My Research

Colorado Howl – Pt. 3

On Thursday, the 13th of August 1009, I drove to Colorado to attend a group outing.
My friends had obtained some interesting recordings in mid July 2009 (see
Colorado Howl – Pt. 1) and had encouraged me to check out the area. I then spent the
night of the 4th of August, 2009 (see Colorado Howl – Pt. 2) on location and was
fortunate enough to also record some vocalizations.

My plan was to spend four nights on location with five other researcher friends. Present
on this outing were:

Photo Courtesy of Mark Taylor

front row – Mark Taylor and Todd Perteet
back row – David Petti, Carla Letendre, David Letendre and myself.

I arrived at sundown. Todd had the campfire roaring when I pulled in and we spent
the rest of evening in camp.

Night of 13th Aug – 14th Aug

There was a light rain. I left out my Marantz PMD 670 recorder (modified by Oade
Brothers Audio) and Todd was also recording with his Olympus DS50.

Nothing of note was recorded the first evening.

Part of the meadow.

Friday, the 14th – was spent around camp looking for good locations to leave out my
three recorders. Although it is impossible to know exactly where an animal is going
to position itself to vocalize the lay of the land can be a guide. Hopefully by using three
recorders I could determine at least an approximate area of where to drop off my
recorders and improve my chances of getting that elusive great recording. The rest of
researchers arrived during the late afternoon.

Basecamp.

At 10:30 in the morning we heard what sounded like howls coming from
approximately 300 yards due west of camp. The first series was about five howls and
the second set were about three howls. It is possible they could have been coyote but
they were to far away to determine. No recorders were running at the time and I doubt
very much that the recordings would have been of any value because of the distance
involved.

I placed out the following recorders.

The Sound Devices 722 recorder was placed in a small clump of trees on the east side of
the meadow. I wanted it to be at least far enough away from the campsite to not pick
up so much of the campfire noise and conversation. This was appoximately fifty yards
from camp.

Small clump of trees where the Sound Devices 722 recorder was located.

The Marantz 670 recorder was placed on top of a rocky knoll approximately 250 yards
southwest of camp. It was hoped that from this vantage point that sound could be
recorded from all directions. The Samson H-2 was kept at camp. The other researchers
also had their recorders placed either in or near the camp. In total seven recorders were
used.

Night of 14th Aug – 15th Aug

12:30 a.m.- We heard what sounded like a large tree falling about 100 yards due west
of camp. It was perfectly calm at the time. There was absolutely no wind. Almost
perfect recording conditions. It was quite unnerving to listen to what appeared to be a
very large tree falling in the night.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Tree Falling Â 3

Waveform View

Spectral View

02:12 a.m – The Colorado Howler started calling from an area about 200 yards due west of camp. A total of nine calls were heard. most of which exhibit a very unusual “hitch”, “catch” or anomaly which has not been demonstrated in any known coyote sound clips.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Colorado Howl 3

Waveform View

Spectral View

03:18 a.m. – The coyotes start up their serenade. Nothing suspicisious is noted among
the many vocalizations.

http://www.stancourtney.com/sounds/2009.08.15_03_722.mp3
http://www.stancourtney.com/sounds/2009.08.15_03_670.mp3
http://www.stancourtney.com/sounds/2009.08.15_03_H-2.mp3
http://www.stancourtney.com/sounds/2009.08.15_03_DS50.mp3

Waveform View

Spectral View

03:26 a.m – The coyotes again start up, but this time at the 36 sec mark you can now
hear the Colorado Howler adding in his calls.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Colorado Howl 4

Waveform View

Spectral View

08:15 a.m – I was reluctant to pick my recorders up too early in the morning because
sounds have been collected at this site long after sunrise. I thought that after 8 in the
morning would be fine, as I was concerned to get all my batteries recharged for the next
nights recording session.

As I was picking my way through the woods and walking only 10 feet from my recorder
again the Colorado Howler started up again 200 yards due west of camp. It really
surprised me at first. I thought “how is my recorder playing back sounds”? Then I
realized where the sounds were coming from. I quickly tried to position myself to get
either a visual on the Colorado Howler or the coyotes.

Everything was lined up in a straight line. My recorder was due west of me about ten
feet, the coyotes were about 100 yards due west of me in the woods on the western
side of the meadow and then the Colorado Howler was about another 100 yards west
of the coyotes.

So what we have on this recording is the Colorado Howler starting up and the coyotes
joining up from a different position.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Colorado Howl 5

Waveform View

Spectral View

Saturday, the 15th was spent in scouting out the local area.

I was unhappy with the recording from the top of a rocky knoll using the Marantz so I
moved it to about 200 yards due west of camp in a wooded draw. This is where the
Colorado Howler appeared to be calling from. Since we had others recording in camp I
moved my Samson H-2 to a position 166 yards due west of camp close to the same
wooded draw that the Marantz was located.

Although the Marantz 670 and Samson H-2 were only 150 feet apart I had a feeling that
the Colorado Howler was approaching the area from a pathway closer to the Samson H2.

It should be noted that both the Colorado Howler and the coyotes have been heard
from several postions. It is really a guess where the best location is for the recorders.

Night of 15th Aug – 16th Aug – nothing unusual was heard or recorded.

Sunday, the 16th

The evening was again spent around the campfire. Around 10:30 p.m. I got a very
intense feeling that I was being watched. Being a guy and not “into sharing my feelings”
I reluctantly shared with the others. No one else felt or noticed anything. The “felling”
passed in about 20 minutes. The last 5 years I have only had an “unusual feeling”
three times and two of those times was associated with someone else having a Class A
sighting.

Night of 16th Aug – 17th Aug

11:32 p.m – While everyone was sitting around the fire (ok, I was actually nodding-off)
the Colorado Howler started howling 200 yards due west of camp. My guess was close
to being accurate of where to place my two recorders.

The Colorado Howler was very persistant and in over five minutes howled somewhere
around fifty two times. The coyotes were never heard that night.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Colorado Howl 6

Waveform View

Spectral View

Todd Perteet used his Olympus DAS50 recorder to record the howls while we were
sitting around the campfire and our short reaction and discussion to the sounds.

http://www.stancourtney.com/sounds/2009.08.17_01_DS50.mp3

Monday, the 17th we all broke camp and slowly headed out of the area.

One of the small lakes in the area.

A big thank you to the Colorado researchers to allow me to tag along, enjoy the
gorgeous Colorado mountains and to share the experiences of recording and listening
to some great vocalizations.

Note – When listening to these sounds the four recorders were in different locations so
you can not compare quality between each recorder.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise noted.

All recordings are coded within the url as to which recorder was used.

670 were recorded with the Marantz (modified) 670 recorder.
722 were recorded with the Sound Devices 722 recorder
H2 were recorded with the Samson H2 recorder
DS50 were recorded by Todd Perteet using the Olympus DS50.

By Stan Courtney|2009-08-20T17:46:14-05:00August 20th, 2009|My Research, Uncategorized|3 Comments

Rainbow Trout & Sound Blasting

Recently I spent a week squatchin’ with my wife in Colorado. Nothing squatch related was noted but we did enjoy the trout fishing and beautiful scenery. Ok, so actually it was my wife who caught the two trout. Â I did pan fry the 10 inch Rainbow Trout and it was the first time my wife had tasted this Western delicacy.

I am in the process of writing a series on sound blasting equipment so while in Colorado tried out some low volume playback of pre-recorded coyote calls.

The picture above shows the small gulch where the coyote den was located near our campground.

This lone Coyote call immediately garnered a response from some coyotes that had a den 250 yards from our campground.

Click here to listen to this recording : Lone coyote (soundblast) with coyote chorus response.

I thoroughly dislike the word sound blasting as it conjures up the image of playing back sounds at a 120 db level. So if anyone knows of a “kinder and gentler” term please post it here in the comment section.

By Stan Courtney|2009-07-28T19:18:14-05:00July 28th, 2009|My Research|12 Comments

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

Small Footprints in Remote Areas

My wife and I took our vacation this past summer with a trip “out west”. Having been raised on the Camas Prairie in Northern Idaho, every two or three years we make the pilgrimage to this area. We enjoy visiting the beautiful rolling hills and traveling down narrow gravel lanes. As has happened throughout most of America the farming areas have been depleted of a lot of their human population. In an area that was already sparsely settled today there are very few homes.

Photo taken 5th June 2008 looking NE from intersection of Meier & Keller Roads.

One of my favorite stops is the abandoned Meier School house four miles east of Melrose, Idaho. Our family lived for a year a mile east of this location. My father farmed property adjoining this acreage for almost twenty years. As children, my brothers and I spent many a happy afternoon playing around and in this old schoolhouse. I have always thought this is one of the loneliest places, with the wind blowing through the long grasses and the almost total silence.

Meier Schoolhouse, photo taken in July 0f 2000.

Looking due East down Keller Road. 5 June 2008

My wife and I had been in the Jeep for about an hour so we stopped to allow the dogs out to exercise. After getting out I headed across the road with one of the dogs. Immediately my wife said “Hey, did you see these footprints?” My response in disbelief was “Sure, who are you kidding?”

There in the middle of the road where another road met in a “T” were three footprints. My first reaction was no this can’t be, we were on a three week squatchin’ vacation and one of the few days in which we were just sightseeing we find something. I am not a tracker, I do not look or even think about finding footprints. I am basically interested in sounds, always listening for birds.

The mud puddles where the footprints were found at the “T” of Meier & Keller Roads.

Three footprints were in a straight line each placed about two feet apart. We were totally unprepared. No camera, no casting material and it was looking like more rain. The footprints were about nine inches long and looked human to me. We stood around about a half hour, letting the dogs exercise and then we drove away contemplating what we had just seen.

9 and 1/ 2 inch left footprint impression in the mud.

As we drove back to our motor home we discussed this unexplained find. The weather was chilly, about forty degrees and it had been raining for two days. Who would be walking around in this remote area in the rain barefooted. I remember as a child my brothers going barefoot, but that was always later in the summer, in warmer weather and not in the rain. These tracks were laid down in a very gravelly area, not the best conditions for a youngster to walk in. I walked several hundred yards in three directions from the “T” in the road, there was wet areas with plenty of soft mud to walk through. I found nothing. Whoever had walked there only left three footprints.

9 and 1/ 2 inch right footprint impression in the mud.

Could it have been the obvious, just a young human? It is possible for cars to stop at this location, just like we had. It just seems odd that someone would be walking barefoot in the cold and the rain. The next weekend we went to a family reunion where I asked my brothers and relatives about the possibility of a child walking on that road this time a year. They all gave the same answer, “We know the location and find it highly unlikely a child would go barefoot this early in the season and especially in the gravel in the middle of the road.”

Casting of the left footprint.

The next day we returned with a camera and casting material. The continuing rains had partially destroyed the prints. I made a little drainage ditch with my fingers to drain some of the water away. We went ahead and cast two of the footprints, kicking myself for not being better prepared.

Casting of the right footprint.

As we were traveling home the next week we stopped by Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho and asked Dr. Jeff Meldrum to look at my casts and give me his opinion. His answer was that he did not see anything to suggest that it was not a human footprint. I was disappointed but was still left with the nagging question of “Who would have been walking in the cold and rain barefooted?”

I have spoken with three other researchers from the Pacific Northwest who have found small human-like footprints in similar remote areas.

By Stan Courtney|2009-01-04T17:35:17-06:00January 4th, 2009|My Research|2 Comments

Gift from Santa

I have always subscribed to the idea that many of our Western European folk beliefs are rooted in ancient encounters with hairy wildmen. It is difficult to separate fact from fairy tale but trolls and ogres seem to fit into a likely category of real animals inspiring human storytelling.

Last year there was an interesting article on Cyptomundo entitled Happy Wildfolk Yule! and there is also a book Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men: The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas, Spanning 50,000 Years by Phyllis Siefker that thoroughly discusses this subject.

November of 2006 I was researching twice a week in my main research area. I had recently purchased a small field GPS. Just for fun I taped it onto my dog’s collar. I wanted to see what distance she would travel while I hiked the two miles of trails. I typically take the same paths in and out of my research area.

After hiking for a mile I sat down on my favorite log and listened to the sounds of the woods. My dog, Belle, came up to me for a quick pat on the head and was gone again on her relentless hunt for something to chase, albeit squirrel, rabbit or deer.

I noticed that the GPS was still attached, although not as securely as when I left the car. Five minutes later she was back and the GPS was missing, obviously it was a poor idea of just taping the unit onto the collar. As it was getting late I decided to wait until the next week to do a more thorough search of the area.

Over the next seven weeks I made six hikes into the area. I kept my eyes open for the missing GPS but it was not seen again.

The second week of January 2007 my research partner called me and asked “Stan, did you lose a GPS unit?” He had found it in the middle of the trail very close to where we always parked our vehicles, about a mile from where it had been lost.

Although we both hiked the same trails we usually hiked onÂ different days so we had probably made a total of ten hikes along the trails.

The GPS was still in the little pouch that I had placed it in, and it was also encased in the duct tape I had crudelywrapped the pouch with. The unit had not been taken out of the case but appeared to look just like it was when it was dropped those weeks before.

How did it get back to the trail entrance? I don’t know but my wife said “I tell you one thing, a human would not find your GPS, leave it in the case unopened and not keep it.” If it had been carried by some animal they certainly knew my scent and knew where I started my hikes.

That little episode changed how I think about the research I have been doing. I have never before dealt with an animal that can perhaps show benevolence and return a lost item. There are several reports of squatches returning lost children and many reports of squatches leaving gifts.

It reminds me of the 1897 editorial:

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

Dear Editorâ€”

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, â€œIf you see it in The Sun, itâ€™s so.â€ Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia Oâ€™Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be menâ€™s or childrenâ€™s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

By Stan Courtney|2008-12-20T19:59:00-06:00December 20th, 2008|My Research|Comments Off

Old Hag vs Infrasound vs Unknown

The 21st of September 2008 I spent the night in a remote campground in the Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana. This is one of my brother’s favorite campgrounds and I had camped here with him in 2005.

I arrived at the site about an hour after dark. There was one other camper, in a motor home on the other loop. Normally it would make me a little nervous pulling in and sleeping in a strange area but I had camped here before and I remembered the surroundings. The campground is along a creek nestled in the bottom of a little valley. Recording conditions were going to be perfect. I got out of my car and looked around. There was no wind and the creek was dried up, obviously only running during the winter and spring. The air was perfectly still.

I placed my microphone outside on my car’s driver side mirror and ran the cord through the window to the recorder which I placed on the dash.

I woke up four or five times during the night and looked around but seeing nothing quickly went back to sleep. At about 4 a.m. I woke up and just felt like something was very close to my car. I started to sit up and look around but couldn’t. Even though my mind said sit-up my body did not respond.

I quickly went back to sleep.

So what was this feeling I had? Was some animal close to my car? Was I paralyzed, why couldn’t I move? Was it just a bad dream or the old hag syndrome. Was it infrasound?

To read about the old hag syndrome see:

The ‘Old Hag” Syndrome

What is sleep paralysis

Starting at about 4 a.m. the recordings do show that something was close to my car. Now I can not say whether it was a deer, perhaps a black bear or some other unknown visitor.

Click here to listen to sound clip:Â Â Â Grunt 2

Waveform View

Spectral View

Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Â Rock Hitting Glass 1

Waveform View

Spectral View

The campground was very quiet and what was outside my car was very quiet also and although you can hear rustling the only sound of sufficient volume is this one sound clip. I do not know the maker of the sound. So did I record the Old Hag or something else?

By Stan Courtney|2008-09-30T08:53:00-05:00September 30th, 2008|My Research|4 Comments

The Weed Eater – Pt. 2

On the 12th of July 2008 I recorded a very unusual sound here in Southern Illinois. Since that time I have played this sound to hundreds of people, asking them what it sounds like. Eventually one person said it, “It sounds like someone trying to start a weed-eater”. Â That initial report can be found here “The Weed Eater”.

Later that summer I made several visits to the same general location, however not on the witnesses property. We did have to explain to the local authorities why we were sitting out in the woods in the dark at midnight.

The only unusual sound recorded was the following. You can listen to it both as original and how it sounds filtered to try and eliminate some of the katydids and crickets. This sound was coming from about 150 feet of us, deep in the woods, and not towards any highways. Once again I come up with the same conclusion, “It sounds like a weed-eater, only this time it is already started.” The following was recorded on the 25th of August 2008.

Click here to listen to sound clip:Â Weed Eater 2

Waveform View

Spectral View

By Stan Courtney|2008-08-26T11:06:50-05:00August 26th, 2008|My Research|2 Comments

Colorado Screamer

The evening of Tuesday, the 22nd of July 2008 I was in Colorado where I was invited to join a fellow researcher as part of my 48 in â€™08 project.

One of the many small lakes in the area.

It was almost dark when I arrived at the site on Tuesday evening. I was concerned about driving down the rutted dirt road with my Toyota, not knowing for sure if I was at the correct location. So I drove back down the road and slept in my car at a small gravel pit. These sounds were picked up at 0330 a.m. I am not quite sure if they are coyote or not.

Click here to listen to sound clip:Â ScreamÂ 1

Waveform view and spectral view of Scream 1.

__________________________________________________________________

And then two nights later picked up these distant screams.

Click here to listen to sound clip:Â Scream 2

Waveform view and spectral view of Scream 2.

By Stan Courtney|2008-08-19T13:27:30-05:00August 19th, 2008|My Research|4 Comments

Unusual calls

On the evening of the 17 of May, 2008 I was accompanied to my main research area by fellow researcher, Bob Eldridge, from New Hampshire.

We spent the next two hours walking along the roads and tractor paths that run through the oak – hickory forest. Other than several outbreaks of vocalizations from a: Barred Owl Â Barred OwlsÂ Â and the ever present: Whip-poor-wills Â Whip-poor-wills Â the evening was very quiet.

Upon returning to my vehicle I decided to try out a new sound blasting technique that I had been shown recently by John Andrews of Washington State. I had just purchased a Western Safety 50 watt battery powered megaphone. John Andrews does some awesome calls using this system and I was hoping to copy him. I did two or three calls but the night air was still without any type of response at all. So we drove four miles and got ready to try it again. I let out one call with no responses and then let out a second call. What we heard back was not what I expected. Upon first hearing the three short calls that we heard and recorded my thought was wow, someone is answering us from a ridge about a half mile away from us. I did another call but nothing further was heard.

It was now after midnight and we decided to call it a night. I drove home and uploaded the sounds on my computer. The calls I recorded were distant and faint, and most surprising short. My friend had mentioned to me in the field that the returned call almost sounded like my voice. I thought that odd but upon listening to them I tend to agree. Was someone or something a good enough mimic to not only return my call but also make it sound somewhat like my voice?

Click here to listen to sound clip:Â Voice 11

Waveform View

Spectral View

The returned calls can be heard at 48 sec., 70 sec., and 90 seconds.

To listen to the three return calls alone click here:Â Three return calls

Waveform View

Spectral View

The following Frequency Graph showing first my voice at 645.9 HZ

Secondly the Frequency Graph showing the first returned distant call – also at 645.9 HZ

By Stan Courtney|2008-05-18T16:51:00-05:00May 18th, 2008|Audio Recording, My Research|Comments Off

What does it mean?

My family and I have lived along a small wooded creek in Central Illinois for almost twenty-two years. Until May of 2005 we had neither seen nor heard anything unusual.

Wildlife that we have seen along and near the creek includes: beaver, bobcat, coyotes, deer, groundhogs, fox, mink, mountain lions, opossum, rabbits and raccoons. For a great article on mountain lions in Illinois see:
The beast of the bluffs by Scott Maruna.

There has been nothing unusual about the wildlife we see. Most people when they travel through Illinois see mainly corn and soybean fields not realizing the miles and miles of wooded rivers and streams that drain the fertile prairie.

From 1986 to 2002 we raised llamas on a two acre pasture that borders the creek. We had several Great Pyrenees dogs for protection from the coyotes. The Great Pyrenees are quite vocal but nothing strange was noticed or heard in all those years.

On the 23rd of May 2005 my world changed forever. My wife came home one evening around 8:30 p.m. I went outside onto the driveway and noticed that my seven month old Karelian Bear Dog puppy (Belle) was out by the barn barking towards the creek. I told my wife I was going to take the dog to the creek and show Belle where the deer bedded down in the tall grass close to the creek.

I put a lead on the dog and as I approached the edge of the backyard going into the pasture I heard what sounded like a giant man roaring towards the house. It is difficult to put into words exactly what it sounded like, but it was a very clean sound, not like a scream. And it sounded like whatever the animal was, it’s chest cavity was very large. The roar also had a distinctively human sounding element to it. The closest sound that I can find is a Digital Bigfoot Recording created by Matt Knapp and featured on Lets Talk Bigfoot! with Teresa Hall.

After that night I started recording nightly. I have recorded wood-knocks, howls, unusual voices. Then on the fourth of April 2006 I recorded on five different nights what I call the Illinois Howl.Â

What has bothered me since that time is why did that animal pick my home to stop by and howl? Why only howl that April and May, and why not since then? Why did I not hear this animal sometime before during the twenty-plus years we have lived here? Assuming that what ever is howling is intelligent and has a purpose what is the reason for the howl and why only at my home? I have spoken with neighbors and none of them have heard anything unusual.

Recently I was visiting a fellow researcher and I asked her to listen to some of my sounds and to give me her honest opinion specifically about the Illinois Howl.

Stan – “Do you think this is a locator call, the animal trying to find other members of it’s family?

My friend – “No.”

Stan – “Do you think this is some type of mating call?”

My friend – “No.”

Stan – “Do you think this is imitating the coyotes?”

My friend – “No.”

Stan – “Then what does it mean?”

Her answer was “Stan, I believe it is imitating Belle.”

Stan – “What do you mean, imitating Belle and why?”

My friend – “It is a well known phenomena for coyotes to send in a lone member of the pack to play with a dog, get it’s confidence and get it to follow out into the woods where the pack descends upon the dog and kills it.” I think whatever is doing those howls is doing the same thing, trying to get Belle to come out so it can kill her.”

I was shocked. I had never considered that perhaps Belle was the single thing different about my place in the last twenty-two years. When we had the Great Pyrenees they were restricted to the pasture, and seldom ventured into the woods. Belle from the age of three months to two years ran with wild abandon through the woods much as a teenager. Being a hunting dog, she is extremely alert, and always looking for something to chase, whether squirrels , rabbits or deer. As Belle has matured she has calmed down, she sleeps more and is more satisfied to be let out in the evening to exercise and then be restricted to a fenced in area of the backyard for the rest of the night. Belle spends her nights on a brick wall that encloses our patio.

Like most dogs Belle does bark some but once in about every six weeks goes into a strange drawn out howl. The first time I heard her do the strange howl was the fourth of April, 2006 when I recorded the first Illinois Howl.

On this recording you can hear coyotes, followed by Belle’s barking, followed by the Illinois Howl and then Belle’s strange drawn-out howls.

So why have I not heard or recorded the Illinois Howl in two years? My only conclusion, is that since Belle is no longer in the puppy stage, she stays out of the woods and stays closer to the house. Belle has become less of a threat, or a perceived threat to whatever is out in those woods and making those howls.

By Stan Courtney|2008-03-29T22:31:00-05:00March 29th, 2008|My Research, Theory|Comments Off

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