Minnesota Update Of Sorts(Shrug)

[Guest]

Holy Cow!! What are the chances..that I would recommend a series of podcast to another forum member, where one of the interview episodes is from the "horse of the mouth himself";*(sorry, I couldn't think of any other kind of metaphor at the moment) I'm sharing comment with in this forum. Now..I shouldn't be unbelievably surprised considering the nature of the forum, the section of the forum I'm exchanging comments within, as well as the small world this audience honestly is.. But again, Holy Cow...Get Out Of Here... How funny and cool is this...

Well if there is anyone i will look to share experiences/information with as I look to spend sometime on my local river, you'll be the first to know if I come across anything.. I love your stories in that podcast episode. As I understand your stories took place years ago, you've given me some sincere hope that I may someday get a glimpse of one our elusive friend(s) myself...

Well anyways.. I am very pleased on all accounts to have run into you.. Look forward to any old or new stories to share..

Best regards,

Ron

Edited June 6, 2011 by St.Croix

[mesabe]

Hey Ron, Yea that is funny. And here's to hoping there is some evidence/experiences shared. Yes, even though I've been pretty much out in the woods all my life, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until the 70's. About 1974 I beleive. I sort of noticed that, that is a timeline shared by alot of others in reports. I wonder if there was a mass migration from the north or west, causing more sightings in our areas, or maybe just a population explosion. Sort of a Bf babyboom.

I'll talk to ya later.

Rick

[Guest Maggie]

Just a short incident around 11:30 pm or so when I was at the family house. I heard two short calls just after hearing coyotes. After the calls, the coyotes went silent. It was a cross between a yell and a scream. Maybe a big cat? I do know its not something in all the years I had lived then and then been visiting, that I have ever heard. It was also VERY loud though it seemed to be coming from a distance back beyond the creek.

[Guest]

Great to hear an update from you Maggie! I've been wondering how things were going?

[Guest vilnoori]

Maybe the baby cry sound is made by a baby bigfoot. But there are a lot of sounds out there and death screams can sound very odd indeed. I've heard crows and ravens imitating people in the forest, making talking sounds, "maa maaa" and such. Cougars can sound exactly like a woman screaming. Coyotes make all kinds of yips and laughing type sounds, we have a family of them near our home and I listen to them of a night.

Edited June 13, 2011 by vilnoori

[Guest Maggie]

Hi grayjay! Not a whole lot going on around here, just the two indictated incidents in the past couple of weeks. Not proof positive of course, but eerily reminiscent of things that happened in the past, accompanied with a bit less explainable incidents.

Thanks vilnoori. I keep trying to put the noise I heard in the big cat category. I have thought and thought about it. I have heard cougars and bobcats before. That doesnt mean this wasnt a big cat, only a noise I had never heard one of them make. And yes, death screams can run the whole range of sounds.

[TimB]

Any updates of late?

Tim

I'm sorry- I didn't read far enough in to see that recent activity had in fact happened.

Tim B.

[Guest Maggie]

Short update, nothing earth shattering though.

Two weeks ago I had an encounter similiar to ones that have happened before. I was sleeping on the second story of my family's house about a half hour from here. Woke up around three in the morning and couldnt get back to sleep so turned on the light to read. I had only had the light on about 10 minutes when I heard bipedal walking come around the side of the house and under the window. I shut off the light and slowly went over to look outside. Nothing. But I didnt hear walking AWAY either. Its frustrating because its only been within the past year that I have developed enough courage to once in a while GO to the window. (Not always, there are times I am still terrified.A little less so on the second story however.) but the end result is the same. Seeing not a d### thing.:/

One other small incident. A couple days ago I was staying at the family place. After midnight off in the distance I heard a yell. I have heard this before, its like a BIG person yelling "HEY!" at the top of their lungs.

Anyone else?

[Sunflower]

I've heard a "Hey" yell once. It was in Mississippi and the area was very active. It was daylight still and the others had already turned the corner of the house. I had been lagging behind the group. Strange!

[Guest]

Nice to see an update, didn't want you to think we forgot about ya!!

Some suspicious stuff here, but I think what clinches it for me is the absolute lack of roadkill. Know that sounds dumb. But all around us it's been a wildlife bloodbath on the roads, around here nothing...nada....zip. Now sure that could be Coyotes ...vultures....ect. But I haven't heard a Yote yet locally. Neither have I seen Turkey Vultures. We eqully don't have the crow problem other areas have. I just can't wrap my head around two miles over the deer are comitting suicide by car regularly, but not here, the same with raccoons, possums and skunks.

Plus those kills lay around indefinately, but something hit here is whisked up immediately? Our municipality does not have roadkill pickup.

[Guest Maggie]

The biggest change I would say out at the family place the past couple times I have been there is how QUIET it has been at night. Barely any insects either. Just kind of odd for this time of year.

[Guest]

I was thinking about driving around to see how far an area it actually is. Which may give me a clue to what's going on. Out here if someone bangs a deer the homeowner whose house it landed in front of has to take care of it. Same with smaller critters. Just not a lot of bodies around here since early spring 2010. Same habitat, lots of no hunting land.....just kinda oddness, if you know what I mean.

[Guest Maggie]

I too would consider the lack of roadkill a bit odd.

Well, now a third person has experienced that odd walking in the wee hours of the morning out at the family place, with a twist.

I was talking to my son last night and he told me about an incident that happened last Sunday evening. As in prior reports, he had gone up to bed late, around 2:30 am and had the light on. (That seems to draw whatever this is in for some reason.) He was sitting on the bed taking his shoes off when he heard and odd popping noise coming from the back yard. He said it sounded like when someone is cracking their knuckles, only repeatedly, not more than a second between pops. He thought that was weird and just sat listening. He then heard the feet of whatever it was hit the cemented area in back of the house. Bipedal with a kind of shuffle, he called it.

My son isnt the bravest guy, he freaked out, shut the light off, lay on the side of the bed furthest from the window (even though he is on the second story) and said he wouldnt look at that window the rest of the night.

Then today my daughter was telling me that she and her boyfriend on one of their little excursions, went out to the cemetary just down the road from the family place.

They didnt go into the cemetary but sat outside and talked.(Yeah.Riiiiiight!lol). She said she heard an odd howling off in the trees, so they ended up leaving.

She knows what the local wildlife sounds like. Both she and my son at separate times have commented on how unusually quiet it is out there at night right now. No owls/night birds, no bats, no coyotes, no frogs, some crickets of course. The night out there used to be ALIVE with sound and the lack of it is pretty noticeable.

I know people hunt coyotes in the area so that very likely explains the lack of them. But all of the other?

And lastly, I only heard it once, faintly, last night and I am not sure what direction it was coming from, but I too, thought I heard a howl, even though that word really doesnt describe it either. I am thinking I heard it the same time that my daughter did and it was closer to where she and her boyfriend were. The time would have been around 11:30 pm.

Anyway. Interesting. Does anybody have an explaination for the "popping" noise? That one definitely baffles me.

[Guest]

Possibly insects? Is it possible a predator was eating and chonking on the bones? I know when you sit in the dark in northern forests the trees come alive. There are rodents feeding, insects moving and tremendous unknown noises of all kinds. But with the continued interesting things going on that you have experienced.. it really is hard to say. Thanks for the update!

[Guest Maggie]

Thanks treeknocker!

I did think of insects at first but he claims it was way to loud to be an insect and he was sure it was being made by whatever was walking below his window.

A predator chewing on bones is probably more feasible, I just dont know why one would pick so close to the house to do that....unless it got some stray cat around there like what happened when my parents cats went missing. (shrug)

My son is certain this is what got the cats and he thinks it was back looking for more. Though the family hasnt replaced the cats for fear of something happening to THOSE too, people drop off cats all the time and the neighbor has cats.

Of course with the nice weather, the ac had been off and the windows open upstairs and downstairs. That might draw something curious too, along with him having the light on. The bathroom is right below his room by the cemented in area....lots of thoughts running through my mind,lol.

I was out at the family place on Thursday and Friday nights. It was still awfully quiet, as it has been all summer, but Friday night the coyotes were back.

My parents did tell me about hearing a big commotion down by the creek from the wild geese and the next day three of them were up in the yard, refusing to go back to the creek. So apparently something had been after them enough that humans didnt seem so frightening. Cougar..coyotes..bobcats...etc.Do bear go after geese? I just dont know enough about that sort of thing. But they have never had geese up in the yard even with the closeness of the creek. Which kind of confirms to me that there is SOME type of larger predator around.

On another note, I was given a number by a friend of mine of someone in the area who has had some of these same type of experiences. I havent called, but think it would be interesting to compare stories.

Edited September 5, 2011 by Maggie