Explorer Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 I just came back from a camping trip in the CA Sierras and had an encounter with a growling animal (not seen). On a hike up a mountain, on a trail not much used, in the forest at between 7,200 and 7,400 ft near the Emigrant Wilderness, something growled at me on the upside of the hill but hidden in the bushes. I pulled my bear spray from the belt holster, flipped the safety switch and looked around but saw nothing. Then I started walking backwards from the location where I heard the growl. Whatever it was, it never stepped into the trail and remained in the forest cover. Maybe that was good since it did not want to confront me. I searched the internet and YouTube for similar sounds and found nothing similar. It did sound canine like grrrrr (almost wolf like, but no wolves here). The sound was menacing and I felt it was telling me to get out of there. After 10 paces walking backward, I turned and started hiking down at normal pace. Always looking back every few steps. I never saw the animal and I wonder, what could it be. I did see bear prints in the trail by my camp, but my camp was across the creek, 800 ft below and about 1 hour 20 minutes away hiking time. Also, many people say that bears don't growl. See link below. https://bear.org/do-black-bears-growl/ I don't think it was a cougar. Why would a cougar warn me? My gut feeling tells me it was a bear, that was making some weird growling sounds. Any suggestions are welcome. BTW, this is a BF hotspot, but I never heard of BF growling either. I did hear a single whistle about 5 minutes before the growl and further down the trail. I also saw a black tailed deer on the way up (after the whistle). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKH Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 They do growl and whistle, among other sounds, so could be. Did it sound very low-pitched? Cougar seems unlikely to me, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIB Posted September 3, 2019 Moderator Share Posted September 3, 2019 Many, many critters growl. All predators that I can think of. Fox, raccoon, bear, coyote, cougar, yada yada yada. It would help to know the nature .. volume, pitch, etc .. of the growl but in the end, a written description is going to fall flat, it's one of those "ya had to be there" situations. Whatever it was, I'm glad you came back unscathed. MIB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 Even animals you would never think could growl, can. I had a black tailed deer doe convincingly growl at me until I retreated after seeing the dead fawn at her feet. My wife and I used to show pygmy goats. The ones we had were from a group that growl instead of baaa. Once a goat that never growled spent time with them, they would learn to growl also. No one has been able to explain it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Explorer Posted September 3, 2019 Author Share Posted September 3, 2019 Thank you all for your replies and comments. I usually don't carry an audio recorder when I am hiking; so can't really show you what I heard. But, I found this website (Soundsnap) with hundreds of growl samples (real and imaginary) and selected the ones that sounded closest to what I heard. Not the best source, but it is better than me describing the sounds. https://www.soundsnap.com/monster_yeti_groan_19_wav https://www.soundsnap.com/monster_yeti_groan_17_wav https://www.soundsnap.com/bengal_tiger_intimidate_growl_04_wav Not sure how this website created these sounds, but they are close to what I heard. Funny that they call 2 of these monster_yeti. I still think it was a bear; but will never really know what it was. Will have to go back with someone else (not going solo again into that wilderness). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIB Posted September 3, 2019 Moderator Share Posted September 3, 2019 It is hard to know without seeing what is making the sound .. make the sound. A sort of off-topic-ish story: I bought my first predator call back in about 1987 or 88, just a little mouse squeaker. I was living in Grants Pass, Oregon. One morning about 3:30 or 4:00 I took off to go fishing downriver near Grave Creek boat ramp where the floats through the wild section of the river put in. Just above Hog Creek boat ramp the road punches through a low ridge of hard rock maybe 20 feet high. I pulled up on the riverward side, parked, walked a dirt 2 track 75 yards to the highest point, and made some squeaks and squeals. What came back out of the dark from the buck-brush on the other side of the road cut was a deep throaty roar that put me into flight for my truck. I still don't know what it was. What it sounded like more than anything else was an African lion. Sounded BIG. Gravelly. Most likely it was a fox, but I wasn't taking any chances, I left. MIB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustCurious Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 While there might not be wolves in general, there could be a lone wolf or two roaming around. That's one possibility. Of course, coyote is more likely. It might have been a bobcat? They make a 'grrrr' type growl, but wouldn't be likely to attack a big, bad human. A wolverine is a possibility, but I'd think it would hiss and spit first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldMort Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 I don't think a wolf is out of the question. There is a known pack to the north in Lassen and Plumas counties.. Perhaps the Emigrant area is on the southern edge of their summer wandering. An unknown pack or lone wolves are a possibility as well... https://www.huffpost.com/entry/california-wolf-pack-new-pups_n_5d4f18b5e4b0fd2733f12ba6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWind Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 There are wolves in Lane and Douglas counties here in Oregon. https://oregonwild.org/about/press/wolves-discovered-lane-douglas-counties Though this is a recent "discovery", I think that it is likely they have been here for longer than the DFW officially recognizes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotafeeling Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 On 9/3/2019 at 11:10 AM, NorthWind said: There are wolves in Lane and Douglas counties here in Oregon. https://oregonwild.org/about/press/wolves-discovered-lane-douglas-counties Though this is a recent "discovery", I think that it is likely they have been here for longer than the DFW officially recognizes. I agree. A friend of mine saw a wolf on Mt Hood several years before ODFW "announced" their presence in the Mt Hood NF. Re the OP - I was growled at while running on a logging road east of Eugene (OR). It came from a 20 ft bluff above the trail/road. My immediate thought was that it sounded like a very big cat growling. Several days later there was a cougar sighting in that area. So that may have been it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWind Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 I heard about a guy who wears a spiked metal collar he got from the "goth" store when he goes into the deep woods. His thinking being since cougars immediately go for the neck of their victim, it gives him a fighting chance. Doesn't sound unreasonable, but it would sure look dorky! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatFoot Posted September 8, 2019 Share Posted September 8, 2019 Uhhh. Bet he has a YT channel and it's part of his brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownboy Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 Once I heard a growl like 15 feet away in the treeline in front of me. It came from approx 10 feet off the ground as well. 5 seconds of racing wild thoughts filled my mind until I realized that a raccoon in a tree was the culprit. They can fool you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Explorer Posted November 17, 2019 Author Share Posted November 17, 2019 I was re-reading this BFRO report this morning (since I am planning a trip to Desolation Wilderness next year), and noticed that this witness reported growling from a bf. I did not think that was a common sound from bf. https://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=15821 It is frustrating not knowing what growled at me. Wish it had stepped out into the trail. I will return to that area next summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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