Stan Courtney, Author at Stan Courtney

The Hay Bale

Although this is not new I realized that I had not posted it as part of this blog.

On the 24th of Mar 2005 my research partner called me and asked me to check out an old hay bale that was laying along a fence close to our research area.

My wife was with me and we both looked at the large round hay bale. The photo does not show the outline very well but from our vantage point the hay had been pushed down about 4 inches and left a very distinct image of what appeared to be a giant humanoid figure.

It does seem odd that an animal would feel comfortable enough to lay down on top the bale. Although the road is a dead end it does have occasional traffic.

By Stan Courtney|2009-07-06T23:00:32-05:00July 6th, 2009|My Research|5 Comments

The Botanist & the Elk

It is seldom that a researcher records sounds that are worthy of sharing with the public or a picture of something that is definitely sasquatch related.

Such is the case with this blogpost. I am not saying what I experienced in the night or the picture of my window is of any importance but I thought I would share it with everyone just the same.

On the 22nd of June 2009 I spent the night in a campground in the Lewis & Clark National Forest of Central Montana. This is the same campground that my brother had an experience in 2004, I recorded bipedal footsteps in 2005 and last year I had an unusual experience.

After arriving at the campground I struck up a conversation with several Forest Service employees. I explained I was doing research in the area. I was interested in seeing their reaction and perhaps get some new information. All three were polite and the young graduate student was especially interested. I invited him to accompany me while I did some sound blasting. We did two vocal calls of my own voice Â & two of Illinois Howl. There was a cow elk about 100 yards from us in a small meadow and I wanted to see her reaction. The elk reacted with a series of vocalizations and walked & ran back up to the ridge. She did not run away from us, in fact her position was closer to us after broadcasting.

Click here for recording of:Â Â The Botanist & The Elk

At about 4:40 a.m. I woke up. The sky was just starting to become light and the birds were singing. I was going to leave, as I had a long ways to travel that day, but decided to wait until dawn as I did not want to miss any activity. While I was laying there something very large struck the hitch on the front of my car. It was as if something grabbed ahold of the hitch and bounced on it. I was glad that I was awake. I was not able to see anything as it was not light enough.

I was sure my recorder would have picked up the hitch sound but upon review the noise from the creek was so loud that sadly the complete night’s recording was mostly covered over.Â When I went to bed I checked all the car windows to make sure they did not have any marks or smudges. This picture is what I found in the morning.Â Nothing definitive but I still found it interesting.

By Stan Courtney|2009-06-26T20:08:29-05:00June 26th, 2009|Uncategorized|1 Comment

Cemeteries and Squatches, Pt. 1

I am interested in the types of locations that people have had sasquatch sightings. One of thoseÂ locations Â is rural cemeteries.

Several years ago I was invited to give a talk on the subject of bigfoot at a meeting of the Springfield Ghost Society in Rochester, Illinois. My wife questioned me to as why I would speak at the “ghost society” and what was the connection to bigfoot. MyÂ explanation wasÂ that there have been many reports that are either close to, or in cemeteries. Perhaps many people who go to cemeteries late at night, either as ghost researchers or as teenagers hear an unusual sound and see a shadowy upright figure in the distance. Maybe some of those “ghostly encounters” were actually a case of mistaken identity and was actually a sasquatch. By speaking to this local group I found them to be open minded, intensely interested and I even picked up several new sasquatch reports.

Several weeks later I received a phone call from the excited president of the ghost society. It seems that they had done an investigation at a remote rural cemetery and had played some of my sound recordings that I had shared with the group. In response to their first attempt at soundblasting they had gotten an immediate close-in return howl. Most of the members heard the howl and quickly became aware of the reality of the effectiveness of broadcasting sounds.

This old country cemetery is close to my home in Central Illinois and is one of over 221 rural cemeteries in my county alone.

A quick survey of the BFRO database reveals about two dozen reported sightings in or near cemeteries. To read those reports simple go to google.com

and in the google search bar type (or copy/paste)

site:www.bfro.net “cemetery”

So the question remains, “Why are people having sightings in or near cemeteries”?

My guess would be:

1.Â Many cemeteries are in remote areas off the main road. Some of the rural cemeteries here in Central Illinois are far out in farmers fields and are only approachable during good weather on dirt or gravel roads.
2.Â Most cemeteries are in fairly open areas near woods. Many of the cemeteries are in very picturesque locations, woods, streams and ponds. Being pictureque may not be important to the squatches but it does increase the human traffic.
3.Â Â Cemeteries have human activty in theÂ daytimeÂ by relatives and late night visits by “ghost hunters” and teenagers.
4. Cemeteries like campgrounds and golf courses are easily accessible to sasquatches. The sasquatch can easily approach while staying in cover. Whether the sasquatch is approaching to observe humans, give a little territorial call or just scare the humans cemeteries seem to be a good place to have a little fun.

I love old cemeteries. Other than reading the old inscriptions and honoring the dead theyÂ are also the perfect place to bird watch, do all night audio recordings, look at the many flowers and scrubbery in a park like setting. And last but not least perhaps hear an unusual sound and see a shadowy figure disappearingÂ through the trees.

By Stan Courtney|2009-06-10T18:38:58-05:00June 10th, 2009|Theory|4 Comments

Belle Get’s Skunked

Back in May of 2006 Belle, my Karelian Bear Dog, had a brief but eventful encounter with a skunk. Having heard that tomato juice was a sure cure Belle got a much deserved but unappreciated tomato bath.

I ran across this old video filmed by my son Eli and thought folks would get a kick out it.Â Belle did not!

For video click here -Â Â Belle Gets Skunked

By Stan Courtney|2009-06-02T19:58:09-05:00June 2nd, 2009|miscellaneous|1 Comment

Paul Freeman Cast Collection

The casts made by well known Walla Walla, Washington researcher Paul Freeman (1943-2003) are now available on-line. The cast collection was purchased 10/1/1996 by Ken, Linda and Brant Steigers and now are on loan to Dr. Jeff Meldrum at Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho.

The naming and order of each slide has been kept the same that Dr. Meldrum used. The information is as accurate as we can determine. Each slide is presented as a medium sized picture. A more detailed image can be viewed by clicking on the link provided.

To access the photo collection click on either the top banner “Paul Freeman Cast Collection” or the footprint photo.

By Stan Courtney|2009-05-27T18:45:11-05:00May 27th, 2009|Helpful links & websites|Comments Off

New squatcher in the family.

From my son’s website at EvanCourtney.com comes this new entry –

Iâ€™m going to be a dad

Weâ€™ll actually am already, it just hasnâ€™t been birthed yet.Katie and I are expecting our first child this November.Â She is already 13 weeks along.

This will be our first grandchild. Katie & Evan gave my wife a gift for Mother’s Day. When she opened the gift it was a framed picture of the ultrasound. I have never seen my wife show so much joy in my life. She told me “I have been waiting so long!”

All the Courtney’s have been celebrating and are looking forward to one of “God’s Great & Precious Gifts” and I am just thrilled and also looking forward to someone to go squatchin’ with.

By Stan Courtney|2009-05-20T15:31:32-05:00May 20th, 2009|miscellaneous|6 Comments

Bob Gimlin Rides Again

Mr. Bob Gimlin doing what he loves best, trainingÂ and riding horses.Â I took this picture this morning at the ranch near Yakima, Washington while attending the “Yakima Bigfoot Round-up” celebrating Bob’s 78th birthday (edited – I was told later in the morning by one of the participants at the conference that Bob’s birthday is later in the year. ) It has been a distinct pleasure knowing Bob for the past 4 years and sharing a campfire with him.

By Stan Courtney|2009-05-16T13:04:27-05:00May 16th, 2009|Travels & Stories|3 Comments

That Strange Hissing Sound

The following sound files were posted and discussed in Walk In The Woods but in order to keep things simple I decided to repost them here without the extra text and sound files.

The evening of the 4th of May, 2009 we heard and recorded a very strange hissing type of sound coming from the ridge just above our location. Difficult to describe, it’s position changed several times. The location was in my “Main Research Box” in Central Illinois.

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Click here to listen to sound clip:Â Hissing 1

About 30 seconds later it moved further up the ridge.

Waveform View

Spectral View

This picture is from Adobe Audition showing the length of time that the sound lasted, about 10 seconds which is quite a while for an animal to be exhaling.

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Click here to listen to sound clip:Â Hissing 2

We walked an hour back to the Jeep. We returned along the road to this last position and did a series of three soundblasts. It was 1 1/2 hrs. between the time that we heard the 2nd Strange Sound, hiked back the mile through the woods and drove the 4 1/2 miles back to begin the soundblasting . After soundblasting we again heard and recorded this strange hissing sound. This time the sound maker had moved further south, across the road into some trees on the other side.

Waveform View

Spectral View

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Click here to listen to sound clip:Â Â Hissing 3

I returned two days later and did an all night recording session.Â I left my recording gear in the woods and retrieved it the next morning. Although the sound recording was fromÂ a much greater distance it still seems to resemble the hissing sound.

Waveform View

Spectral View

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Click here to listen to sound clip:Â Hissing 4

Waveform View

Spectral View

By Stan Courtney|2009-05-14T22:42:32-05:00May 14th, 2009|Audio Recording|1 Comment

A Walk in the Woods

The evening of the 4th of May, 2009 I was accompanied by Dennis Pfohl of Colorado to my “Main Research Box” here in Central Illinois.

The conditions were almost perfect, 55 degrees, no humidity, no bugs and no breeze.Â Hopefully it would be great for making audio recordings. I have adjusted all the recordings for volume and eliminated all base rumble. They have not been altered otherwise. Because of the distance from some of the sounds the resulting quality is poor.

Click here to listen to sound clip:Â Introduction

While at the “food drop” we heard a very distant howl off to the east.Â It did not seem to be either coyote or dog.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Howl 7

Waveform View

Spectral View

Dennis mentions an unusual smell and branches breaking, which could be many things from small forest animals to deer or raccoons or even Belle who was tagging along with us.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Discussion about the smell and breaking branches.

This area has many Barred Owl and Whippoorwill which are always a real treat to listen to. Sorry about my breathing on the recording after hiking through the mud and wet grass.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Barred Owl & Whippoorwill serenade

We heard and recorded a very strange hissing type of sound coming from the ridge just above our location. Difficult to describe, it’s position changed several times.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Hissing 1

Waveform View

Spectral View

About 30 seconds later it moved further up the ridge.

This picture is from Cool Edit showing the length of time that the sound lasted, about 10 seconds which is quite a while for an animal to be exhaling.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Hissing 2

Waveform View

Spectral View

Many coyotes decided to join in on the music making.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Coyotes – 1st recording

Dennis did a series of woodknocks with no responses other than more branch breaking.

We walked an hour back to the Jeep. We returned along the road to this last position and did a series of three soundblasts. It was 1 1/2 hrs. between the time that we heard the 2nd Strange Sound, hiked back the mile through the woods and drove the 4 1/2 miles back to begin the soundblasting . After soundblasting we again heard and recorded this strange hissing sound. This time the sound maker had moved further south, across the road into some trees on the other side.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Hissing 3

Waveform View

Spectral View

After the 2nd soundblast we had two different groups of coyotes decide to sing along.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Coyote Serenade

All in all it was a good evening.Â We would have liked to have been closer to the initial howls and to have known what was making the strange hissing sound but field research atÂ night is not easy and getting good quality recordings up close is almost impossible.

Thank you Dennis for accompanying me. After seeing three cougar several years ago in this immediate area I do not consider it safe to venture out alone at night into the deep woods of my “Main Research Box”.

By Stan Courtney|2009-05-05T16:58:27-05:00May 5th, 2009|Uncategorized|1 Comment

Not So Distant Screams in the Night – Update

On the evening of the 8th of April 2009 at 2 a.m. I recorded 5 minutes of a series of screams. Sadly they were at a distance and the quality of the recording was poor.Â Most researchers thought that the sound maker was a fox.

Update –

On the 1st of May at about 4 a.m. I again recorded this Red Fox.Â This time he was very close to the recorder.

To listen to the sound clip, click here – Not So Distant Screams

I took thisÂ picture several years ago of another Red Fox at a distance with a point and shoot camera.

Red Fox

Many readers contacted me that they thought this sound was a fox.Â One of those that helped identify this sound was Doug Von Gausig of Naturesongs.com.

Doug wrote –

On my website (http://www.naturesongs.com) I offer to help people identify unknown sounds they hear, and the Red Fox is the number one culprit! It’s such an unusual and scary sound, and people seldom actually see the perpetrator. I always know just from the initial description what it is. Also, the reports peak in the Spring each year, during the breeding season. The second most reported “mystery” is the Barn Owl, and Great Horned Owlets come in third or so.Â Â Doug

Also, for an excellent website of many fox sounds you can visit –

Sounds of the Fox

By Stan Courtney|2009-05-03T09:39:35-05:00May 3rd, 2009|Uncategorized|3 Comments

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