Are They Really Woodknocks?

[BC witness]

While on my evening walk in a local waterfowl preserve, I had an experience that led to an odd idea about reported woodknocks. As I walked past the first of several small lakes adjacent to the trail, I saw a crow perched on the head of a bullrush, probably watching for ducks and geese to leave their new nests, so he could grab a quick egg snack. At the point when I was closest to him,about 20 yards, he looked at me and gave a couple of the "clicks" that they make, possibly to express annoyance at my presence on his hunting turf. I responded with a pair of "tongue clucks" of my own, and was surprised by the resonance of the sound in the still evening air. The clear "thock" sound of my clucks sounded remarkably like a bat hitting a baseball! That made me wonder if what has been reported as "distant woodknocks" might actually have been the sound of a large hairy biped making a sound like mine, but with a much larger mouth, and much more powerful tongue, from much closer to the listener than a far off woodknock. Is Sas/BF standing just outside the campfire circle or lantern glow, and clucking his tongue at our uninvited presence? Or did I have too much coffee with dinner before my walk, causing my mind to go off on a wild tangent?

[Guest keninsc]

I agree that many birds can make sounds that can get easily mistaken for a Bigfoot knock. However, they usually make a very rapid knocking sound rememescent of a machine gun or sewing machine. At least that's been my observation,

[hiflier]

Hello BCWitness,

 

Good OP. Last week I went with another field researcher to an area that has had some history of sightings though none very recent. There was about a foot or so of packed snow on the trail and once in we saw fresh Moose tracks, coyote and other smaller animal impressions in the snow. We also heard what could have been mistaken as the kind of woodknocking that keninsc described. Fairly loud but also fairly close too. Rapid like the machine gun analogy but it turned out to be a woodpecker up high on th trunk of a dead birch that was about 10 inches in diameter at the broken-off top. The sound was hollow and echoed somewhat so it sounded louder than one would expect.

 

Rapid knocking to me is more a naturally-sourced sound than that of a Bigfoot. At least in this case we saw the woodknocker in action. I've also heard crows "speak" gibberish and cluck like woodknocking as you mentioned. I've not seen the larger ravens but bigger is louder if ravens talk like crows.

Edited April 27, 2014 by hiflier

[georgerm]

BC your tongue clucking sound could very well be duplicated by BF and heard as a wood knock. We simply can't study BF very well and can only theorize. The ol' tongue cluck probably won't carry too far so the wood knock is still needed.

[Guest]

Why would coffee make your mind go off on a wild tangent is the better question

[NathanFooter]

 BC witness , I know of at least three different researchers who think that Sasquatch do these pops or tongue clucks { some have even recorded the sounds on audio } , I think that it is possible that they are doing as you described but also there certainly true wood on wood use going on.

 

 I personally have heard wood knocks at close range where the wood started to crack witch each strike on the tree then upon a final strike the wood broke and a piece flew off into the leaf duff  { I am also aware of some good recordings of knocks at close range where it very plain that the subject is using a piece of wood to strike a tree }. I will note that I did not see the subject produce the sounds due to how thick the forest was and the dark conditions.

 

 What puzzles me is when you do a knock and get immediately knocks back, I really doubt they just happen to carry a piece of wood around ready to knock.  I think that they may cup their hands { like when you have single hand full of water } and smack them together kind of like a cupped handed clap.  This is how I do knocks most of the time when I do decide to try some knocking and it is loud and percussive.

[southernyahoo]

Yes, I think they are wood knocks. They happen at night when the birds are inactive. The sounds are solid with echo.

 

Here's a sample of one occurring while myself and several associates are just sitting in chairs and talking squatch and camp food.

 

I got lucky with my parabolic dish aimed directly at the knocker. The distance was probably 50 yards or better.

 

the knock 09.01.12 0140hrs..wav

 

 

[Guest WesT]

I've wondered about that as well, I once got a very quick response back from a mouth pop. But the response sounded like wood on wood. I thought " geez do they carry a log around?"  But then again, if they are as good at making different sounds, as say a Gorilla,  then they might be able to produce and mimic such a sound without the need for the natural resources to do so. 

[SWWASAS]

Their huge lung and airway path gives them great mechanism for making all kinds of sounds.      The only knock I can tie to BF was during an encounter in 2012 where one nearly ran over me.    I heard it coming towards me with big crunches in the forest floor deadwood, then it spotted me and went down with a huge thud into a crouch.      About 15 seconds after the thud it did a series of rapid  knocks.     4 or 5    So it took that long to find something suitable to make the knocks.       Since it was moving with another BF,  I had heard them whooping back and forth to each other for several minutes,   I interpreted the rapid knocks as a warning to the other BF to stay away or stay in hiding.    When I last heard the second BF whoop it was several hundred yards away and out of sight in the woods on the other side of the creek.     Because of that experience and the fact no one really knows what purpose the knocks have for them,   I don't use knocking.     Just like the 2012 encounter, I want them to be unsure where I am as much as possible,   to improve my chances of getting a visual on video.   While exchanging knocks may let you know they are around,  the second you knock you give away your location.   Then again with so many humans knocking now,  it is very likely any knock exchange could just be with another human who thinks you are BF.    I think it very likely that happens all the time.  

 

One thing I did notice on my infrasound audio recording is that particular BF put out infrasound pings in series of two.   It did it several times during periods of time where I was not moving and giving my location away.    It seemed like sonar in a way but could have been some sort of communication with other BF in the area.     Other times it made a very low rumble right at my low hearing threshold.    The sound seemed very much like the subwoofer rumble that movie makers put in action scenes to put the viewers on edge.  It may have the same purpose to instill fear in humans.      At some distance their chest slapping behavior could be interpreted as knocks.     It is very loud and would carry some distance.   They might do that when a branch is not handy to make a knock.     Their howl vocalizations must be very rare.     I have only heard it twice in many years and it was between 1 and 2 AM in both cases.    For sure it would not only give away their position, but when you hear one, you pretty well know it is not something else.  It has to carry for miles.     Maybe they reserve that for something like grieving the death of a family member.  

 

Now and then a woodpecker will make random knocks and deviate from their normal machine gun knocks.   I have heard that a few times and got a visual on the bird.  In coastal areas I have observed seagulls beating shell fish on rocks and driftwood logs trying to break it open.    So birds are capable of making random knocking noises.   I have a woodpecker that attacks the sheet metal on my chimney about once a week  for some reason.    It must see it's reflection and peck at it.   Makes a heck of a racket on the metal.  

 

I am pretty certain that BF in my area make owl and crow sounds.       I have heard the 600 lb crow sound several times but cannot directly tie it to BF without getting a visual on the BF.     So they have a wide range of sounds they can produce in several ways.        RR

Edited April 27, 2014 by SWWASASQUATCHPROJECT

[Guest zenmonkey]

I was with a very respected researcher last weekend he had mentioned the last time he heard and responded with the "cluck" they were pelted with a hail storm of rocks.

[MIB]

BC Witness -

 

I believe some wood knocks really are wood knocks, but others may indeed be "tongue pops" much closer than we realize.  Also rock clacks depending on the type and shape of the rock.   One being legitimate does not preclude the others from also being legitimate.

 

Question: have you heard a more metallic version of the same thing, something that sounds like a rock or stick banged on a piece of culvert pipe or galvenized / corrugated sheet metal where none should be?

 

MIB

[BC witness]

Thanks for the replies to my evening ramble on knocks. I wasn't implying that birds make the knock sounds, at least not at high volume, but that the crow sound and my own cluck response got me thinking about BF making loud tongue clucks that sound very much like knocks.

 

Southernyahoo, your knock recording is nice and clear. The question is that without seeing the producer of the noise, how does one know how it was made? Tree knock, tongue cluck, cupped hand clap, and many other possibilities we haven't thought of could be the source of the sounds.

 

RR, your sighting is amazing. Did you actually see the creature pick up something and make the knocks? That would be the only case of that type of observation that I've ever heard, and a very important confirmation of woodknock behavior by BF.

 

Zen, i read that same report, and that may be why the idea of "clucks" being mistaken for knocks came to mind.

 

Gotta go, I'm off to meet the local crew for lunch and a hike into "our" research area for the afternoon.

[Guest lightheart]

Nathan I once startled a juvenile sentry high in a huge huge oak tree. I heard the wood break and fall through the branches to the forest floor. I do agree however, that the cupped hands and tongue pops are also probable.

Edited April 27, 2014 by lightheart

[NathanFooter]

lightheart , Did you get to see the individual in the tree ?

[PBeaton]

I recall watchin a program on gorillas 10 or so years ago, can't recall the name of the program. They had footage of female gorilla clappin her hands, said to let the other gorillas know her location. The sound however I found quite fascinatin', as I thought to myself that could easily be mistaken for a woodknock. Since seein' an hearin' it, I have often thought it may be clappin folks are hearin', but we still know primates hit things together.

Pat...

 

Quick look an I found this:

Female gorilla claps hands to control group.

A new research, conducted on wild western lowland gorillas in the central parts of Africa, shows that the primates used hand-clapping as a form of communication, something that had only been observed once before. Females employ this type of behavior most often, and they clap to get the attention of both males and infants, and for keeping the group together. Because the animals are so powerful, they can also use this form of communication to stay in touch over long distances, and to coordinate their movements. Details of the finds were published in a recent edition of the scientific journal Primates.

“What struck me most was how it was conducted in such a controlled and deliberate manner while in a bipedal position; much like a human would hand clap. A female was able to exert control over her infant's behavior by hand-clapping. Which did remind me of a human mother,†explained for BBC News Ammie Kalan, a primate expert from the Oxford Brookes University, in Oxford, the UK. Kalan, together with Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) colleague Hugo Rainey, observed the behavior of gorillas in the Lac Tele Community Reserve Project, located in the Republic of Congo.

The clapping behavior is not news for the researchers. Captive gorillas regularly do this in order to express content at a situation, or even to attract the attention of visitors or attendants, but the role of clapping in the wild has been less analyzed. Kalan said that hand-clapping was identified within four distinct subgroups in the natural reservations, which excludes the possibility of this being just some random adaptation, that a particular group suffered on account of specific environmental conditions.

“It's a form of gestural communication that has largely been overlooked by gorilla researchers. It's used as a form of long distance communication with the silverback, even when humans are not posing an immediate threat, as well as to get the attention of group members. The hand clap allows the gorillas to maintain group cohesiveness,†Kalan added. The expert said that, when a mother gorilla clapped her hands, as the researchers got too close, the infants stopped playing, and the adults from foraging around, and they all followed her gaze towards the human group. After that, the entire group withdrew.

Edited April 27, 2014 by PBeaton