Sasquatch Chronicles Blog

A listener writes “I live in Bellevue, Washington. I was born and raised in Conneaut, Ohio where I lived with my family until the age 19. I lived in the country, 6 miles south of Lake Erie and approximately 4 miles west of the Pennsylvania state line.

My best friend since grade school lived 2 miles due east from my house. I would visit him on a frequent basis during the summers and after school during the week, weekends and pretty much any time I was free. I’ve traveled this 2-mile span of dirt road hundreds of times, in all weather and all times of the day and night. I would often walk there, but mostly I’d just ride my bike.

In the Fall of 1986 (age 14), I’d spent most of the day at my friends’ house and it was getting late, it was about time to head home. It was probably around 11 pm/midnight. I grabbed my jacket and headed out the door. The weather this night was in the mid to upper 50’s and it was extremely misty and very foggy, and for this reason I decided I could not see to ride and would walk the distance with my bike at my side.

I was no stranger to being out after dark in the area I lived. I’d been camping and hiking dozens of times in the area, and knew the surrounding woods extremely well. I had no fear of the dark, no fear of any animals other than the occasional surprised dog that would take chase as I rode by on my bike. I knew what animals lived in NE Ohio, and that there were no predators that I needed to fear. I have read that there is black bear in Ohio but I’d never heard of anyone seeing one in the NE area all the 19 years I’d lived there.

I started off from my friend’s house, walking south on Furnace Road, crested the hill from my friends’ house and turned right onto South Ridge Road (heading west). This dirt road runs parallel, approximately a ¼ mile north of the Conneaut Creek and is separated by two large farm fields, one to the north and one to the south. The borders of these farm fields are lined by thick woods.

I transitioned off the paved road onto the dirt road, walking down the smooth center of the road. I stayed in the center of the road at night, as it was easier to see the edges of the road to not to walk/ride off into the ditch, especially nights with no moonlight. I was not able to see far through the misty fog, probably a maximum radius of 10-15 feet. I’d normally see porch lights at the house on the hill a ¼ mile away, but not this night. The fog created a sound barrier which made for an eerily quiet walk, the only thing I could hear was my own steps and my bike tires rolling along the smooth dirt road.

I managed to get about 200 yards down the road, location (41.907143, -80.532150), and was startled with hearing something off in the distance ahead of me. I hear the brushing sound of tall grass in the field/ditch area to the south side of the road, off to my left. I listened as the sound in the field grew louder as it quickly got closer. I knew right away that it was an animal, and not a small animal. I could judge by the steps it took as I hear the brushing of grass that it had seemingly long strides. The sound of grass moving stops, as whatever it is turns and steps up onto the road facing me. I am no further than 2 car lengths (20-30 feet) from this animal.

I stood in silence as the animal steps up out of the ditch and on to the road side, I hear sound of gravel being crunched under foot. There is one slow and heavy crunch, a couple seconds pass, then followed by another slow heavy crunch. Simply gauging by its steps, I can tell this animal is carrying a lot of weight. It’s standing silent on the roadside in the gravel.

I was convinced and anticipating a very large buck, simply just judging by the sound and speed as it approached through the grass. I also anticipated hearing four hooves in the gravel or a mix of steps from a four-legged animal, not two, slow and heavy bipedal footsteps in the gravel. I was perplexed for a split second, my 14-year-old mind is very convinced it’s a buck and that there is nothing else it could be, so I am sticking with that. I froze in hopes that this “deer” might sense me, dart off in a different direction or simply trot right by without knowing I was even there.

I am now standing in the dark, heavy fog, in the middle of a dirt road, right smack center of two large farm fields, in a stand-off… with a deer? I admit my heart was racing out of excitement but I was not scared. I’ve been around large animals before, cattle, horses, etc. I wasn’t going to back down, let alone run away from a deer. After all, I had no cover, nowhere to run or to hide.

I quietly swing my bike from my right side to in front of me to act as a barrier, it’s all I had to defend myself. My mind was rushing, as I anticipated that I was about to be mowed down.

I’m staring blind into darkness, with my eyes the size of saucers, fixed straight ahead. I am standing my ground in an intense standoff. I’m not moving or making any sound, not even a breath. After what seemed like forever (more like 5-10 seconds) I hear a clear, quick, deep and precise GRUNT! My immediate thought, “OHH! YOU’RE A BIG BOY!!”, wait, what?? As I raise my head up from level, the grunt from this creature didn’t come from my height or even a head height of a large buck. There are no deer this tall in Ohio that I know of. I’m now focusing to where the vocal type grunt came from. I’m peering into darkness at nearly twice the height of a deer. I estimated the likeness of the head height of this creature, that of a fully grown draft horse, 7-10 feet or more. My thoughts are racing, can this thing not see me standing in front of it? Does it know what I am? I felt as though it thought I was an animal, anticipating me to startle and scare after this grunt, perhaps in hopes to cause me to run like some sort of prey?

I don’t think it knew what I was at first, but I felt that it definitely sensed me standing there. Maybe it heard me as I walked off the pavement onto the dirt road? Maybe noise from my steps or the tires of my bike may have caught some attention.

I am feeling a bit uneasy and a bit confused. Is this what a giant buck sounds like?? I’d never heard a deer grunt before. It sounded very off for a deer. I was confused at the sound it made, it was vocal to the point that it almost seemed human but if you played a recording, I’d swear I’d met a Silverback gorilla. To this day I can hear this sound in my head and I will never forget it.

I figured, if I don’t make a move right now, I’m a goner. I was certain that I was about to be charged and trampled, so I had to act fast. In an attempt to break the tension, I decided to shoo it off, I yelled out at the top of my lungs, “GET OUT OF HERE!!! GO!!! GETTTTT!!!!!”, Yelling out as if I was telling the neighbor’s dog to get off the property, then dead silence. A couple more seconds of silence goes by, there is a sound now off to my right, and way too close for comfort (less than 20 feet).

I was caught off guard, this thing had come closer, crossed diagonally in front of me, and was silent in doing so! After my yell, I hear as it steps off the road surface, dropped down a foot or two into the ditch, this thing is 15-20 feet off to my right. By the sounds of it, I don’t think it anticipated the large drop off the road to the ditch. I have heard large horses and steer stampede and run throughout the pastures many times. I can sense the weight of those types of animals by the feel of the vibration on ground. I estimated the weight by the sound of its steps to be estimated at near 500-800 pounds, and definitely walking bipedally. This animal is not attempting to be quiet in any way shape or form as it left. I almost got the feeling that it was trying to be extra loud, or that it was irritated in some way, it left with intent. As the creature cleared the ditch all went silent, whatever it was took off as fast as it approached with no sounds.

I stood still for maybe another minute, gathering myself after dealing with the excitement. I hesitated for a second and proceeded forward, making sure there wasn’t still another something standing in front of me. I did not hear anything else and proceeded home.

This encounter was seared in my memory as if it happened yesterday. I had forgotten the encounter for 35 years until I started listening to an episode of Sasquatch Chronicles. The caller was describing an interaction with a Sasquatch, where the animal gave a vocal type grunt as a warning. The memories came rushing back as if it happened yesterday. I had a rush of anxiety and realization come over me. What I had experienced on that dirt road, was NOT A DEER!!!!!

I started to think back, that I’d traveled that road hundreds of times on foot/bike. There was another incident that leads me to believe I’d met this beast once before, on the very same stretch of road, location: (41.906727 Lon: -80.530311). The exact time escapes me, it could have been days or months prior or after. It was not something that raised an eyebrow till after I realized now, what I’d met.

At this time, I was traveling the opposite direction, heading to my friend’s house. I was walking or riding my bike, almost reaching the end of the dirt road. The field off to my right, there was a small grain silo near the road side. Just past that, there is a small ravine that headed down to the Conneaut Creek. As I passed by this thick brush, I heard a large deep growl directed towards me. I immediately stopped, but couldn’t see anything. I thought that one of the neighbors’ big dogs was growling at me from inside the brush. I got to my friend’s house and told him. My buddy’s older brother and his friend headed out to check on it, but came up with nothing. I had encountered many big dogs in my years. I knew the bark/growl to size ratio pretty well. This was different. This was a guttural, deep growl tone that shook me. To this day I have not heard a canine that sounded similar, but the bellow of alligator would be spot-on.

There is another time that I could say that this creature was near me when I was headed home. On one occasion, during the dark hours, while riding my bike home from the same friend’s house. I had reached the house just past the first incident and I had an awful, overwhelming sense of doom and fear come over me, unlike anything I have ever encountered. Needless to say, I rode as fast as physically possible to leave that area. I would walk/ride that same stretch days later and I wouldn’t raise an eyebrow as to what was in the darkness.

There have been many sightings of this animal in this exact area of NE Ohio/NW PA. (Documented via BFRO from the last 60+ years).”