Urban Bigfoot Seriously?(2)

[Sasfooty]

I couldn't hear the whistle either, but the description of them in JenJen's post sounds exactly like some of the BFs' behavior that I have observed.

 

There was a "chuckwillswidow" that whistled from dark until daylight almost every night for months in the spring & summer of 2008. It didn't always stay in the same place, but ran around the property lines, & over to the neighbor's back yard, then back to it's favorite spot. It was constantly calling all night, with hardly enough time for breaths between. I got the impression that she/he was a little insane. Except for that one, a whippoorwill hasn't been seen or heard here since the fire ants arrived in the eighties.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Sasfooty

[Celtic Raider]

Of course if you believe some of the skeptics around here I am actually Alan Musky, of Dyer and Musky, my wife found that when searching

LCB in a google search, she is worried about my professional reputation as well as hers, so she does not want our real names connected

to Sasquatch, understandable. These same skeptics call me crazy for suggesting that limited numbers of Sasquatch are using the outlying

areas of Chicagoland, well that is understandable as well. If I had not heard the ones I heard I never would be sitting here trying to rationalize

that very proposition. I wonder what I must look like to others, especially my wife, she is very understanding, but at the same time I think it

would be easier to just write me off as crazy, well it was a very good thing that she heard the same creature I heard and thought the same thing

in the aftermath, otherwise I would be toast. Trust me in that no skeptic could quench my thirst for having to know what I heard those nights.

I am learning daily how to better understand these creatures, and to hopefully be able to document their presence in a more tangible way in

the future. I guess I must have hoaxed these recordings, or I have equally as crazy neighbors who stay up all night waiting for sirens and messing

with coyotes, banging on trees, you know just your average red necks 

 

Just wondering LCB if you've taken any of these audio clips to any wildlife specialists or anyone who may know a little about native wildlife and had they listen? The Howl does sound 'apelike' to me but is more reminiscient of a smaller ape like a Gibbon or something.

 

It's very interesting as are the theories especially regarding the means of travelling via creeks and river bottoms to and from areas but audio recordings are always so hard to ascribe to something outright. Have you had instances where you've had footprints for example then additionally captured audio or are these separate events happening over different periods?

[Guest JenJen of Oldstones]

Mockingbird, thank you so much for your response! Forgive me for taking so long to respond. I've been so busy at work and have been spending all of my free time at home on a project with a looming deadline.

 

Everything you wrote is like it came from my own brain, as I've had all of these thoughts as well. Regarding the whistle that sounds like a cockatoo, I had cockatiels for about a year and the whistle on the recording does sound like their flock call. In fact, in real life the response (i.e., single-note) whistle did sort of remind me of my cockatiels' flock calls, but it was just different in a way I can't explain. And at any rate, they aren't nocturnally active birds, and certainly not adapted to freezing temps.

 

There are grey squirrels here, and I've heard foxes and coyotes, seen raccoons and deer, and once saw a rock squirrel. I've heard screech owls and great horned owls. There are the usual urban birds--cardinals, blue jays, mockingbirds, chickadees, wrens, crows, vultures. To my knowledge none of these makes a whistling sound like the one I listened to every night for three months, and many of these aren't active at night. LCB, I checked out flying squirrel whistles and they don't sound at all like what I heard. More chirpy than whistley, and anyway, their range doesn't extend to central Texas. The only thing that makes sense that I can think of would be if it were people doing the call and response whistles all night long, but even that doesn't make sense because it's pitch black in those woods at night, and down in the creek where it's all rugged or even in the woods, there are steep drop-offs that go straight down to the creek... Any human stumbling through there at night would be risking a broken leg, arm, or worse.

 

I've never seen a bigfoot print out there. There's really only one place that I can think of on my jaunts that would even hold a footprint, and it would have to have rained recently for the ground to be soft enough. But now that I'm getting out more I've noticed some small things, like broken branches marking places through the woods where the trail isn't very clear. I'm sure any hiker could do that, or maybe they get broken by the deer moving through. I've attached a couple of pictures. Also I noticed a couple of weeks ago that someone had braided a clump of this kind of grass we have that's very fibrous and tough, but I can't remember the name of it. I've attached a pic of that too, for fun.

 

Apologies for the sideways pics. I don't know why they are loading like that, because they're oriented the right way on my computer.

[Guest JenJen of Oldstones]

I found a new grass braid today when I was walking my dog. It's on the same trail that I found the first braid. The first braid is still there. I also found a clump of grass that had the very beginnings of a braid. I've attached pictures of them here.

 

 

Beginning grass braid below:

 

[Guest]

 

IIRC, you're in a fairly well populated area so the possibilities are many, but the  probability of its  being something out of the ordinary may not be high...idk.

 

Not saying the big fella wouldn't wander into a densely populated area, but I just don't see it happening much at all. Wouldn't exactly be condusive to remaining undetected and safe. I believe 99.9% of sounds or noises in urban areas can be completely explained....

[LeafTalker]

Wow, JenJen, those pictures are fantastic, as is the thinking you and Mockingbird have done about the whistle. And the braided grass -- more wow. It takes hands to make a braid! Probably big hairy ones, in this case.

 

If you want to confirm that there are hairy people in the area, you could start leaving things for them to manipulate in some way -- say, for example, rocks arranged in some kind of pattern. If you come back to find the arrangement mostly intact, but with some subtle changes, it might become clearer what's been going on elsewhere in the woods.... Although those braids are pretty magnificent all on their own! Hard to get better evidence than that. 

[Guest JenJen of Oldstones]

Bowcat - I know it's a low probability that something unusual is making these grass braids and other things I'm seeing. My real question is what was doing the call and response whistles all night long, all last winter. That I think is unusual.

 

Who knows if I was hearing "urban Bigfoots." It could have been humans, but that seems so unlikely. Humans probably made the grass braids I've pictured, and broke the tree branches to mark a path through the woods where the trail became uncertain. But others here who have experienced Bigfoot in urban environments might have seen similar things and might be able to give me feedback. Maybe the pictures I'm posting will help someone else. I don't know. It's all just food for thought, and anyway, I'm enjoying learning how to be more aware of my environment when I'm out walking my dog.

 

Leaftalker - thank you for your encouragement! Have you seen anything like the grass braids or other kinds of weavings in your area? I can't remember if you have had your experiences/encounters in an urban area. I wouldn't try doing any rock stacking. For one thing, anything I could pick up could easily be scattered by deer in the woods, or messed with by kids. I think I'll just keep observing for now. If nothing else, it's very entertaining to me and I never know what I'll see. Yesterday I found a morel mushroom! I had no idea they could grow in central Texas.

 

There is a patch of bamboo that grows at the edge of the woods at the bottom of the retention dam. About a month ago I found a great big, green bamboo cane wedged into a couple of trees in a bit of the woods that I walk my dog in frequently. I thought it was unusual, but figured some kids had done it. It was there for about a week and then someone took it out of the tree and just left it on the ground.

 

Then last week, I noticed a big green bamboo cane leaning against some trees in another part of the woods that I take my dog to quite often. It's in full view of the sidewalk but is subtle enough not to draw attention if you're not looking for things out of the ordinary. I thought that was really strange because it's fairly far away from where the bamboo grows.

 

I also noticed a broken stump of a bamboo cane in the woods where they grow and a few that were bent. I was curious, so I tried to bend or break a small bamboo cane about as thick as my thumb and couldn't do it. I did a quick search online when I got home and learned that bamboo is one of the hardest woods, maybe three times harder than oak. So it wasn't kids breaking the bamboo canes and leaving them out in the woods.

 

The two big bamboo canes that I noticed are yellow now, but I took pictures of them anyway. Here they are, if anyone is curious.

 

Here's a pic of one bamboo cane and a closer pic of the broken/uprooted end:

 

Here's a pic of the other bamboo cane and the broken end:

 

Here's the broken stump by the bamboo patch, and a bent cane nearby:

[LeafTalker]

Leaftalker - thank you for your encouragement! Have you seen anything like the grass braids or other kinds of weavings in your area? I can't remember if you have had your experiences/encounters in an urban area. 

 

I live in an urban area, but often drive 50 miles to a wooded area where, about two and a half years ago, I had my first experience with a BF. And in the two and half years since, I’ve been having experiences with them in both places.

 

When they come here, they sometimes put leaves somewhere on the property: at my front door, on my front walkway, or on my car. And they’re always leaves from trees that don’t exist in my neighborhood. But I've never seen any weavings here at my house. 

 

But I have seen evidence that they weave things. Once, a friend and I left them two spools of ribbon deep in the woods. When we came back, we found they had manipulated the ribbon in some amazing ways. They tied one branch of a tree to another with a loop of ribbon that had the perfect amount of tension in it – not too loose, and not too tight. (I touched the loop and moved it a little and wrecked the whole thing. Humans!) Inside the “y†of another branch, on both sides of the joint of the “yâ€, they wound the ribbon around and around and around, making a kind of tourniquet out of that ribbon. But my favorite find that day was a stick around which they had wrapped some ribbon in the pattern that you used to see on old-fashioned barber poles; and then at the top of the “poleâ€, they reversed the direction of the ribbon and wound it back down so that the ribbon formed a lattice pattern on the stick.

 

My jaw hit the ground, and it’s been there ever since. 

 

There is a patch of bamboo that grows at the edge of the woods at the bottom of the retention dam. About a month ago I found a great big, green bamboo cane wedged into a couple of trees in a bit of the woods that I walk my dog in frequently. I thought it was unusual, but figured some kids had done it. It was there for about a week and then someone took it out of the tree and just left it on the ground.

 

Then last week, I noticed a big green bamboo cane leaning against some trees in another part of the woods that I take my dog to quite often. It's in full view of the sidewalk but is subtle enough not to draw attention if you're not looking for things out of the ordinary. I thought that was really strange because it's fairly far away from where the bamboo grows.

 

I also noticed a broken stump of a bamboo cane in the woods where they grow and a few that were bent. I was curious, so I tried to bend or break a small bamboo cane about as thick as my thumb and couldn't do it. I did a quick search online when I got home and learned that bamboo is one of the hardest woods, maybe three times harder than oak. So it wasn't kids breaking the bamboo canes and leaving them out in the woods.

 

I didn’t know that bamboo was so hard to break! Very interesting.... 

 

 

So here’s a question for you. When did you see the piece of bamboo leaning against the tree near the sidewalk? Was it before or after you tried to bend a piece of bamboo yourself, to see if you could break it? Just curious. ;-)

 

 

[JKH]

Very interesting observations, Jen and Leaf. Some evidence suggests that while they can be big and bad, they can do some amazingly subtle stuff. When I saw the bamboo twist, I had to laugh. It's a classic maneuver of tough plant material. The braids look like something that maybe kids would do, but that seems unlikely in your situation. The attention to detail over time is worthwhile, IMO.

Edited March 31, 2015 by JKH

[Guest JenJen of Oldstones]

Yesterday I looked more closely at that bamboo stump that I posted pics of earlier, and noticed cut marks on the stem. So it appears that it was hacked off with a rather dull machete. I am just going to assume that these random bamboo canes that I'm finding in the woods were put there by humans. Why would anyone carry around long bamboo canes? I have no idea but people are weird, especially kids. :-) I will also assume that the grass braids are done by humans because I noticed that there are several large clumps of that grass on the slope above the ones that were braided, and those other clumps higher on the slope are not braided. Only the ones close to the trail are braided.

 

Ask JKH suggests, I'll continue to pay close attention to detail as I walk my dog in the woods. My eyes have become a lot better trained to notice little things like leaf disturbances, grass matted down in places, small game trails, bamboo poles out of place, etc. since I started looking around, and that's fun for me. For instance, I've noticed fire ant beds in three different places very far apart, each of which has a stick stuck into it. I'm going to assume it's a kid doing that too. I personally wouldn't deliberately stir up a fire ant bed, but I can see how it might be fun for a kid to poke a stick into one and watch the ants come boiling out--and then get away from it fast!

 

My original question still remains, which is what could have been doing the whistles all night, every night, last winter? I don't suppose I'll ever find the answer to that.

[frap10]

From what I recall from childhood, I've seen girls braiding grass before - dont know why - I thought maybe practicing for their own hair?

[AaronD]

Maybe the local cosmetology school had a field trip? I think it's kinda cool regardless

[Guest JenJen of Oldstones]

So yesterday when I came home for lunch I happened to run into my downstairs neighbor who was CARRYING TWO BAMBOO POLES. I asked him if it was hard for him to cut them and he said it was but he just TWISTED THEM UNTIL THEY CAME UP (or broke off, can't remember his exact words).

 

Ahahahahahahaaaa, I feel kind of embarrassed. But what's the fun in assuming everything that could possibly be BF related is just humans? One might miss actual BF signs by doing that, right? And if you think about it, an urban environment with enough cover might be a good place for BFs to visit once in a while. Any BF signs would automatically be attributed to humans, if humans even noticed any. How would you be able to tell a wood knock from someone hammering something in their garage? How would you be able to tell a whoop was from a BF and not from someone partying down the way somewhere? Know what I mean?

 

I'm still going to observe things, as I really am thinking that the whistles I heard all last winter might have been from BFs traveling through the area using the creek as travel corridor. I might see something cool like this broken tree, which I noticed a couple of days ago and SURELY wasn't done by a human!

 

[LeafTalker]

About a month ago I found a great big, green bamboo cane wedged into a couple of trees in a bit of the woods that I walk my dog in frequently. I thought it was unusual, but figured some kids had done it. It was there for about a week and then someone took it out of the tree and just left it on the ground.

 

 

Hmmm. It might be interesting to ask your neighbor if s/he wedged a piece of bamboo cane in a couple of trees, too. 

 

You also said, "Any BF signs would automatically be attributed to humans, if humans even noticed any. How would you be able to tell a wood knock from someone hammering something in their garage? How would you be able to tell a whoop was from a BF and not from someone partying down the way somewhere? Know what I mean?"

 

Yes, I do know what you mean! The fact that BF are so similar to us is precisely what makes distinguishing signs of their activity from signs of ours so difficult (and fun). The only way to know definitively which is which (and I mean, for yourself -- not for anybody else) is to keep doing what you're doing: listening and watching. It's only over time that you start to figure out who's doing what, and trust what you're learning. 

 

Never apologize, and never feel embarrassed. You are being a true pioneer, venturing into territory (and I mean, mental territory, not physical territory) that few people have the courage to venture into, and even fewer, the courage to remain in. When you are learning like mad and overcoming hundreds of years of prejudice and faulty teachings from your 'betters', you will undoubtedly make a few mistakes; but I guarantee you that you will make fewer than others would have you believe you've made.  

 

As you say, just because your neighbor brought those poles into the building does NOT mean that one or more BF weren't playing with the others you observed leaning against trees and stuck into other trees. 

 

You are the captain of your ship, my girl. Don't let anybody else tell you what to think -- especially an "anybody else" who was miles from the scene at the time you were making your observations and having your experiences. 

 

Go get 'em!

[JKH]

Hmmm. It might be interesting to ask your neighbor if s/he wedged a piece of bamboo cane in a couple of trees, too. 

 

You also said, "Any BF signs would automatically be attributed to humans, if humans even noticed any. How would you be able to tell a wood knock from someone hammering something in their garage? How would you be able to tell a whoop was from a BF and not from someone partying down the way somewhere? Know what I mean?"

 

Yes, I do know what you mean! The fact that BF are so similar to us is precisely what makes distinguishing signs of their activity from signs of ours so difficult (and fun). The only way to know definitively which is which (and I mean, for yourself -- not for anybody else) is to keep doing what you're doing: listening and watching. It's only over time that you start to figure out who's doing what, and trust what you're learning. 

 

Good advice, and good work Jen. Ruling out humans and other animals takes effort and practice, for sure. In your place, you could experiment with arranging natural materials in certain ways. It could take awhile, but you might find "stuff" happening. In my areas, I've noticed stuff appears, is moved, and disappears. It did take a long time to figure some of these things out, lol.