A troll was a giant  in ancient Norse mythology.  But, as with many myths, inspired by a real life animal, perhaps they were nothing more than the European form of Sasquatch.

Recently I was contacted by a friend of mine about a couple of sightings not too far from me. I have not been able to speak with the witness yet but the story goes “that he stopped his ATV on a rural bridge, at which time he heard chattering coming from underneath”. He then saw a large hair-covered bipedal animal scamper from it’s hiding place under the bridge and run into the woods.

Painting (1915) by John Bauer   - Wikimedia Commons

The first part of November my friend and I ventured to the bridge at 2 a.m. After doing a couple of yells we heard several distant calls which seemed to be in response to our calls.  The next week I returned and set up a long-term remote recorder. I was in hopes of obtaining chattering underneath the bridge similar to what the witness had heard. I returned two weeks later and picked up my recorder.

The two weeks of recording did not reveal much, a few distant calls. However the last night’s (23rd November 2010) recording was unusual.

I prefer not to post sound files unless they are of fairly good quality. However, the following clip is so different than I have ever heard before I thought I should share it.

At about the 4 second mark there is a sound that I would best describe as a quadruped running quickly across the bridge. Soon after crossing the bridge the neighbors Labrador Retriever dog starts barking. I measured the bridge, it is 195 feet long and 26 feet wide.  If my estimation is correct the animal traveled that 195 feet in 4 seconds which calculates out as 35 miles per hour. I recorded both myself and my dog running over the concrete bridge and the recorder did not pick up our sounds.

Now, I do not know what this animal is, all I know is that from the recording it sounds big, very big and very fast.

The sound clip shows (my opinion only) where the animal approaches the bridge (the red x) and then leaves the bridge (the 2nd red x). Best listened to with a good pair of headphones.

Click here to listen:  Running Across Bridge 1  

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