On Monday, the 12th of September, 2011, Tom (not his real name) was in his backyard in the small town of Chatham, Illinois. He happened to look back towards his patio and saw an odd sight. Â Clearly someone or something had destroyed a section of his downspout. The downspout had blood splattered on it and several hairs were still attached.
At this point most of what happened is open to conjecture. It would appear that something ripped the downspout apart in an attempt to perhaps get at a squirrel.
Everything is a wild guess at trying to understand a very strange occurrence.
Photo of the downspout still partially attached to the side of the house.
One section of the downspout showing tooth impressions.
Part of the ripped apart downspout showing apparent splattered blood.
I met the homeowner at his home and he agreed to the following interview. His real name is not “Tom”.
Tom – You see how close I am to the lake. This is pretty much all woods, there are like three ponds that drain into this one that is right back here. And that pond actually drains into that ‘s’ curve that you see that is connected to Lake Springfield. There is all kinds of deer up through here. I didn’t know what it was, I was kind of freaked out for my dogs.
My dogs pretty much stay in the yard, they won’t leave, but it ain’t going to stop anything else from coming in. You can walk through straight to the pond through all these yards.
Stan – What was the series of events.
Tom – It happened like Sunday night, and I noticed it Monday. I came out the door and I said “What the heck?” They pulled both screws out and only had one left. Â No one heard anything, my son’s bedroom is right there. I mean to have that much damage and no one hear.
Stan – Any reaction from your dogs?
Tom. No. That’s because they were inside. But sometimes the dogs come out here at night and their always barking down there towards that direction. She always runs out there near that green thing.
Stan – So, is there always one direction they bark?
Tom – Oh, yeah! Always, when they come out this door she comes flying out this way, she always faces that way. That’s that big swampy area, down through there.
Stan – Have you ever heard any unusual sounds?
Tom – You hear, in this neck of the woods, all kinds of sounds. You hear coyotes. There used to be a zoo (Grindstone Valley Zoo). I’ve had giraffes in my yard, and you would hear like lions at night.
Stan – How long has that zoo been closed?
Tom – I would say at least four years.
Stan – So, how did you happen to contact me?
Tom – I talked to one of the guys at work, Mike. Mike says “You have to call the police and find out, because I am telling you I have hunted my whole life and I have had dogs my whole life and their ain’t no dog that did that to your downspout.” Because some of these teeth marks and just the way it mangled it. Mike knows you and that is how I got your number.
Wetlands area behind the home where Tom lives.
Tom – As you can see it is very dark back here.
Stan – Have you ever smelled anything unusual?
Tom – You get that a lot around here, I find dead raccoons all the time, dead squirrels.
Tom – Mike said what was funny is that his dog didn’t even want to smell that piece of pipe. They didn’t want to have anything to do with it. It didn’t, and this is a German Shepherd. He said she isn’t usually afraid of anything, but whatever was on that pipe the dog didn’t want anything to do with it.
Tom – This whole area where we live, we have the wildlife sanctuary, that’s a protected area, all the deer, this is just a bountiful area here and cover.
Stan – What gave you the idea it might be related to the other possible sasquatch reports in the Chatham area.
Tom – When I showed the downspout to Mike, he said “That ain’t no dog, that is some type of other animal. You should probably call the police so they could figure out what is going on, because that is no dog.” We had talked about the other sasquatch report in the area close to here. So Mike said he had this friend who was involved in research and could take a look at that, let me send him the photos. So that is kind of how it happened.
Stan – Well, thank you very much for contacting me and allowing me to come to your home and look around.
The downspout along with blood and hair samples have been submitted for DNA analysis. At this point I am guessing that the blood belonged to the possible squirrel that was in the downspout.
I think there is a strong possibility it is a hoax – which the homeowner might or might not be in on. It is very hard to believe such violence and destruction to metal could occur yet the homeowner hears nothing. Further, one of the impressions clearly resembles that of a flat-blade screwdriver. It is too perfect to be anything else.
As I look at the picture – I see the siding overlap, so I can tell the house is vinyl sided. I then see the door to the right. It is doubtful that the downspout straps holding the pipe to the wall are into a stud – most likely just the sheathing – 7/16 OSB at best – possibly foam – why didn't the strap tear from the screw – or the screw tear out? Also, usually only a few small zip screws or a couple of 1/8" rivets hold the downspout to the gutter above – why did that not tear off?
Where is the blood on the siding or the ground?
My thought are that the downspout was removed, a hammer and screwdriver used to damage the pipe, blood and hair from one of the many animals the homeowner says he finds dead was used to add effect, and the downspout placed back on the house.
In your first photo – look at the centerpoint – go up a tad – amd you will see 2 blades of grass. The indention at that point IS a flat blade screwdriver tip – it is no tooth. Those holes are too round- it is a pointed screwdriver/pick that was driven through with a hammer. The marks are too random, too numerous and show no tooth pattern. I think you are being hoaxed. The homeowner may/may not be in on it. They went too far with the destruction for it to be anything else.
my dog did the exact same thing trying to get at a chipmunk.
my guess = dog did this as well.
Interesting. I would like to see photos if you have any to share. Thanks, Stan
If a dog did that -pictures indeed would help. Tearing the metal in half – that is hard to believe – there should be blood all over the place. I would suspect teeth would be damaged/lost and bits and pieces of teeth would be found. It is true that the downspout is only light guage aluminum – but tearing it in half is a difficult task. The indentation by the grass resembles that of a flat blade screwdriver – no tooth I have ever seen. There is simply not enough blood in the surrounding area to support the hypothesis. Dogs have canines that are round – but also many flat teeth.
Clearly, that is vinyl siding on the house. Vinyl, especially as it ages becomes brittle – strike it hard – and it will shatter and chip – yet – NO DAMAGE – The vinyl is far more delicate than the aluminum – look at the lower hanging piece – hanging by a screw and a thin aluminum strap, with what appears to be two rivets in the front – the strap didn't pull through the screw head – yet the downspout was torn in two? Why is there no damage to the siding?
The damage is two foot from the ground – close to a shrub – that shows no damage – it does not make sense. This is most likely a hoax – and nothing more.
Stan, did you notice whether the part of the downspout that was 'torn' looked like it was previously damaged, or maybe was corroded? {It doesn't look like that in the photos, but I figured I'd ask.} I wonder if that part of the downspout was 'weakened' so that it was easier to damage than a 'new' downspout?
Having said THAT, to *me* the photo with the supposed bite marks doesn't look anything like what I would think primate teeth would make.
It didn't look like it was either weak or had any previous damage. Just don't know what to think at this point.
My other question would be – how did the animal climb up the pipe? I have seen chipmunks and squirrels enter downspouts to hide when I have come around the corner of the house where I live (lots of feeders for squirrels and birds) and I know they can perform amazing feats – but climb up the smooth inner walls of a downspout pipe? I've seen them grip undersized plastic pipes (in an attempt to keep them out of the bird feeders) and climb – but put in a larger diameter pipe and they can't climb. That downspout is aluminum – smooth inside – nothing for claws to grip. It's not like a small diameter pipe where they can get their paws around it and with a combination of speed – climb it. Perhaps a good test would be to take a seection of a downspout pipe – and see if you can tear it in half. Bet you can't – I know I can't.
However, I did Google it, and to my amazement:
"climb the outside of vertical pipes and conduits up to 3 inches (7.6 cm) in diameter; climb the outside of larger pipes attached to buildings by bracing themselves between the wall and the pipe; climb the inside of vertical pipes, wall voids, or earthquake safety seams and joints between 1 1/2 and 4 inches (3.8 and 10.2 cm) in diameter;"
http://icwdm.org/handbook/rodents/RodentExclusion…
However though, then what would be the sequence of biting/gripping and tearing? And some of those marks appear to be too random and too uniform to be teeth. There should be blood everywhere – from both predator and prey.
just some more thoughts.
Tensile Strength is the force required to pull something to the point where it breaks. http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensile_strength
Gutters and downspouts need a tensile strength of 20,000 PSI to meet specs.
"ALUMINUM SHEET USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GUTTER AND DOWNPSOUT SYSTEMS SHALL BE OF COMMERCIAL QUALITY AND FREE OF DEFECTS IMPAIRING THE PERFORMANCE OR APPEARANCE OF THE FINISHED PRODUCTS AND SHALL HAVE A MINIMUM ULTIMATE TENSILE STRENGTH OF 20,000 PSI. THE ALLOY COMPOSITION MAY INCLUDE BUT SHALL NOT EXCEED, THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS TO THE LIMITS SHOWN BELOW:"
http://guttersourceinc.com/tech_data.html
Weighted objects (hammers) and pointed objects (screwdrivers/picks) in conjunction with leverage (swing) are force multipliers. To say something grabbed the section of pipe, held tight to the siding, and tore it in half – well – it would be VERY impressive indeed. Yet – weak links such as straps and connections above remained intact? That downspout was formed by forcing flat sheet coil metal through a forming die backed by 1000's of pounds of hydraulic pressure. Try ripping a downspout in half – and see what you observe.
So, in other words, what you are saying is that whatever ripped this downspout into two and left both the top part intact and the bottom portion hanging by a screw was both immensely strong and possessed great dexterity. Perhaps something like a giant human, with great strength?
I installed aluminum down spouts for 28 years. The straps that hold it to the wall, Almost ALWAYS come off first and easy. Dogs pull them off. What ever did this, had to hold it to the wall while it was bitting and tearing. I have seen squirrels and chipmunks run up the inside of the pipe. It is my best guess that they are pushing thier backs against the opposite side to gain traction. I found a dead one in a pipe many years ago about 8 feet up. most likely it got caught on a screw and couldn't get loose. Most installers–for 25-30 years assemble them with sheet metal screws. Very few use pop rivets. BTW, the straps are thinner than the pipes. Ussually the strap is made from .016 material, while the pipes–and that one looks like 3X4,- are either .019 or .024.
This is and odd occurance, even with my years of experience.
"To Solve The Dilemma,..On What Possibly Could Have The Strength Or Incentive to Do Such Damage To An Aluminum Down Spout Why Doesn't The Owner Take The Down Spout In For DNA,.. Analysis,….Just The first question That Came To My Mind After Reading This Article,..In its Entirety!!
"A Curios Person,…Eric!!"
Eric, the last paragraph of the article addressed this question:
"The downspout along with blood and hair samples have been submitted for DNA analysis. At this point I am guessing that the blood belonged to the possible squirrel that was in the downspout."
I would have to totally agree (THAT IF A ORGANIC BEING DID THIS DAMAGE – IT WAS IMMENSELY POWERFUL)- that what ever ripped this downspout in half had enermous strength and size – – but John Fuchs addresses the dilemma – why didn't WEAKER points fail first? I am in awe of what I see – but I should then see collateral damage to the vinyl siding, the straps torn off, and the upper connections torn off. This downspout was, after all, attached close and tight to the outer wall, similiar to most. This is why, given my observations above, I hypothesize that the downspout was removed, the "damage done", and then the downspout re-attached. I very well could be wrong.
I believe in Sasquatch – although I never witnessed Sasquatch. I believe you have presented evidence that is very compelling. I enjoy this site. I would say that, based upon evidence you have presented, that Sasquatch is in this area – but, the downspout – I.M.O. seems to be fabricated. I could be wrong. The damage is too localized for the destruction witnessed – I.M.O
I say this based upon my knowledge of construction – althought as stated earlier – I was surprised to find rodents can climb to great distances in the insides of these pipes.
My question – what did Sasquatch do first? – tear the pipe or bite it – if the animal was caught in half – where are the pieces in the lower and upper half? Where is the blood that should be splattered all around? The sharp metal edges should have bloodied the animal doing the tearing/ripping.
Let us say the Sasquatch caught the animal in the pipe – I assume the tear/bites are in the center – so substantial pieces should be located above and below – yet it is not the case. It makes no sense – given the tear- that the animal in question would not be torn into two pieces, one which would be located above the tear line, the other, below the tear line. There should just be a LOT of blood and fur in the middle, which is in short supply.
The holes/incomplete holes look too much like random marks created by a screwdriver/blunt object driven with force.
I believe that you are being hoaxed. It is my sincere opinion that while you have come upon credible evidence Sasquatch is in Chatham County – others have fabricated some evidence for their own agenda.
Well, this is a tough one- my female pitbull has literally chewed her way through the side of a camper, and a steel barn door, trying to get at rodents (she hates them). That damage is similar, but WITHOUT the ground and area disturbance that a tenacious canine causes- scuffed dirt, paw prints on siding, ect. Not to mention the huge amount of noise potentially made by such activity.
The round nature of those tooth marks indicates to me a canid. The compression of the tin, and the tearing tells me that it was something with a good strong jaw.
But, my speculations don't tell the story of what happened there at that guy's house. Who knows…