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.
New squatcher in the family.
From my son’s website at EvanCourtney.com comes this new entry –
We’ll actually am already, it just hasn’t been birthed yet.Katie and I are expecting our first child this November. 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.
Bob Gimlin Rides Again
Mr. Bob Gimlin doing what he loves best, training and riding horses. 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.
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.
_______________________________________________________________
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.
_______________________________________________________________
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
_______________________________________________________________
Click here to listen to sound clip:Â Â Hissing 3
I returned two days later and did an all night recording session. I left my recording gear in the woods and retrieved it the next morning. Although the sound recording was from a much greater distance it still seems to resemble the hissing sound.
Waveform View
Spectral View
_______________________________________________________________
Click here to listen to sound clip:Â Hissing 4
Waveform View
Spectral View
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. 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. 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. 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 at 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”.
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. 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. This time he was very close to the recorder.
To listen to the sound clip, click here – Not So Distant Screams
I took this 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. 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.  Doug
Also, for an excellent website of many fox sounds you can visit –