Date Report Submitted to the RFPRP:  May 18, 2006.

Date of Encounter:  Most recent; May 12 & May 15, 2006.

Time of Incidents:  Between 10 p.m. & 11 p.m.

Weather Conditions:  Clear and warm.

State:  Arkansas.

County: Franklin.

Nearest City or Town: Ozark.

Location: East of Highway 219, approximately 7 miles north of Ozark.

Nearest highway or road: State Highway 219.

General Land Use Description: Land not generally suitable for agriculture. Scattered residences. Witness's property adjoins a large, privately-owned, fenced wildlife preserve.

General Terrain Description: Mountains with steep bluffs, limestone and sandstone outcrops and cobble.

Nearest Lakes or Streams: The site is on a mountain ridge between the North and South Forks of White Oak Creek

Witness Profile: The primary witness is the property owner who is a 62 year old female. She was born and reared in Franklin County and has worked, hunted and trapped in the mountains since she was 8 years old.

Activities of Witness Prior to Encounter/Incident: Various; see below.

Details of Encounter / Incident: About 10:30 p.m. on May 12, 2006 the primary witness, her adult daughter, and her teen age grandson were at home watching TV with no lights on inside the home, and with the air-conditioner turned off. The family owns a full-blood wolf bitch which is kept in a fenced pen behind the home. The wolf is also kept on a heavy duty chain inside the pen. The family also owns a full grown cross-breed offspring from the wolf which displays its heritage. The "pup" is not confined and usually sleeps on the porch beside the front door of the home.  That night the family heard the sounds of what they recognized as coyotes yipping in the dense woods directly behind the wolf's pen. Both the wolf and the pup began growling and barking frantically. Since coyotes, deer and bear  routinely passed through the area at night with little notice by the wolf or pup, the witness, her daughter and grandson went outside to see what was upsetting the two pets. The grandson carried a .410 gauge, single-shot shotgun and a flashlight.

As they stepped outside, the sound of the coyotes stopped, and they heard a "very loud, blood-curdling, howling, screaming and growling sound". The witnesses stated the sounds were coming from behind the wolf's pen, and all said the sounds were "ten times louder than anything they had ever heard before, and in no way, shape, form or fashion could the sounds have been made by a coyote or any other animal known to them." The grandson immediately raised the shotgun and fired into the trees above the source of the sounds, and the sounds stopped for a few minutes. When the sounds started again, they seemed to be coming from a point just behind the wolf pen, and at that time the wolf tore through the fence and broke the chain. Both the wolf and pup ran by the witnesses into the woods away from the sounds and did not return until a few hours later. The witnesses then became alarmed because the wolf and dog had never shown fear of any animal or human. The grandson shot once more into the tree tops behind the wolf pen, and then all three returned immediately to the house.

 

About 11p.m. three nights later, the wolf and pup began to growl and bark loudly. Again, all three persons went back outside and stood on the porch. They could hear something walking along their side of the Wildlife Preserve fence, and they could hear something being dragged on the ground as the unknown creature walked past the home. Brush and trees prevented them from seeing whatever it was that was walking the fence line.

 

During the summer of 1989 or 1990 the witness lived on the same property but in a different home a few yard away from the present home. At that time the outside building and fenced enclosure that is now used for the wolf was used for chickens. In early afternoon the witness happened to look out a window and saw a hair covered, human-like animal dart from behind the chicken house and across a 60 to 75 yard wide opening between the chicken house and the woods. She stated that at the time the grass and weeds in the clearing were about knee-high, and she was able to clearly see the back side of the animal as it ran away.. The chicken house is less than 50 yards from the house she was living in at the time.

 

Description of Animal: Slightly more than six feet tall, running on two feet, covered in reddish blond hair from the top of the head to its knees, wide shoulders, with no neck or ears visible.

Photos or Drawings Made?: None.

Description of Related Sounds: All of the witnesses stated the sounds heard were like nothing they had ever heard before, and all described them as being a mixture of "blood curdling screams, howls and growls."

Description of Related Scents / Odors: All of the witnesses stated that at various times over the years they have smelled strong animals odors, although they assumed it was the smell from the black bears that routinely cross the property on their way to White Oak Creek for water.

Other Related Details: During the Thanksgiving deer season in 1996, before the Wildlife Preserve existed, another of the witness's grandsons borrowed her .30-.30 rifle to go hunting below a large bluff just south of her home. The boy was 15 years old at the time. He walked down the bluff until he could see a small natural meadow where he noticed some deer feeding in the opening. He kept his eyes on the deer and tried to get closer for a better shot. After stalking the deer for several yards, he happened to look at the base of the brush and trees on the edge of the opening and saw a large hairy animal hunkering on the ground. He could see that the animal was also watching the deer. He froze and stared at the back of the animal, trying to identify it. In a few seconds, the animal stood up on two feet, and slowly turned around to look directly at him. The boy was reportedly terrified by the sight before him. As he wheeled around to climb back up the bluff, the animals also turned and started walking down the mountain away from him. The boy's description of the  animal basically matched that given by his grandmother. The boy swore that he would never hunt in that area again.

Historical Notes: Late one afternoon the early 1940s one of the primary witness's uncles was returning home after having worked all day cutting "railroad ties" for another person near the old Mineral Springs School. The man was walking a well used cut-off foot trail over the mountain rather than walking the long way by road. During his trek he was reportedly startled to hear something run down the mountain toward the trail a hundred or so yards behind him. He stopped to see what it was as it crossed the trail. He was then terrified to see a large hair-covered animal run out onto the trail on two feet and stop. The animal stared at the man a few seconds, then took a few steps toward him. The man wheeled and ran until he was exhausted, but he could hear the animal running behind him at the same pace. When the man was forced to stop from exhaustion, he turned to face the animal. It quickly stepped off the trail and behind a tree, but leaned its head out to watch the man. As soon as he was able to do so, the man started running again, and the animal followed. Again the man had to stop to rest, and he saw the animal dart behind a tree with its head exposed. The cat and mouse game continued until the man reached the fields surrounding his home. The description of the animal was given to the man's family, and that description matches the typical description of the reclusive forest primate that is generally known as Bigfoot.
******************************************************************************

Field Investigator's Notes & Comments: On May 19, 2006 the writer interviewed the three witnesses and scouted the area near the home site. The Wildlife Preserve's 8'  fence is within 50 yards of the home. There is an unusually well traveled and worn game trail along the outside of the fence, containing clearly defined deer, bobcat, coyote and bear tracks. Not so clearly defined are partial prints of other large animals. It could not be determined if those partial prints were made by the heels of a large bear or something else. The partial prints show between the broken rocks that litter the trail.

 

It was noted that something had been dragged along the trail during the last few days. The drag marks appeared to have been made by the legs of a deer. In places the marks were wide rounded grooves, but in other locations the marks narrowed to small pointed indentations between the rocks.

 

The fenced preserve contains imported elk, and all native animal species that originally inhabited the area when the property was fenced. The fence reportedly encloses three to four thousand acres. The witnesses are familiar with the sounds made by the elk, and see the animals occasionally along the fence.

 

Addendum to the report:

There may be a couple of discrepancies in this report. One has to do with a date that the grandson saw the BF watching the deer, and the other concerns the number of acres in the Game Preserve. (I am unable to contact the grandson who lives in Chicago. After I wrote the report, I was finally able to contact the original manager of the Preserve, and he told me when certain areas were fenced, and that the area contains close to 2000 acres.)

Report received and recorded by:

Tal H. Branco, Field Researcher/Investigator, The RFP Research Project