” I’m not sure what I saw except it wasn’t a bear”

July, 2002. Ontario Canada – “I’m not sure what I saw except it wasn’t a bear”

The area is north of the North Shore of lake Huron, north of Blind River by about twenty miles on Bear Head lake. The area is incredibly dense bush and in most places impenetrable due to low scrub and swamp. We were at a cottage, one of about 8 or 9 on the lake on the east side. The west side of the lake had no habitation just rock and thick bush. There are lots of critters, bears, wolves, moose and deer along with porcupines. I am fairly familiar with all of these animals and their noises, for the most part they are scared of humans and they bolt when they see a person. We had been at the cottage a few days perhaps 3, when whilst sitting around the kitchen table talking fishing late at night with my sons we heard a series of grunts chirps and squeals. I thought it might have been a bear with young across the lake as the cubs often can be heard squealing and playing in this area. The noises however were much more organized than bear cubs and were coming from two different locations. The distance across the lake is perhaps 500 yards. It was fairly obvious that the sounds were coming from two areas about 15 degrees apart. The noise of wood breaking and banging was quite loud and it was interspersed with a series of whooping grunts, best description. We stepped out on to the deck to listen better, it was fairly obvious that one noise was getting closer to the other. My neighbor who has lived on the lake for 40 years was out having a beer and taking the night air. His knowledge of the woods and area is way better than mine. I called him over to listen and as we all hushed and listened for a few minutes. I could tell by his head shaking that he had no idea what it was. The noises were really loud and it sounded like mayhem was breaking loose trees being smacked and banging noises shouts and whoops. Then it went quiet really quickly which was followed by a series of deep whooping noises and clicks which went on intermittently past the point I went to sleep.

The following day my lads headed out in the canoe out to where a fallen tree could be seen across the lake the day before, immediately it was obvious that the tree had gone from our perspective. I shouted to them where is the tree? They went across and then started to paddle back. I was looking at eagles overhead through the binos, when I scanned back to the lake and my lads. I drew a line on the shore behind them when I see this big black brown thing sitting on a boulder about 20 feet above the water. I thought at first it was a bear, but when a bear sits its legs just stick out in front slightly splayed. This thing had knees and it was sitting on its haunches with its knees up near its chest, I was not sure of what I was seeing so I looked away and went back to it and could see that I was not mistaken it had knees and was covered in hair with no neck, it sat on its haunches and then slapped its hands on the rock about three times both hands at the same time. I started waving and shouting to the kids who were about 300 yards away and pointing and trying to keep an eye on it through the binos. I could not tell if the kids understood so I went back to looking and waving my hand and pointing, the thing just stood up and walked into the bush behind it, the thing had no neck and looked kind of straggly and matted, it did not have a bears profile it was like the back of its head sloped down to its back, it was huge on top like the chest area but it had scrawny (by comparison) legs, the hair on its legs was thinner and lighter. When the kids got into dock I asked them if they saw what I was pointing at, they didn’t and couldn’t figure out why I was waving, I told them I seen a bear. When I asked them about where the tree had gone, they told me someone had dragged it to the beach, which in their words was weird. I did not and have not told them or anyone of what I saw, it’s sort of embarrassing and I figure they would have thought I was just kidding them.
The noises that we heard the night before continued that evening, but from a point further up the lake, we did not hear them again for two nights after that, then we heard about an hour of crazy noises, similar to (and I hate to say it to a monkey) but with great bass or chest in it. The sounds had weight. Moose make odd noises also bears but neither had the weight of this sound it was a BIG sound. I have heard owls make the most amazingly complex series of whoops and yells at ear splitting volumes but they don’t have the weight or bass these sounds had nor the organization in the way the sounds that we heard were vocalized. I am sure of what I saw and I can’t think of any creature that would match what I saw. It feels really weird even to be writing this, and I am sure on reflection what I have written above is the absolute truth as I remember it.