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. Â 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: Â Running Across Bridge 1Â Â
Waveform View
Spectral View
Hi Stan, very-very interesting recording you have here! The thing that gets me is not the footfalls. I agree completely that its, big, four legged, and faaast. Its very easy to imagine an eight hundred pound gorilla running on al fours—- it would sound like what you recorded! Now the interesting part — listen to it breath!!!!! You can hear this thing huffing as its running! I don't think you would match that sound if you checked it against deer or elk. Whatever it is, its sucking a tremendous amount of air as it moves,
—–BIG ANIMAL!!!!
Leon,
Years ago I visited the Wildlife Prairie State Park, near Peoria, Illinois. My lasting impression was how much air the bison moved across their lungs as they walked by us along the fence. Very scary.
Makes me a little bit nervous going over to that bridge realizing exactly how large these animals are.
Hey I am thinking that you have the first ever recorded squatch on all fours. what else could it be?no hoves sound.
Hi Stan:
There is one thing that was not mentioned in your post that would help clarify the recording.
What was the bridge roadbed construction? Timber beams? The bed sounds like wood, but just thought a description of the surface that resonated the sounds would help.
Thanks!!!
The bridge is concrete construction, while the roadway approaches are oiled chipped rock. This is only a first post. I will try and take some pictures, I just have to be very careful not to compromise the location. There really isn't anything unusual about the bridge or its location, just a typical Central Illinois country bridge.
Thanks for asking the question, a lot of this information has been discussed on Facebook and I forgot that maybe I had not included it on the blog.
Stan
"The bridge is concrete construction, while the roadway approaches are oiled chipped rock."
That thing WAS big!
Wow.
My apologies, last post…
The recording of the galavanting ga-bob you got sounded like a soft padded soled critter crossing through a covered bridge with a wooden deck. I know there are wooden deck bridges still in Illini and in Missouri, but only those registered as historic are covered. If that was a concrete deck, well…
That just ain't right. That just ain't right.
As Leon stated, the huffing, and as Jeff stated, no clacking of hooves…
And 195 feet in four seconds…
Can he catch a football? Rams need that guy.
pretty freaky Stan… the question I've got, is the bridge galvanized culvert tube lined underneath the cement? and if your recorder was in there…galvanized tube bridges will reproduce sounds to the naked ear in doubles some times… although it does sound to me like a quad that made the sounds, but even the breaths had a double sound to them so I'm wondering if possibly the sounds were reverbed twice because of a "culvert tube"…. in which case…. you night have had a Biped running across all along!
Loren,
The culvert is about ten feet off to the side of the bridge to prevent water from washing out the abutments. The recorder was about 15 feet from the culvert underneath the bridge.
just try it some time.. go to a galvanized lined bridge and make some noise… you will hear an almost double repeat of the sound… wether it is because of the water… or the shape of the tubing but it's almost a perfect echo.
I'M sure you've considered this but, If this bridge has a history of our big friend, and he comes buy this location at speed, perhaps he is comfortable enough in the local that he would not pick up a video device! You could position the camera down the road facing back to the bridge, both directions (two). Then put a motion sensor on a timer (say 9 pm to 7 am) and catch everything moving accross that span. The bridge may help to conceal the activity and or camera placement. Seems lick you have a real oppertunity here. way to go Stan!
My interest has always been audio. In my opinion by placing gamecams of any type in the area I would run the real risk of stopping the activity. Good pictures caught on gamecams are almost non-existent. I would much rather concentrate on recording some great vocalizations or language than a picture or video that would always be viewed with scepticism.
PS.— I've thought about building a unit with camera, battery, timers so on into an old ice chest. it would be a cool way to consolidate equipment and placement. Of course we would want to do a nice Camo job and secure with some cable or ground anchor through the bottom to deter thieves.
Yes sir, your fame proceeds you, with a microphone of course! I love your work.
I thought this location might present a unique oppertunity if it is by some man made structure or homes (the dog) and the animal still passes by.
Is the owner of the dog — the friend you speak of? Does he live right there!
Hey Stan, How close was the dog to the recorder, and how close was the recorder to the road/ bridge? The dog seems very loud ! Did the dog not start barking until a few seconds after the "critter" had already ran by? was the recorder and dog on the same end of the bridge, and was that the side our friend entered on? It would seem the dog was closer, —or the runner was not so loud. How big, if any, are the biggest bears in your area? Do you guy's have any wild hogs where your at, any of the goliath variety–500/600 Lbs, plus? I really don't think a giant hog would run at that continuous gate that you have recorded, just trying to illiminate animals…… neat stuff!
Leon,
I'll try to answer your questions. I don't know any of the farmers that live in the area, my friend, who lives about 60 miles away heard about the sighting from another friend.
The closest dog lives at a house which is four tenths of a mile down the road. I know it sounds loud and much closer but that is just how sensitive these new microphones and digital recorders are.
The recorder, which is placed underneath the bridge is four feet from the road surface. I am attempting to record chattering underneath the bridge and had not considered anything on top of the bridge. The dog that starts barking appears to have only become aware of the animal after it crossed the bridge and approached the home, assuming that the animal was continuing down the road, it could have veered off and ran along the field that borders the creek.
The recorder is on the north end of the bridge. The animal was traveling south and the dog was 4/10 of a mile further south.
No bears in Central Illinois that I have ever heard of. I have seen one feral hog.
I will attempt to make a decent diagram. I would prefer not to post any pictures of the bridge so as not to compromise the location.
It actually sounds like a winded horse to me. I've been around horses my entire life and they sound like a freight train when they have been running hard. Barefoot horses have much more muted footfalls the shod ones. So my guess is a horse.
Stan,
This relates to angkm67's comment.
For it to be a horse, a few other things need to be considered. First, are there any horse owners in the area? Also, about what time of night did the sound take place? Nov 22 was a warm day in that part of the state, with a high in the low 70s, but records show it dipped quickly after sunset, down to 50º by 9PM. By midnight it was 39º, and it bottomed out around 31º by sunrise on the 23rd. On the 23rd, it never topped 41º, and was back down to 35º by sunset. Is this horse riding weather?
I've not noticed any horses near the Troll Bridge but that doesn't mean there are not some away from the main road. People ride horses in all types of weather.
But do you have an indication of what time of night this happened? I would think the later it was, the less likely someone was out riding their horse full-bore down a dark country road.
It was around 3 a.m.
Several observations; What did the animal jump over early in the recording – breathing and "hoof" beats stopped for an instant followed by a louder landing on 1 foot?
This animal is breathing in cadence with it's running, like all 4 legged animals. We are the only animal that can breath independently of our running.
I think an unshod horse or large black bear all fattened up for the winter.
Great site
To my knowledge there have not been any black bears in Central Illinois for decades. I think what some people think is a jump, is where the surface of the pavement changes.
I have noticed when I record with my Zoom H2 I get a heavier vibration making the subject walking sound heavier then it is when the recorder is closer to the ground.
I am no audio expert but my first thought on the first track was a dog running and panting but the "whack" then what sounds like a duck quacking had me baffled. The second track sounds more like a biped running quickly to one spot then running back and then the duck "squack" sound again then the noise a horse makes when exhaling after running.
Sorry about my Zoom H2 post. I was reading Troll under bridge part two and must have hit the back button then posted here. – When going back and listening to this one, my first impression was a dog and horse running together. But could be dog chasing biped or vise versa when dog stops to bark. Love the echos though.
It seems pretty obvious to me that this is a dog. It's panting like a dog as it runs by. You mentioned it takes 4 secs. to cross the bridge…no, it takes way longer. If you listen with headphones turned up you can hear it start at the very beginning of the recording and fade out about after about 20 secs. Then, a dog in the distance barks and is responded to by a closer one (probably the one that just went by).
I love your recordings Stan. Most of them are fascinating and kind of spooky. This one just sounds like a dog though, although it is a cool recording.
I love the theory about trolls being sasquatches. You gotta figure that most legends are based on something that's real (we all know that sasquatch is real right?).
Might it have been a cougar.
The sound of it running across the bridge sounds EXACTLY like my friend’s [fat] house cat running across the floor, described as the ”pepe lepew trot”.