turned and looked

232
00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:47.720
<v Speaker 1>at her, and then, without a word, proceeded up the trail.

233
00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:52.279
<v Speaker 1>For the next half hour, they said nothing to one another,

234
00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:55.080
<v Speaker 1>and the only sound from them was the muffled thump

235
00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:58.039
<v Speaker 1>of hiking boots on the pine needles and the rhythmic

236
00:13:58.120 --> 00:14:02.519
<v Speaker 1>click of trekking poles. The pea had almost completely dried

237
00:14:02.600 --> 00:14:06.759
<v Speaker 1>on her shorts when she finally spoke, Look, I need

238
00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:09.480
<v Speaker 1>you to stop and explain to me exactly what happened

239
00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:13.080
<v Speaker 1>back there. Are we in danger? If that was what

240
00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:16.320
<v Speaker 1>I think it was. Are they gonna kill us? I

241
00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:18.440
<v Speaker 1>feel like running all the way back to the car.

242
00:14:19.799 --> 00:14:23.000
<v Speaker 1>He turned and said, as smoothly as he could. You

243
00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:25.279
<v Speaker 1>know how I like to listen to that guy Steve

244
00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:28.519
<v Speaker 1>from up in Canada on YouTube and that fellow from

245
00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:32.360
<v Speaker 1>Mississippi who tells all those stories. If you hear enough

246
00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:36.000
<v Speaker 1>of those encounters, you'll notice a pattern. I'd never thought

247
00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.399
<v Speaker 1>i'd see a sasquatch, much less actually have an encounter.

248
00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:44.039
<v Speaker 1>Are we in danger? I seriously doubt it, and think

249
00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:47.080
<v Speaker 1>about it. They're the top tier predators, and if they

250
00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:51.080
<v Speaker 1>wanted us dead, you'd never see them coming. The whole

251
00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:53.360
<v Speaker 1>time we've been together. You thought I was enough for

252
00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:58.080
<v Speaker 1>believing in this stuff, haven't you? What do you think now? Yeah?

253
00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:03.000
<v Speaker 1>But baseball? She said lightly. That was spontaneous, and I'm

254
00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:05.919
<v Speaker 1>not sure why I did that. He once again started

255
00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:09.639
<v Speaker 1>up the trail over his shoulder. He said to her,

256
00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:13.120
<v Speaker 1>In all likelihood, they will pay us a visit tonight.

257
00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:16.320
<v Speaker 1>We should probably leave the pop tarts out for them.

258
00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:25.200
<v Speaker 1>I hope they like brown sugar cinnamon. November sixteen, twenty twelve,

259
00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:29.039
<v Speaker 1>I was in Lafayette County, Mississippi, raccoon hunting with my

260
00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:33.039
<v Speaker 1>dad on public land. It was a good spot with

261
00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:36.080
<v Speaker 1>a lot of logging roads, fire lanes in areas, a

262
00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:39.559
<v Speaker 1>big timber that we'd been hunting for the ten years prior.

263
00:15:40.919 --> 00:15:43.480
<v Speaker 1>It was especially good for my dad since he'd had

264
00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:46.840
<v Speaker 1>a stroke years before and the old logging roads allowed

265
00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:49.279
<v Speaker 1>him away to get to where the dog had The

266
00:15:49.399 --> 00:15:52.840
<v Speaker 1>raccoons treed if it weren't too deep in the woods.

267
00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:57.679
<v Speaker 1>This particular night, we had turned our dog Nikki loose twice,

268
00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:01.919
<v Speaker 1>and she'd treed raccoons both times. We were proud of

269
00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:05.080
<v Speaker 1>that dog. It was only about ten thirty, and my dad,

270
00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:07.879
<v Speaker 1>full of excitement and unwilling to call it a night,

271
00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:12.000
<v Speaker 1>said let's turn her loose one more time. We pulled

272
00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:15.200
<v Speaker 1>over to a spot we'd never stopped at before, and

273
00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:17.840
<v Speaker 1>just as I opened the truck door, a big old

274
00:16:17.879 --> 00:16:21.519
<v Speaker 1>hoota all cut loose. We sat there and listened for

275
00:16:21.559 --> 00:16:24.960
<v Speaker 1>a minute before I got Nicki out on a leash.

276
00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:27.960
<v Speaker 1>I walked her about thirty yards down the woods in

277
00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:30.399
<v Speaker 1>the direction I wanted her to hunt, and then I

278
00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:34.279
<v Speaker 1>turned her loose. She tried to ten or fifteen yards

279
00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:37.399
<v Speaker 1>in front of me and stopped and perked her ears up.

280
00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:42.679
<v Speaker 1>Three codies started barking somewhere close by to our left,

281
00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:46.320
<v Speaker 1>and two more answered to our right. I turned my

282
00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:49.799
<v Speaker 1>light down low, knowing Nicki normally waited for the codies

283
00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:53.519
<v Speaker 1>to settle down before taking off, and that's when it

284
00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:58.000
<v Speaker 1>began to howl. It was like flipping a switch. The

285
00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:02.559
<v Speaker 1>second it started howling, the code went dead silent. I

286
00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:05.680
<v Speaker 1>turned my light off. At this point, I couldn't identify

287
00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:09.160
<v Speaker 1>what was making the sound, but I knew I didn't

288
00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:13.519
<v Speaker 1>want to draw its attention. I'm guessing it, whatever it was,

289
00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:17.079
<v Speaker 1>was less than one hundred yards away. It howled a

290
00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:20.799
<v Speaker 1>total of three times, each one so loud I can't

291
00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:25.279
<v Speaker 1>even begin to describe it. When it finally stopped, I

292
00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:30.160
<v Speaker 1>realized the entire woods were completely silent. There were no animals,

293
00:17:30.200 --> 00:17:34.599
<v Speaker 1>no frogs, no crickets, no night birds, nothing but silence.

294
00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.440
<v Speaker 1>I turned my light back on and saw Nicki laying

295
00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:41.880
<v Speaker 1>flat on the ground with her head between her front legs.

296
00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:47.079
<v Speaker 1>She was shaking uncontrollably. Come here, Nicki, I called softly.

297
00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:50.359
<v Speaker 1>She gave me a pitiful look and then used her

298
00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:53.440
<v Speaker 1>front legs to drag herself over to me, like her

299
00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:57.519
<v Speaker 1>back legs were paralyzed. She was still trembling out of

300
00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:00.680
<v Speaker 1>control when I put her back on the leash. I

301
00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:03.519
<v Speaker 1>turned my light back up on bright, and we started

302
00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:06.799
<v Speaker 1>walking back to the truck. And that's when I heard

303
00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:10.880
<v Speaker 1>what sounded like tree limbs popping and shaking. It was

304
00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:14.400
<v Speaker 1>a long thirty yards getting back out of the woods.

305
00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:17.440
<v Speaker 1>What in the world was that, Dad asked when we

306
00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:20.680
<v Speaker 1>made it back I don't know, I answered, but according

307
00:18:20.680 --> 00:18:24.559
<v Speaker 1>to Nicky, it's time to go. Later, I found a

308
00:18:24.599 --> 00:18:28.400
<v Speaker 1>recording of the Ohio Howel on YouTube and played it

309
00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:32.400
<v Speaker 1>for my dad. He got all excited, thinking I'd recorded

310
00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:35.960
<v Speaker 1>what we heard that night. I told him this was

311
00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:39.359
<v Speaker 1>a different recording, but we both agreed it was identical

312
00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:41.160
<v Speaker 1>to the sound we heard that night.