The Banger
One of the more commonly reported sounds is wood knocking. Now whether wood knocking also includes vocalizations, hand slapping or rock clacking is open to debate.
Another type of knocking or banging heard in the woods is what sounds to be banging as if on metal.
From the book Gorilla Behavior by Terry L Maple and Michael P Hoff  (Van Nostrand Rheinhold Co., New York: 1982 ) we read on page 197,
“In captivity, as we have seen gorillas incorporate the built environment into their aggressive displays. They will drum, pound, and kick against any surface that reverberates the sound. Their use of the environment to create noise may be seen as a kind of tool use, and in gorillas the behavior is clearly an extension of their natural chest-beating display.”
Chest-beating has also been reported from this location. Using a remote recorder I recorded the following sounds on the night of the 30th of March 2011.
Click here to listen to sound clip:Â Â Metal Banging 2Â
Waveform View
Spectral View
Each one of the ten bangs is very short and at a distance, therefore the signature on the photo above is small. Â There is old farm equipment close by so perhaps something was banging on it.
Dutch Henry Monster
R. D. Bedwell
Here is the story I’ve heard since I was a kid. The series of events took place near Lewistown, Illinois, in October of 1968. I’ve researched this story and found only one press release in a local newspaper — the Fulton County Democrat, Wed., Oct 23, 1968. The story printed is very vague, and from my interviews not very accurate. The actual first encounter was Friday, Oct. 18, 1968, between 7:00 and 8:30 pm. on the Dutch Henry gravel road just a few minutes outside of Lewistown.
Dutch Henry Rd leading off west of U.S. Rt 24 and southwest of Lewistown, Illinois.
The First Sighting
Like most high school students from around the midwest, trying to find something to do in small town U.S.A. on a Friday night can be a challenge. So like many others, cruising and parking on the back roads is not uncommon. But this particular fall evening proved to be much different. In two separate vehicles, one following the other, they come upon what they think is an animal stunned, lying in the middle of the road. Both cars come to a stop, headlights on. They all get out and start walking towards this animal. As they get within ten feet or so from it, it stands up. Shocked at what they see, they think it is someone dressed up in a monkey or gorilla suit (after all it was almost Halloween). So one of the guys yells at it, “You-little-son-of-a-b—–, you better get out of here before I beat your ass!!” This creature bent over and slapped the ground, then picked up a handful of dirt-gravel and threw it at them, hitting a few and the first car. Now the guy charges the creature, it turns to get away, as it spins, it back-hands the teen across the chest area. The guy flies into the roadside ditch, the others run to their cars. The creature leaps a nearby fence with ease. I was told that it moved as fast as a deer, no way could a person be that fast or strong. All seven who witnessed this made a police report. The police went to the Dutch Henry road later that night and found nothing.
The Second Sighting
The very next night around 9:30 pm., a Fulton County police officer was driving on route 24 near the Dutch Henry road turn-off when a wild-ape ran in front of his patrol car. He turned down the gravel road but lost sight of the creature. For about 3 weeks people reported seeing this wild-man, then all the sightings stopped.
Description of the Creature
The animal was described as 4-5 feet tall and had dark brown hair or fur. It was very stocky and had long arms. The face looked human but it moved like an animal, though running and walking upright. No smell was noticed, but it did make some grunts.
My Theories
First, my half-brother was one of the teens that witnessed this event. He would not lie about this! He doesn’t believe in bigfoot/cryptozoology, he thinks its all B.S., but he doesn’t have an answer as to what he and his friends saw that night in 1968. My dad remembers other reports on the local radio, he said the radio was saying it was just a Halloween prank. But he really feels something was there and that my brother wouldn’t lie about it. I asked my half brother just last year if it was the truth – I told him after all these years there was no reason to hang on to a Halloween prank. He said, “I saw what I saw, don’t know what that thing was, it was real, it happened!’ He is now in his mid 50’s.
Second,  I think there  are a small number of North American Apes that travel by water and use obsolete railroad tracks, and possibly stay in old mine shafts for shelter. Many sightings take place near train tracks, creeks and rivers.
Return of the Dutch Henry Monster?
I did an interview in the mid-1990’s with a lady named Rhonda Bybee, she told me that in September of 1991, around 8:00 pm, Â she was driving down route 100 near St.David, Illinois (about 10 miles from Lewistown). She saw something at the edge of the pavement, it was down on all fours. She thought it could be a hurt animal until it stood up and crossed the road in front of her car. It was acting stunned or hurt, then it went down into a ditch, and up and over the railroad tracks, then into the woods. She was terrified! Another car that was coming from the other direction must have seen it too, as it sped off very fast. She told me that it had black or dark brown fur-hair, was about five foot tall, and very dirty looking, like it had mange. Could this have been the return of the Dutch Harbor Monster?
Well, for now this is all the information that I have been able to piece together about the strange events of 1968, I hope that one day the Dutch Harbor Monster will return, or could it be that it’s still here?
The Sniffer
On the 30th of March 2011 I recorded something sniffing and checking out my recorder at my main research area. Now when I place out remote recorders they are usually an object of interest by the forest critters. Most of the time I assume it is raccoons, possums or even field mice.
This audio was a little different and made me wonder if it wasn’t something a little larger. It had a long approach getting to the recorder and leaving. Also heard are several different types of owls, coyotes and the long rumble of a train. I could not filter at all because it would lose those lower sounds. The best way to listen to this sound is with headphones and the volume turned up. Although the subject was very close to the microphone the noises it made were very subtle. Is this the same way gamecams are inspected, by coming up slowly and and staying out of the front of the camera? It would be interesting to have audio recordings on those gamecams that have revealed out-of-focus fringes of hair around the edges of the vision of field.
Click here to listen to sound clip: Â Sniffer 1
Waveform View
Spectral View
Location of the recorder placed underneath a log. As the small recorder was not visible to any casual passer-by my hunch is that it was detected by the animal having smelled it. None of the leaves appeared to have been moved so I would think that what ever was inspecting the recorder was careful not to touch either the recorder or the leaves that were close to it.
Bill and Mongo
I recently received this photo titled “Bill and Mongo” from my cousin Bill Courtney of Washington State. Obviously he has been reading my blog and has heard about Mongo!
Bill, his brothers and sister were raised in the Blue Mountains of Southeast Washington State. This part of Washington State is famous for sasquatch sightings and footprints because of the research of Paul Freeman of Walla Walla, now deceased.
Big Bad Wolf is a Wildman
With the opening of the new movie Red Riding Hood (2011), it got me to thinking whether there is any connection between the Big Bad Wolf and the old “hairy wildman” myths of Europe.
Now I am not a folklorist nor am I knowledgeable about old European myths. I honestly only feel comfortable speaking about something I have personal experience with. However, having had a very brief sighting of an “upright hairy biped” myself near Seneca, Illinois in 2005, I do know that “hairy wildmen” do in fact exist in North America. It is my belief that the “hairy wildman” myths of Europe are based on the real flesh & blood animal commonly known in the North America as bigfoot / sasquatch. As such I think the wildman fits the description of ogres and trolls.
Illustration by Gystave Doré (1832-1882), the French artist and engraver.
But what about “The Big Bad Wolf”? In medieval times  Europe did have wolves and big problems at times with rabid wolves. The recently released movie Red Riding Hood (2011) proclaims that it is “Set in a medieval village that is haunted by a werewolf”.  There are similarities in the dialog of Red Riding Hood to old Norse myths which describe the animal as a giant, not a wolf.
It is my conclusion that it has always been difficult for witnesses to come to grips with what type of animal the “hairy man” is. Being confronted with an 8 foot hairy creature standing behind a tree many have included it must be a wolf standing on it’s hind legs. And if it is a wolf, which doesn’t stand on hind legs, then it must be an upright walking wolf, the werewolf.
Note – for an excellent resource to the origins of  the myth of  the “hairy man” in Europe read the in-depth book entitled ‘Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men: The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas, Spanning 50,000 Years’.
Footprints in Stone – Pt. 3
Pieces of evidence sometimes are found at the most unexpected times.  Such was the case a year ago when I found “Footprints in Stone – Pt.2“ embedded in a concrete roadway in Cook County, Illinois.
In March my wife I were walking the streets shopping in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico when we saw this long string of footprints laid down in soft concrete many years ago.  And once again, it would appear  that children are easier to keep away from wet concrete than a wandering dog.
